Cook-in-Training

Ciao,
I've never been much of a cook.  In fact, I was never really taught how to cook.  My beautiful mother passed away when I was a very little girl.  She was very ill for many years before her passing,  so kitchen time with me was just not an option.

Of course I can make some basic things.  My kids and husband have survived on my cooking for all these years. ;-)      However, I just never enjoyed it.    I didn't know the basic cooking techniques and every meal I prepared felt stressful and I put way too much pressure on myself.

Here I am today, trying to find my way in the kitchen and learn to love cooking.  I also love photography, so I've decided to practice a little with food photography.   Hopefully, my skills will improve in that arena too, as you will soon see by the photographs I post below...lol

Today, I decided to try a recipe that I "Pinned" on Pinterest.   If you are not aware of what Pinterest is, then check back here  for a future post all about my new Pinterest passion.

The recipe I have chosen to try today uses the crock-pot.  In my opinion, the crock-pot is probably the greatest invention of all time, besides the microwave.   :-)

The recipe is for "Chicken Enchilada Soup".  I love soup and given I am trying to eat a little lighter, I figure this would work well with a nice salad for dinner.    The particular recipe came from the Tasty Kitchen and here is the link to find this and other fabulous recipes for you and your family too.

The Tasty Kitchen

I made my ingredient list and off to the store I went.   I wanted to know exactly what I spent to make the soup, so I didn't add anything else to the cart.   This might be a good technique to use in the future, as you know how hard it is to make it in and out of a grocery store with exactly what you went for.   Success !!

Yummy stuff 

As you can see by my reciept below, the total cost of the soup was $18.35.  Not bad in my book, as this breaks down to approx. $3.06 per serving.   (tip:  You can even cut the cost down more by using less expensive brands.)

The cost is awesome

Let the fun begin ....

Rinse the black beans 

Place in the crock pot 

Add diced tomatoes to crock-pot  

Add Frozen Corn 

Add diced onions 

Mix all together 

Add boneless chicken breasts 

Mix Enchilada Sauce, Cream of Chicken Soup and Milk together 

Pour on top of everything in crock-pot

Cover crock-pot and cook on high for 6 hours

 The house has smelled so good the entire day as this amazing creation cooks.  I have also been stress free through this whole adventure today.. LOL,   Now for the final unveiling (que the music)  hahaha 

I proudly present the finished product !! 

 The soup not only looked good but tasted wonderful as well.  This makes approximately 6 servings has about 200 calories per bowl with lots of fiber... Whoot Whoot ... I'm one happy camper now.