Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love chicken enchiladas and I love soup! This recipe is the best of both worlds. A friend of mine recently sent me this recipe and I’ve been dying to try it. BTW, it’s a Paleo recipe if you are interested. I was mainly interested because it sounded delicious! I love nothing more than cooking in the crockpot. It’s the best feeling (and smell) to come home from work and finding your dinner already cooked and ready to eat. Crockpots make me happy. I’m easy to please. Cupcakes and Crockpots make me happy.  If they don’t already make you happy, cooking this soup in your crockpot will make you happy. My husband absolutely loved this soup. He went back for a hearty second bowl. It makes me happy when he loves a recipe that much. This is a keeper. I’ll be making this again very soon. Here’s how to bring a smile to your family’s face too:

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotelle tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (garnish)

Directions:

Add the chicken to the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic on top of the chicken. Pour the diced tomatoes and chicken stock over the top. Sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.

 

Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. Use a fork to shred the chicken before serving. 

Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. I added a little bit more of each. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

 

Look how hearty this soup is! It looks more like a stew than soup. That is a lot of chicken in one bowl. I didn’t have fresh cilantro on hand so I garnished with dried. I’ll have fresh next time I make it though.

Pan Fried Pork Chops

 

Who doesn’t love a fried pork chop?? Well, I guess those that don’t eat pork, but everyone else, are you with me?? I love, love pan fried pork chops but don’t really make them often. I’m not sure why, it just doesn’t happen. After making these tonight and remembering how delicious they are, I think things will change around here.  Maybe we will turn into weekly pork chop people. Of course we had to have mashed potatoes to go along with them. Don’t worry, I had a green vegetable to balance my plate like my high school Home Ec teacher taught me. Thanks Mrs. Maxwell. Unfortunately we didn’t have pork chops and applesauce. Hopefully there are some readers out there that got my Brady Bunch reference. Okay, I’ll stop with my 1980s references and get down to pan frying some pork chops!

 

Ingredients:

4 bone in pork chops, not too thick

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup canola or vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Combine the dry ingredients in a pan large enough to dredge your pork chops.

 

Salt and pepper both sides of your pork chops. Sorry I didn't put them on a fanc plate for you. I just kept them on the plastic wrap they came out of the freezer in. One might call it lazy blogging, but I call it efficient!

 

Heat oil over medium heat, then add butter. Butter helps the chops to brown (my friend, Ree Drummond taught me that trick)

 

Dredge each pork chop through the flour mixture to ensure each side is evenly coated.

 

When oil is hot, place 2-3 pork chops in at a time and start the browning process. If your chops are the thickness of mine, you’ll need about 4-5 minutes per side. Just make sure no pink juices are oozing from the chop. Once the first batch is done, remove to a plate with paper towel and finish up the batch.

 

How beautiful do these pork chops look? I think they look delicious and am ready to dig in! The hubby was quite pleased with dinner tonight!