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Chicken Tortilla Soup

Lets talk food for a minute. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love food. One of my favorite recipes to cook is chicken tortilla soup. Now I actually have two different recipes for this, they don have the same ingredients, they dont’ have the same cooking techniques but they both taste amazing. Well at leas that is what my husband tells me.

The one I am going to share with you today I actually cook with the Instant pot. I got an Instant Pot for my birthday this past year. I know its a big deal right now to have one. I heard for a lot of busy families that they use it often and it saves them a lot of time. What I think they forgot to tell you before purchasing one, is that there is a lot of time spent on the instant pot warming up before it even starts the cooking time. Either way I still use and love mine. If you don’t have an instant pot, check this one out.

Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer

  • 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Cooker–Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Saute/Browning, Yogurt Maker, Steamer & Warmer
  • Large, easy to use control panel with 14 built-in Smart Programs, Dual pressure, Automatic keep-warm and 3 temperatures for saute and slow cook
  • Delay cooking time up to 24-Hours; Manual setting up to 120 minutes of cook time
  • UL and ULC certified with 10 proven safety mechanisms; Highly energy efficient and kitchen friendly
  • Include 3-ply bottom stainless steel cooking pot, stainless steel steam rack with handle & manual and recipes in English and French

For a chicken tortilla soup not using a Instant Pot, stay tuned, ill post one version later.

Lets get on to the good stuff, the food.

The chicken tortilla soup can be made for a full course. Of course this is Mexican cuisine, so feel free to make this as sky as you would like. This is one of the easier recipes I have made with the Instant Pot. Total time to make it is about 15-30 minutes, 9 of those are those specific to the cook time. This is actually faster then my other recipe. I have served this meal for those are that Gluten Free (like my self) as well as those who are following a low carb diet. As yo start to read over the ingredients you will see the main ones are the chicken, chicken broth and of course the tortillas. I usually do not have a lot of left overs when I make it even  though the serving nice is between 4-6

INGREDIENTS

Here is what you will need. Most of these items you can find at a local grocery store.

  • 28 ounces diced tomatoes 2 cans
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs boneless skinless
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 ounces green chiles diced, 1 can (of course the more cans you use, the spicer it may be, use real chiles for even more spice flavor.)
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 cloves garlic minced (I use the minced garlic right from a jar and it turned out great. 
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 Corn tortillas cut into 1 ⁄4 inch strips
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped fresh
  • 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
  • 1 avocado diced and tossed with lime juice
  • Lime wedges
  • Additional Item:
    • 16 oz corn (1 can), I’ll add it in although this recipe does not call for it.
    • sour cream, I will add this to the bowl once I am ready to serve, of course this is based on each persons preference.

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Combine tomatoes, chicken, chiles, broth, onion, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in the Instant Pot; mix well.

  2. Secure lid and move pressure release valve to Sealing position. Press Manual; cook at high pressure 9 minutes. When cooking is complete, use natural release for 10 minutes, then release remaining pressure.
  3. Remove chicken to plate; shred into bite-size pieces when cool enough to handle. Stir into soup.
  4. Press Sauté; add tortillas and cilantro to soup. Cook and stir 2 minutes or until heated through. I actually only add in the cilantro at this point. I cook the tortillas after cutting them in a bit of oil to make them crispy. Once I have served the soup in to bowls, then I will add the tortillas and top the bowl off with cheese, avocado and squeeze of lime juice. 

  5. Serve immediately.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Here are additional notes this this recipe that you might find helpful. These are not all to be combined, but each point is a different way to make the soup.

  • add 32 ounces of stock and a can of black beans and serve it with cheese quesadillas
  • add in 1 can of black beans and 1 can corn if you feel it needs a little more ingredients
  • add in 1 can of corn and 1 can of whole pinto beans
  • add in a bit of hot sauce, or leave it up to each persons preference
  • add in 3 10-oz cans of Rotel (mild), diced up one jalepeno pepper (no seeds), add 1 can of black beans (rinsed), 1 can of corn (not drained),  add 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. To kick it up a notch, turn on Saute, put avocado oil in the pot & saute the onion (2-3 mins on its own), add jalepeno and garlic with the seasoning for another 2-3 more mins before adding everything else.

What other ways have you tried making this recipe? Please share I am always interested to hear how others make tortilla soup.

