Island's Tortilla Soup

Recently, Eric told me that my soup was better than the restaurant's. I am glad because it is pretty easy to make and cheaper than going out!

Here's the recipe if you want to try it!

Island's s® Tortilla Soup

Rotisserie Chicken from Store (Or you can roast your own, but why)
16 Cups (1 gallon) water
1 Medium Spanish onion, diced, (2 cups)
1 Medium red bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
2 Medium carrots, diced (1 cup)
2 Anaheim peppers, diced (3/4 cup)
2 Cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)
4 6-inch yellow corn tortillas, diced (1 1/2 cups)
juice of 2 large limes (3 tablespoons)
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Teaspoon chili powder
1 Teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Tortilla Strips
2 Cups vegetable oil
6 6-inch yellow corn tortillas
1 Teaspoon chili powder
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 Teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 Teaspoon salt

Garnish 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese 2 avocados, diced

INSTRUCTIONS:
Removed meat from cooled chicken. Discard skin and use bones for stock.

Add bones to water in a large sauce pan or stock pot. Bring just to boil and reduce heat, simmer 30 minutes.

Remove a tablespoon of drippings from chicken package (or use olive oil) into large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, peppers, carrot and garlic in hot skillet for 10 minutes over medium heat.

After bones have simmered 30 minutes, remove from water, and add sauteed vegetables, 1 1/2 cups diced corn tortillas ,chicken meat, lime juice, salt, chili powder and cayenne pepper.

Simmer about 30 mintes and then add cilantro. Simmer up to 30 minutes longer, until vegetables are cooked through.

Heat 2 cups of vegetable oil in medium saucepan.

Make crispy spicy tortillas strips by cutting a pile of 6 small corn tortillas into 1/4-inch strips. Fry strips, half at a time, until crunchy. About 4-5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Combine seasonings for strips (chili powder, cayenne and salt) in a bowl. Toss tortilla strips with seasoning until strips are coated.

Serve bowls of soup topped with a 2 tablespoons of shredded Jack cheese, about 2 tablespoons of diced avocado. Top with a handful of tortilla strips.

Yields 8 servings


I often skip the sautéing step if I have time to let the soup cook for a few hours, it cuts out that tablespoon of fat calories and saves me from having to wash another pan. I just follow the recipe but still wait til 30 minutes before serving to add the cilantro.

Earthquake

Have you ever sad so much to say, that you feel like you are going to burst?

That has been me lately, so I have been avoiding the blog so I don't explode everywhere.

However I do have something to talk about.
The Earthquake.

It was the longest most hardcore earthquake I have ever been in. It was a 7.2 earthquake about 117 miles from Eric's house. Eric's condo is on the top story of a 5 story building.It shook like crazy.

We felt aftershocks through the rest of the day and well into the night. I last felt one around 6:30-7ish this morning.

I did not like it.

Dinnertime!

Sunday Night I made Sliders for Dinner. Ever since I saw the cute little hamburger things in a sale ad, I have wated to make them. We LOVE the ready to eat bacon around here 4 slices are 70 calories and that makes this dieter happy. The only thing I didn't love were the buns. They were dry and i could have done without them. We had cheese, tomatoes, bacon, avocado and anaheim peppers to go on them. I made some Elotes in a cup as a side, but learned that you have to use real Mexican cheese or the fake parmesean. The real parmesean doesn't do well in this dish.

It's a bit late for that...

but I do kind of have some resolutions I am trying to keep.

For one thing, I have gone on a diet. I have lost 7 lbs as of Saturday and will be weighing myself again when I get home. I want to lose enough weight that I can go Ziplining while on my cruise in May.

I have been eating fast food way less often, partially as part of the diet, but also because it just isn't good for you. I have been trying to eat at home more, and out less. One recipe I have discovered is a cake made from a box of cake mix and a can of diet soda. I tried Chocolate with Diet coke, and it is good. I want to try Strawberry cake with diet sprite next and make them as cupcakes... the cupcakes have less than a hundred calories each and are pretty tasty...

I am slowly trying to reduce the amount of things I have, I don't have a lot of room for storage, and I just have too much stuff, sorting out the important and the nostalgic from the rest is tedious, but I am making some progress.

My career goals are on hold as I can't even APPLY for library school until next August. So right now, I am working at the library, trying to make money.

I want to start a food blog, or two actually. One is for fun and tasty restaurants in Southern California (embracing my LA roots and my mew discoveries in SD) the other is a healthier eating blog...

I have other things I am trying to do, but I need to figure out dinner and go to the store...

The only reason I haven't posted is because I just don't know what to say anymore. I don't understand how I can be blissfully happy and yet there is this undercurrent of sadness too.

Blah.