Southwest Chicken Tortilla Soup....

We had this soup Sunday for my son's birthday party. I forgot to take pictures of it....I know, I know, Im sorry. Bad food blogger, what can I say. I will definiately be making this soup again and will get a picture next time. For now you get to see how much of it was left after the party. This should tell you how good it was. I got the recipe from my friend Kristin. She made it for our Bunko game night and it was soooooo good.

Southwest Chicken Tortilla Soup
Kristin Fowles

1 small white onion diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs oil
1 lb chicked diced or shredded (I just used a rotisserie chicken from the store)
2 14oz cans chicken broth
1 15 oz can diced tomatos
1 15 oz can diced tomatos with green chilis
1 7 oz can green chilis
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp corriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1 15 oz can white beans (I used great northern beans)
2 cups corn (I just used canned corn, 2 cans)
pepper
chopped cilantro
shredded cheese
tortilla strips

- heat oil. Cook onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chicken broth, tomatos, green chilis, and spices. Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add corn, chicken, and beans then simmer for another 5 minutes (at this point I transferred mixture to a crock pot because it wouldnt all fit in my skillet.) Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Top with chopped cilantro, cheese, tortilla strips and sour cream.

Sweet & Sour Chicken.....

Here is another yummy recipe from my friend Melanie at "My Kitchen Cafe" . You might think that I use her food blog the most because she is a friend of mine but you would be wrong! I frequent her blog more often than others because every recipe I have tried, I have loved! More importantly, my family loves them and you should know that I have some very picky eaters. I almost always have at least half of the ingredients for her recipes and they are very simple, which is a bonus for me since I dont really have a lot of time or patience to cook complicated meals. So, I encourage you to check out her blog for more recipes that are sure to please!

I changed a couple of little things to save myself some time on this. The recipe calls to cut chicken into chunks but I find that it takes so much time to dip each one and fry and turn that I decided to use chicken strips or tenders rather than whole breasts. Its really about preference but this does save me a lot of time.

Without further ado.........

Sweet & Sour Chicken
adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks...or... 1 pkg of boneless chicken tenders
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)

Cut breasts into chunks unless you are using tenders. Season with salt and pepper. Pour cornstarch into a platter or just on a plate. Dip chicken into cornstarch covering both sides then dip into the egg. Fry a little in the oil on each side until brown but not cooked all the way through. Place the chicken in a single layer in a baking dish (9x13 at least). Mix sauce ingredients together (below) and pour over the chicken.

Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you want extra sauce with this then make another batch of the sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes or until sauce is thickened and reduced.

Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt


Another little side note....I have never turned the chicken every 15 minutes like the recipe calls for and it has turned out fine. This would be another thing that would take too much time for me so, again it would be a preference thing. I also heat my oven to 350 degrees and cook it for 45 minutes.....nothing like shaving 15 minutes off cooking time! If you are impatient like I am, this works great!