I threw together the easiest chicken tortilla soup recipe in the crock pot this morning in hopes of something tasty to eat after a few days of a BRAT diet going on in our home. Bananas, rice, applesauce and toast can get boring really fast. And I wish that I could tell you that my treasures are in love with my soup the way that I am, but they are utterly and completely not. And although we have a "get what you get, and say thank you to your Mama" policy about food in this house, I'm a big fan of offering kindness and grace to a bunch of treasures who have just spent the past two days looking into a stinky potty. :)
So, tonight in an attempt to get off the couch and turn those sulky sick faces looking up at me, into smiles, we pulled out our spiffy pancake pen and cooked up some special pancakes. The dancing girl asked for a ballerina shaped pancake. I don't think she got the memo that her Mama is not quite the Picasso that she's convinced that I am. I'm thankful that she settled for a heart shape instead. :)
We made cars and smiley faces and stacks of silver dollars. I spread a wee bit of Nutella over the top and piled them high with sliced bananas. We laid a picnic blanket out in front of the fire. The big brother made the little brother laugh as I put the final touches on the evening's pancake masterpieces.
Dinner was done and everyone seemed to be keeping their food down just fine... bonus.
The childhood joy was making it's way back into the farmhouse. The girls in their "dancing clothes" the dancing girl teaching the spunky girl her ballet moves to the beat of some good old fashioned Super Tones. Not sure how that worked out, ballet and skaw music, but their girly giggles were back and it was music to my ears.
The farm is cooling off and we've been doused in rain for two days now. The summer green hill country is slowly turning brown. The leaves are turning yellow. After I put the treasures to bed tonight I sat out on the front porch looking into the beauty of the rain over the mountains. How the Lord has time to paint such beautiful portraits while still so passionately pursuing the hearts of his most precious creation is beyond me.
The view from our farmhouse porch tonight...
I was wishing the Cowboy could have joined me, but sometimes nights alone on the porch with Jesus gratitude at the forefront of everything in me, turn out to be the most lovely endings to farmhouse sick days. :)
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Easiest and BEST Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
(Hopefully you're blessed enough to live near a Trader Joes. If not, hopefully you have kind friends and family who live close to one and are kind enough to send you a box of delicious goodies from there every once in awhile. :)
Ingredients
1 box of low sodium chicken broth
1 jar of Trader Joes corn salsa
1 jar of Trader Joes green salsa
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can rotel tomatoes
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Dump ALL ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours
Ladle some delicious soup into a bowl and top with shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, and slices of avocado. The cowboy also likes to add a dollop of sour cream and some fresh jalapenos from our garden.
Enjoy!!
