Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today is a perfect winter day in Phoenix.  Well at least I think so after being home in Nampa for 2 months.  It poured rain all day today, even as I was walking over to the gym for my first weight lifting workout since my second OVC diagnosis.  My heart rate goes crazy when I work out, but today I warmed up by walking for 10 minutes and then did my lifting and felt just fine.  I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but it will be a good sore.  I'm ready to get my muscle back.  There was a short break in the rain and I even saw some sunshine.  I decided to use this break to hit the library and the super market.  I loved that I felt comfortable in flip flops, a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt; I told you perfect winter weather.

In honor of our winter weather I decided a pot of soup was in order.  I combined a few different recipes to come up with my own Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It was souper delicious.

I will admit I did have to search my kitchen to find my crockpot, since it hasn't been used in I don't know how long.  It's possible I haven't used it since moving here, but maybe once.

1-2 cans of Chicken Broth (I didn't have any so I used water and chicken boulion)
1 can diced tomatos
1/2 can lime and cilantro Rotelle (I didn't want mine too spicy, but you could probably use the entire can)
1 can tomato paste
1 can black beans
A little minced garlic
1 can corn (or frozen corn) I put my corn in towards the end of cooking
1-2 tsp chili powder
1/2-1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2-1 yellow pepper chopped
I grated onion because I'm going to share this with Aunt Leslie and she doesn't do onions (that is if she can see them).
2-3 whole chicken breasts

Put all ingredients in a crock pot.  I put this on high for an hour or so and then turned it down to low.  When the chicken is cooked shred with two forks and then return to pot.

I've had cream cheese in this soup before and it was amazing.  I did put a little in my bowl, but you could put a block in the crock pot 30 minutes before serving so it melts or leave it out and use sour cream.
Garnish with smoked gouda cheese, oh my it's amazing.  Squeeze in fresh lime and cut up some avocado.  Tortilla chips would add to this too if you have them and want the added calories, since this is chicken tortilla soup.  Hope you enjoy this as much as I did and will for the next few days since I made enough.