Chicken Tortilla Soup

After I took my daughter to Vacation Bible School, the other two and I ran a couple errands, then came home as I tried to clear up the mess I made taking out my cabinet of homsechooling books/supplies to paint Saturday.
While I was doing that, I thought, hmm, I should make supper and soup has been sounding good. I had some chicken broth I'd made after roasting a chicken in the crockpot last week and leftover chicken and carrots, so I threw this together.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/2 gallon chicken broth (homemade from free range chickens is best)
leftover chicken and carrots
1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans (it's important to cook red/kidney beans, as they contain a toxin that has to be cooked out)
1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans
1 can diced green chiles
1 quart diced tomatoes and juice
chopped garlic
optional onions

corn tortillas

Put in crockpot and cook on low all day.
About 15 minutes before serving, thinly cut the tortillas into short strips and put in with soup.

I got the idea for the tomatoes, chiles and tortillas from the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook, which I highly recommend

Cream of Mushroom & Steak over Rice

I kind of threw this sauce together, I will work on getting exact measurements for future use, lol.

I heated some coconut oil (because I didn't have any my-kid safe butter substitute, we use Earth Balance sticks), then I added some sorghum flour. I quickly realized that probably wasn't the best idea, as I didn't have all my other ingredients out and ready, and it was browning quickly. Oops. 

You'll need:
cooked and cut up steak or stew meat pieces, salted and peppered (I like to use a lot of pepper on the meat, since my poor hubby can't tolerate onions or much garlic)
optional - sauteed mushrooms, onions, and/or garlic

Butter/Ghee, Butter sub or Coconut oil
sorghum flour (or whatever flour you like to use, it should be a finely ground flour, I didn't use coconut, because I felt it would be too grainy)
Chicken Broth, homemade is best
Plain milk - Coconut (be careful about adding too much coconut milk, I got too much at first and it was very coconutty), rice, or almond
salt & pepper

Heat butter sub, add flour until you have a thick paste.
Slowly add about a cup of milk, whisking away while it blends.
Slowly add chicken broth.
Taste and see if it's right yet. If not, add more of milk or chicken broth, continuing until you have the right flavor and consistency you're going for.
Add meat and veggies.
Serve as soup, over rice or noodles (beef stroganoff like)

This makes a lovely soup or sauce.

Easy Chicken Broth

A friend just asked for my chicken broth recipe, and I reallized - I haven't blogged it yet! So here you go :)

Cook a chicken, either in the crockpot or the oven. Take most of the meat off the bones, saving the drippings and carcass. Throw it all in a pot and add some carrots, celery, bok choy, whatever veggies you have, for vitamins. I'm going to start adding Chicken feet and some raw drumsticks, but have to wait until next payday. You're probably not going to want to pick the veggies out, so don't fill the pot up. Add a splash of raw apple cider vinegar, fill pot with water. Simmer for 12-24 hours. Twenty-four hours is best.
Strain and fill jars or ziploc freezer bags with broth. If you have a pressure canner, you can preserve the broth by canning.

Use in recipes, as a tummy settler, or to make chicken soup (add chicken, veggies, and, if you desire - noodles)

Strawmelon Smoothies & Soup

Last night for supper, we had a slow-cooked chicken from the slow cooker, and I simmered the bones with a splash of apple cider vinegar (to draw the minerals out of the bones), water and carrots. Before lunch, I strained the bones from the broth, sauteed some celery, garlic and ginger with olive oil, added the broth & carrots back in. I sprinkled some salt on top, and served it up. The kids asked for straws for theirs (I had already set it out to be cool) and then used their spoons when their broth was gone. E2 (oldest daughter) & I had two bowls!

And the baby, enjoying a carrot

My mother sells Pampered Chef, so she gets all the new products, including the cookbooks. She showed me a Strawberry Watermelon Slushie recipe, so I'm going to make it, but instead of using white refined sugar, I'm going to use Coconut Sugar. YUM!! It turned out quite well :D I think I might do it without the sugar next time, I think the strawberries would be sweet enough.

Strawberry-Watermelon Slush
1 pt. strawberries, hulled & halved
2 c. watermelon, seeded & cubed
1/3 c. coconut sugar
1/3 c. lemon juice
2 c. ice cubes
Combine strawberries, watermelon, sugar &
lemon juice in a bender. Blend until smooth.
Gradually add ice & continue to blend. Serve
immediately. Makes 5-6 servings.