Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup 

So being that I lived in Texas for a while, Im a HUGE fan on BBQ and Mexican food. (Ill share my Pulled pork recipe sometime its to die for) I also LOVE my crock pot (my mac and cheese is sooo yummy! Ill share that too!) In the winter time, I use my crock pot at least once a week. Usually on Sunday and then I take the left overs to work for the next week! I really love tortilla soup and Ive been looking for a good recipe, they are hard to find! I decided after a few tries though that I needed to change it up. So I decided to do a traditional tortilla soup but I added a few non traditional ingredients (black beans and corn) There are tons of variations to this staple recipe, so dont be afraid to add or omit something, pretty much EVERYTHING goes with this type of soup! If you are familiar with the original, it has more vegetables in it than this and is very broth based. If you're afraid to change a recipe too much you can always take small parts and change them in a different pot. (or per bowl!)

Ingedients--

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes in juice
1 Cup diced onion 
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup Jalapenos 
1 Lb Chicken (can be frozen if doing crock pot) You will shred it later. 
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (optional)
handful of cilantro for serving

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
Grated Cheddar Cheese for serving
Avocado for serving 

Directions- 

Basically put everything but the avocado, cheese and tortilla strips into the crock pot and let cook for 6 hours on low. (You can use frozen chicken if you want!) About an hour before you are ready to serve shred the chicken. Let cook for about 30 min to an hour on low to allow the spices to be soaked up by the chicken. 

Serve with tortilla chips/strips, cheese and avocado. 

***Some people may want to use tortilla strips in the soup which is also ok, I personally dont like that method, so I out crushed tortilla chips on top. Its up to you though.