Fixate Chicken Tortilla Soup

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  Today I am so happy to be able to share with you an EXCELLENT clean eating chicken tortilla soup which we made here for the first time last night.  I really loved this recipe and I have to say that it is my favorite dinner that I have made in the past couple of months!  For real!  You have to give it a try!

This recipe comes from the cookbook called "Fixate".  Fixate is available through Team Beachbody.  After experiencing a significant transformation with my health, I became a Coach with Beachbody.  I would be glad to help you out with how to obtain a copy of Fixate!  This cookbook was created by Autumn Calabrese of the 21 Day Fix.  Even if you are not doing the 21 Day Fix fitness/nutrition program, this cookbook is still an excellent resource with 101 clean eating recipes!

To best suit our day here yesterday, I did a few things a little bit differently with the recipe and I will include those notes below.  I did still use the exact same ingredient list!  I just skipped the blender/food processor part and had all of this simmering for a couple of hours instead.  It was AMAZING!

Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

                                        from Fixate

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 8 (6") tortillas, divided use
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 2 cups celery, sliced (about 4 medium stalks)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 6 cups low-sodium organic chicken broth
• 3 cups chopped and/or shredded rotisserie chicken, boneless/skinless
• 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots (about 3 medium)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt + more to taste
• ½ teaspoon pepper + more to taste
• optional garnish: chopped avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, crumbled Cotija (or Feta) cheese

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.

  

2) Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

3) Place tortillas on baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until toasted and crispy.  Remove from oven.  When cool, break into pieces.  Set aside.  

4) Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and celery; cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes and until veggies are soft. Add garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes; cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes and until tomatoes are soft. Set aside.

5) Add onion mixture, 2 cups broth and half of the toasted tortilla pieces to high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

6) Transfer blended mixture back to saucepan and add remaining 4 cups broth, chicken, carrots and seasonings. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.

7) Top each serving with preferred toppings such as avocado, cilantro, feta, and remaining tortilla chips.

Here is what I modified in making this recipe:  Steps 1-4 were exactly the same for me.  I did not place anything in a blender.  Once step 4 was complete I went ahead and added my chicken, carrots and seasonings.  I stirred everything well and then covered the pot.  I placed it in the oven at 275 and it remained there for 2 hours.  I then served the soup topped with the tortilla chips, avocado and feta.  There were no tortilla chips incorporated into the soup itself.  They were just on the top.  The entire thing was just so delicious.  Give it a try!

AND - we made some cookies for dessert last night and also to share with my daughter's teachers plus today's lunches for my husband and kids.  This cookie recipe was "new to me" and was created by a friend of mine.  I will include her blog link below!

 

These cookies are considered "clean eating", minus the M and M's that top some of them!  The cookies themselves do not contain any sugar and use honey as the sweetener.  We always work with raw honey here and it is really just fantastic!  

This kind of cookie would be my weakness!  They are clean eating but do contain a good amount of "healthy fat".  So we made 3/4's of a batch and that produced the 12 nicely-sized cookies that you see here.  The recipe calls for either coconut oil OR butter.  We used about 3/4 coconut oil and 1/4 butter to create our app. 1/3 cup total.  

Get the recipe here at my friend Brittney's blog!  We very much enjoyed these cookies and will for sure be making them again here in my home.  :)