Chicken Tortilla Soup

 Let the soup season begin! 

Top picture features ingredients.  Second picture is the finished soup topped with cheese and chips.
 

Chicken Tortilla Soup 

(another recipe from our local congregation cookbook that we bought a few years ago)

2 chicken breasts
1 (15-oz.) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained
1 TBSP chopped green chiles, mild
1/2 cup salsa
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
tortilla chips and cheese for topping

Cut chicken into large chunks and place in a large saucepan. Barely cover the chicken with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook chicken until no longer pink.  Remove chicken but do not drain the water.  Shred chicken.  Place chicken back in the saucepan with the water.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until combined.  Heat up and simmer 5 minutes.  Top with chips, cheese, etc...

Sunday Randomness #89: Inconsistencies in Life

• In the winter/spring transition we went through an episode where everyone was sick. Cold, coughs, fevers, headaches, tiredness and/or a combination. One individual remarked, through a haze of fatigue, that we were all decapitated in one way or another. (This was at dinner time so everyone heard the comment.) After the laughter subsided, they back-pedaled and clarified they meant incapacitated.  It was too late, the words had been spoken and we took a vote.  In our virus-plagued condition we agreed that "decapitated" did indeed fit our plight.

Don't attempt to relate simple Bible stories that have similar aspects late at night: 

Person 1: The Lord commanded Moses to build an ark.  Moses built the ark and the animals came aboard.
  
Person 2: Moses?!? It's not Moses, it's Noah. 

Person 1: Oh good, you caught the mistake even though it was unintentional. 

Person 2 (attempting to give some sympathy so Person 1 doesn't feel so bad): It's okay, they both deal with large bodies of water. 

While working on some family history recently I heard more about the story behind the "wrong" date on an ancestor's birthday.  Grandma Zina was born at home and the birth wasn't recorded until the next day.  Hence she always celebrated her birthday one day ahead of the "official" day.  

Her daughter remembers a long argument between Zina and one of her sisters over the official date.  The sister finally responded that Zina could celebrate her birthday whenever she would like to do so, but it would not change the official date.  The sibling still pointed out that the official date was the one that would be used for family history (and legal) information even if it technically was wrong.  

On our personal family list we have had the earlier date in honor of Grandma's actual birthday even if it didn't/doesn't match any official documentation.  This year we included both dates and the story that goes with the inconsistency.