Chicken Tortilla Soup

Okay so I make a few things really well. I know this because Tyler eats them up and asks for me to make enough for leftovers. (Or at least hints for me to make leftovers).
Here's one of our favorites.



Chicken Tortilla Soup (and the best part...) In a Crock Pot

Ingredients

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken (Recipe follows)
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed (I cheat and use whatever is in the pantry which is always Italian style tomatoes)
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce (Red sauce)
1 medium onion, chopped (I skip this one)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers (I use a whole green pepper cut up and then I take it out before we eat, but if you like spicy, go for it.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf (I don't use this because I don't know what it is)
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn (I just use a can)
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

You can add beans and rice if you want it to be thick. It is pretty thick to begin with. We do one package of RiceSides Mexican rice and it is perfect.

Directions

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.


For the shredded chicken:
Take about 3 chicken breasts and cut into smaller pieces. They don't have to be bite size but just in strips. Boil the can of tomatoes and 2 cups of water. If it is not enough to cover the chicken, add more water. Boil the chicken for 15 minutes in the pot. Make sure it is not pink before it is done. When it is cooked through, remove the chicken. If you didn't have to add water, then you can just dump out the tomatoes and water into the crock pot. If not, just remove the chicken and try to get the tomatoes out and you can take the water and use it as the 2 cups for the recipe. However you'd like to do it.
Take the chicken and put into a mixing bowl (note: I use a plastic one because I hate the noise that a fork makes at the bottom of a bowl). Shred the chicken with a fork. Just try it and you will see how easy it really is.

Voila! There is your meal. We add a tiny bit of cheese to our individual bowls and a tiny bit of sour cream. The sour cream goes a long way so be careful.