For Tue. 3/31: Salsa, Chicken, and Black Bean Soup

Since they all loved the chicken tortilla soup so much but I am far too lazy to make that again, I thought I'd do something similar but, you know, easier. They're happy, I'm happy that way, right?

So I found this recipe over on A Year of Crockpotting (which is a really awesome blog, btw) and adapted to my needs.

I mostly just doubled it, but I did use canned beans (it's getting toward the end of tax season, I'm getting too lazy for dry!) I also subbed cans of corn for frozen (no room in my freezer!) and I only used half the chicken broth called for (if you doubled it) because after doubling everything else, there was only room for about 4 cups. (I think they will like a thicker soup anyway, and since I'm using canned beans they don't need as much liquid.) I don't intend to thicken it, oh, and after cooking (8 hrs. on Low) the sour cream, instead of being stirred in (because it sits on warm afterward, it would separate or curdle) will just be served on the side for people to put in. I used La Victoria salsa because it's my fave, I feel it has the most flavor. But the store only had Medium so I added a dash of chipotle to up the heat juuust a smidge. I loved that the chicken was the only cutting I had to do! (I used frozen boneless, skinless thighs-- half of a 4 lb. package, no measuring necessary. ;) )

On the side, I sent the sour cream, some shredded Mexican blend cheese (made with 2% milk) and some organic tortilla chips (same price as regular, may as well go organic!) They can crumble them in or eat on the side, as they wish. :)

I wasn't sure how to categorize this but it seems more Tex-Mex than Mexican to me so that's what I'm going with.

Monday 2/2: Nogales Pie

I started with this recipe.

I made a few changes:

-used 2+ lbs. of beef
-used a whole (2 cup) package of shredded 2% (aka low-fat) Mexican blend cheese
-used 2 onions
-used 5 cloves garlic
-used 3 Tbsp. chili powder and 2 1/2 Tbsp. cumin; omitted oregano (forgot it...)
-used one can tomato sauce and 1 drained 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (I forgot to double the amount of sauce I bought; it's not something I keep around)
-used 2 cans Ranch Style beans
-used 2 cans no salt added corn
-used 5 corn tortillas on each layer, and ripped into quarters instead of cutting into sixths
-used 2 4.8 ounce cans of sliced olives
-used 2 4 ounce cans of green chiles

Here's how I did the layers:

Tortillas

Half of beef mixture topped with about 1/3 of cheese

Tortillas

One can of beans, one can of corn, one can of olives

Tortillas

Rest of beef mixture, topped with 1/3 of cheese

Tortillas

Other can of beans, other can of corn, other can of olives, topped with rest of cheese


It just filled up my 6 qt. crockpot. It will cook for 5-7 hours on low.

I think it will be pretty mild; people will probably want to put some hot sauce on it.

The lady who posted the recipe calls it Mexican but it feels Tex-Mex to me (despite the lack of liquid smoke) so that's how I'm classifying it.