Aaand, I'm back!

Well hello!  I know, I know, its been a while.  I know you missed me but I've been insanely busy which left very little time for good old home cookin'.  Post marathon, my kitchen went under construction.  We tore up the floors, cabinets, appliances, lighting, everything. (I'll post pics later)  Needless to say I was utilizing my microwave quite a bit more than normal.  Mixed in with the construction was crazy amounts of travel.  Some of the highlights include trips to Kentucky (that's right ya'll), Los Angeles, NYC, Austin, Colorado, and Tampa.

Anyways, I'm back at it in the kitchen and obviously my first project was soup.  Since I've made just about every other kind of soup that there is, I decided to go with a tortilla soup.  Let's just call it a belated Cinco de Mayo festival in the Felcher household.

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
2 cans diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 can black beans
1 large onion
1 green pepper
leftover diced chicken breast (you can definitely get away without adding this)
1 package of frozen corn
4 - 5 cups of low sodium chicken broth
2 minced gloves of garlic
1 diced jalapeño pepper
Various spices...I used:
1 tbs cumin
2 tbs of chili powder
a few solid shakes of red pepper flakes
1 tbs of garlic powder
1 tbs of oregano
salt
pepper
cilantro
lime

Garnishes
avocado
tortilla chips
lime
shredded cheese
sour cream (I didnt use any bc I didnt have any but it would have been delicious!)

Directions
In large soup pot, heat olive oil and saute onions and peppers and garlic until soft.

Add spices and let sit for a few minutes until it smells delicious

Add chicken broth, tomatoes (I used the juice of one of the cans too), corn, beans, jalapeños and simmer for a half hour.

Add in cilantro and chicken and a few squeezes of lime juice.

Serve this beauty up and top it with cheese, tortilla strips, avocado, and a lime.

EAT and REPEAT.