Rainy Sundays are perfect for putting a soup on in the crockpot.  I decided to try a new eMeals recipe.  But I had to decide whether I wanted to use my regular old crockpot, or my instant pot.

If I’m just wanting to use the crock pot feature, and don’t need to take advantage of the instant pot’s feature allowing the cook time to be delayed, I actually prefer the regular crock pot.  I feel like crock pot recipes I make in the instant pot take longer to cook and are more watery than I like them, compared to using the “regular” crock pot.

My plans to use my crock pot were foiled, though, because when I took the crock pot out of the cabinet, I found it had burnt on food on its walls, that apparently I missed seeing the last time I washed and put it away.

I (halfheartedly) attempted to scrub it clean, but it wasn’t budging (and who knows how long it had been there, anyway), so I googled “HOW TO CLEAN BURNT FOOD OUT OF CROCKPOT” and found the suggestion to dump 1/4 cup of baking soda, water and a squirt of liquid soap into the crockpot, cover and cook on high.  The directions said to cook for 4 hours, but I only did 2, and the gunk wiped right out.  Easy peasy.

In the meantime, I loaded up the instant pot with the ingredients for Chicken Tortilla Soup, and eight hours later, I had dinner.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces (but I used to 12.5 oz cans of canned chicken, drained)
• 32 oz carton of chicken broth
• 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles
• 12.7 oz pkg frozen Southwest vegetable blend, thawed
• 10 oz enchilada sauce
• 2 cloves garlic (I used a teaspoon of refrigerated minced garlic)
• 2 tsp ground cumin (I used 1 heaping teaspoon)
• 2 tsp chili powder (I only used 1 light teaspoon)
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• Tricolor crispy tortilla strips

Throw everything but the avocado and cheese in the crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.  Garnish with avocado, cheese and tortilla strips.

This was good stuff, will definitely be saving this recipe.  I did have trouble finding the Southwest vegetable blend – only one of the two local Walmart stores carried it.  I’m sure if I shopped at fancier places, though, it would be easy to find.

And no, Tarzan wouldn’t try it.