Happy eating!

 

How to Make Delicious Spinach Artichoke Dip

Delicious Spinach Artichoke Dip

My secret is finally out. I have been told I make really great spinach artichoke dip. I am constantly asked the recipe and have been very hesitant to share the recipe, since I didn’t really follow a recipe when I would make it. Enough of me hording the Spinach Artichoke Dip recipe, its time for me to share.  I have tried my best to identify the measurements of each of the ingredients I use. Of course try it this way and then make adjustments based on your taste buds. Please share with me what those adjustments are, I would love to see everyone’s creativity.

READY IN: 30 mins

SERVES: 15

YIELD: 4 1/2 cups

What you will need

2 cups Parmesan cheese

1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of excess liquid

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2⁄3 cup sour cream

1 cup cream cheese

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons garlic, minced or 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Mix together the parmesan cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.

Combine remaining ingredients (sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise and garlic(crushed) and mix with spinach mixture.

Bake for 20-40 minutes. (stir as needed)

Serve with crackers or toasted bread.

Tip
  • I use the frozen spinach that is in a box. This is the perfect amount of spinach. I let it defrost between 12-24 hours. When I am ready to mix, I drain the spinach. I will even squeeze the spinach to ensure it is well drained.
  • I sometimes put more then 14 ounces of artichoke hearts. I get the artichoke hearts that is marinated.
  • I chop the artichoke heart up at least the size of a dime.
  • I sometimes put more then 2 cups of Parmesan cheese in to the mix. I use an estimated 2 bags if I buy the regular size cheese bags from the store.
  • I let the cream cheese come to room temperature before using it. It makes the mix easier to stir/mix once everything is combined.
  • Sometime the artichoke dip takes longer to warm in the over. I usually set the timer for 20 minutes, 10 minute and 10 minutes and then stir in between each time. It does not always take 40 minutes to warm up.
  • Bake it to the temperature you prefer.
  • If it cools, simply re-heart it either via the over or microwave.
  • This spinach artichoke dip is very good in stuffed bell peppers. I will cut the pepper
    in to either half, thirds or fourths depending on the size of the pepper. The artichoke dip would have already been heated in the oven so it is well mixed. I will put the artichoke dip in the bell pepper, wrap it in foil and let it warm up even more on the grill (15-30 minutes) depending on your preference of cooked bell peppers.
  • I have also put the spinach artichoke dip on top of burgers.

No matter how you eat your Spinach Artichoke Dip, it will be delicious. Everyone who I have made this for has loved it.

I hope you enjoy it!

Let me know your creative way to eat the artichoke dip.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Email: safebeautyonthemove@gmail.com

 

How to Roast Fresh Pumpkin Seeds

Here is an easy recipe for roasting fresh pumpkin seeds.

 

What you will need

  • 1 1/2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons butter, melted
  • 1 pinch salt

Directions 
  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
  • When you carve your pumpkins scoop the seeds into a colander and the guts onto newspaper or place in another bowl. Inevitably some of the guts will be mixed in with the seeds
  • You can rinse the seeds by run water over them it’s separated out pretty easily or you can leave them and simply toss them in to a bowl for mixing.
  • Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter and salt
    • The amount of salt you use, it up to your preference
  • Spray the pan *optional depending on your pan
  • Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.

Tip

If you’ve never roasted pumpkin seeds before here are my tips.

  • lightly drizzle olive oil over the pumpkin seeds before placing them in to the oven
  • Aluminum foil can be used to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier
  • After you drain the rinsed pumpkin seeds, pour them onto a large, dry cookie sheet and let them sit for 24 hours or so to dry out. Now you can pick out the remaining pieces of pumpkin stuff that didn’t get pulled out earlier and they will roast better if they are not wet when they go in the oven. My family prefers them seasoned with garlic salt in place of regular salt but you can use whatever suits your taste. So good!
  • I let them roast for 20 minutes, then shake them up, roast the pumpkin seeds another 20 mins, shake them and then maybe another 8 -10 mins, if i wanted them a tad darker.

After the first 20 mins 

After the second 20 mins

Another 5-10 mins for a tad more color 

The pumpkin seeds are then ready to eat

I hope you enjoy your roasted pumpkin seeds!