Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ever since we hosted a crock pot party in my kitchen I have been wanting to upgrade our crock pot. The pot I own is suuuuuuper old and after seeing all of the features of the 5 much newer crock pots I realized I've been missing out! Tell me about your crock pot. Do you love it? Should I put it on my Christmas list?

OK, on to another delicious crock pot soup...

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Adapted from Baked by Rachel

Ingredients

1.5 lbs chicken breast

15 oz can sweet whole corn kernels, drained
15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup green bell pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Avocado, diced
Tortilla strips

Directions:

1. In your slow cooker, add first 8 ingredients. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

2. Prior to serving, remove chicken breasts and shred (by hand or stand mixer). Return shredded seasoned chicken to slow cooker bowl. Stir gently.

3. Serve with a generous helping of shredded cheese, avocado and seasoned tortilla strips.

Coffee Talk

If we were having a cup of coffee I would want to chat about...

How to get exactly what you want for Christmas (or your birthday, or Mother's Day, or Valentine's day, or any time!). I was recently listening to a podcast on this topic and loved it so much that I had to share it with y'all because...tis the season for gifts! Sometimes we wives can create expectations in our head for a certain gift or a favor that we really, really, really want and hope our husbands will magically gift or do for us.

Examples: I hope he makes dinner reservations at my favorite restaurant for my birthday -- and invites our friends. Or I hope he gets me a spa day for Mother's Day because dang, doesn't he know I'm tired? Or I wish he would volunteer to clean the kitchen because I just busted my tail cooking. Or I hope he tackles bath time because I've run out of patience tonight. Or I wish he would bring me flowers and whisk me away for our anniversary weekend. etc. etc. etc.

If there is something in particular that you really want, your odds for getting it go up tremendously if you simply ASK FOR IT. If that feels too direct for you or you prefer the element of surprise, maybe you opt for a more subtle route and dog ear a few catalogs around the house. Or maybe you're the kind of person who will be happy regardless of the gift, even if you get a toaster. For the rest of us, I'm definitely not advising you to march up to your husband and demand a particular gift, but if you do have something in mind that you want you can subtly say "In case you're looking for an idea for me for Christmas, I'd really love..." Oftentimes we think the people around us should just know what we want, but your husband can't read your mind no matter how long y'all have been together. So this Christmas make it easy for him. Send him the link to that purse you've been swooning over and tell him which color you love. Or mention that you'd love a weekend away together for an upcoming special occasion. He may even appreciate the direction so he doesn't have to guess what you want.

I know. I know. Some of you are thinking exactly what my girlfriends always say too when this conversation comes up..."yeah, but Matt is always surprising you with thoughtful gifts and favors." And it is true. He is insanely good at surprises or picking up on what I like. But you know what? A lot of times I tell him what I would love to have or do for that special occasion. Heck, I ordered some of my Christmas gifts for Matt to wrap and give me!

One last but super important thing -- be careful not to tie meaning to whether or not you get what you ask for! Your husband loves you.

Christmas music. I can't get enough of the Pentatonix Christmas station. It's so so so good.

Christmas cookie recipes. Tell me your favorite cookie recipe! Two years ago I made an amazing Graham Cracker Toffee and last year I made Saltine Cracker Toffee -- both are amazing. However this year I want to whip up some new treats, so share your favorite Christmas cookie recipe with me!

Find previous coffee dates here!

Caroline's 1st Nutcracker

Last week Caroline and I went to see the Nutcracker! All day long she told every person who would listen that she was going to see the Coconut.

I'm pretty sure I'm still on a mama high from the experience. Before I even met Matt I dreamed of the precious mama moments I would have with my future children. This was one of them. Hands down, this was my absolute favorite thing I've ever done with Caroline and I will never ever forget the magic of the night -- and I don't think she will either.

We were invited to attend Charlotte Ballet's Media Night performance, the night before the grand opening, so the theater was completely empty with the exception of a few photographers and guests. Preceding the performance we attended a cocktail reception where mommy grabbed some bubbly and we filled our plates with mini sandwiches and hors d'oeuvres before settling in to our seats.

When the ushers opened the doors they directed us to the main floor. Level one. Front row. I still cannot believe this happened. I've never attended a Nutcracker performance where the dancers looked larger than the size of an ant from my balcony seat. And here we were front row -- an experience I had never imagined I would have with my little girl because let's be honest, I would never pay for a front row ticket for a 3 year old. Not only could we see the facial expressions of the dancers and every detail of the set, our seats looked right into the orchestra. We could even hear every word of the conductor. It. was. unreal. 

I was confident that after a full day of school and a 7 pm performance (her bedtime), that Caroline would make it about 20 minutes before she either passed out or got bored. Nope. At intermission I asked her if she was ready to go home and she looked offended. She was so infatuated with the performance that we decided to stay through Act 2 -- but not before loading up on the special intermission treats!

Peanutcracker ice cream for Caroline & boozy hot chocolate for mama.

At the end of the performance the theater passed out cookies as favors while Caroline passed out in my arms. It was the perfect night with my baby girl.