A Soup for Busy Moms

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love soup.  Especially when it’s cold outside.  I pinned this little soup from Rachel Ray a while back and I’ve been dying to try it.  So, I went to pull it up and realized it required a few more steps than I was prepared to handle.  I love Rachel Ray and all, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t teach 6 & 7 year olds all day and then come home to two VERY overactive boys under the age of 5.  By 6:00, easy is the name of the game.  Unless I’m trying to escape crying and screaming…which is pretty much a nightly occurrence…and then I *might* enjoy being in the kitchen longer than normal.  All that to be said, I took Ms. Ray’s recipe and tweaked it to fit this busy momma’s schedule.  And ohmiword…couldn’t have been easier…or tastier!!!

THE BUSY MOM’S CHICKEN & RICE SOUP

adapted from Rachel Ray

1 rotisserie chicken {I used ALL the meat}

1 box {32 oz.} chicken broth

1/4 cup lime juice {2 limes}

1 cup salsa {I used Joe T. Garcia’s, mild}

1 can diced tomatoes with onion

1 cup frozen corn {or more if you like corn!}

1 cup frozen chopped veggies {celery, green pepper, and onion}

2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

1/3 cup Mexican cheese

1-2 boil-in-a bag bags of rice {this is the only way I can cook it :)}

 

Here it is, in all it’s EASY glory.

Shredding the chicken was the most time consuming part of this whole recipe.  Praise the Lord.

First up, bring chicken broth, lime juice, and salsa to a boil.

Add in the diced tomatoes, frozen corn, and frozen chopped veggies.  I definitely let the frozen items thaw out before I tossed ‘em in.  Cook on medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes, reduce to low and add the shredded chicken.  Cover and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook your rice.  I’m a cheater and I always use the boil-in-a-bag version.  I boiled 2 bags for this recipe.  Drain and return to pot.  Now take a spoonful{ish} of rice and dump it into your bowl.

Spoon a very generous helping of the soup mix on top of the rice.  The more rice you add, the thicker your soup will be, so proceed with caution :) 

Y’all.  This *might* be my new favorite soup.  Just sayin’.  As you can see, my soup is a little on the thick side here.  I added a little more rice than I probably should have, but ohmiword.  SO good!!!  And filling as all get out, too!!!  You might want to have an extra quart of chicken broth on hand.  You can always add more to the soup mix if you need to.  Infact, I ate this for lunch the very next day and there was a bit of reduction in the “soupiness”, so I added some chicken broth to the mix before I heated it up and it was perfect!!! 

I dressed her up with some avocado, mexican cheese, and sour cream and I could hear the mariachi bands start to sing. ¡Esto es la gloria! Seriously.  And you can’t tell me this doesn’t look easy.  Sure, it’s not ready in 5 minutes, but 5 minutes is about all it takes to prep :)  This is the kinda soup this busy momma LOVES!!!!