recipe swap

Thanks to Ashley at http://ingramgang.blogspot.com/, I am participating in a recipe swap. I am pretty new to this whole cooking thing so I love this idea. Before Saylor, Mas and I mostly wasted money going out to eat. But this has become a favorite lately--especially during the cold weather. And it's super easy. The most time-consuming part is shredding the chicken. The green chilies may be too spicy for the kiddoes, though.

CHICKEN TACO SOUP FOR YOUR CROCK POT

Ingredients:

*1 onion, chopped (we use onion powder instead)
*1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
*1 (15 ounce) can black beans
*1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
*1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
*1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (we use 1 can of chicken broth instead)
*2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies (ROTEL), undrained
*1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
*3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
*shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
*sour cream (optional)
*crushed tortilla chips (optional)


DIRECTIONS
Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer or chicken broth, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 7 hours.
Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled and shred chicken. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 1 hour. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Note: Dont skip the shredded cheese and sour cream--it makes it awesome!