Can I Bring You a Meal?

In the last couple of years I have experienced some serious generosity from my friends. This really the understatement of the year...they have been more than awesome. In the last 3 years, have had three major surgeries-each hospital stay my friends have taken my children, fed my family and even taken my dog from time to time. This has been such an incredible blessing to me that I feel compelled to do the same for others wherever I can. This made me think about what gifts and talents God has given me. I mean, how can I best serve others and serve God? Well, it came to me. I'm a decent cook and people like to eat. So I started looking for families that could use a meal or two to get through a hard time. The Lord began to provide those families for me. It has been awesome. I started thinking about organizing the meals into a cookbook of sorts- just to organize my thoughts and maybe find ways to make the meals more cost effective. It seemed like a good idea to me. Ha! It has become a daunting task. As I was thinking of restarting my blog it occurred to me that I could test my cookbook ideas on my blog. So that is what I am going to do...I think. Well, I am open to ideas anyway! So...here is the first glimpse of my cookbook called...drumroll please... well shoot ~ I already named my post "Can I Bring You a Meal?" Tell me what you think. My plan was to find ways to use the same basic ingredients to make two different meals. That way, the meal planner can not only feed the family in need- their own family gets the goods too! So the first idea I had was for a rotisserie chicken. We love um around these here parts! Honestly, there is nothing easier than to pick one of these bad boys up on the way home and you are half way to dinner! Well, I was considering what kind of recipes I could come up with that could make two separate meals from one rotisserie chicken. I usually purchase them at Sam's Club for $4.99. That's not too shabby. Split that in two and you have your meat for $2.50. I have found that you can glean about 2 Cups of chicken from a rotisserie chicken (depending on the size of course). Well, my first thought was soup or chili-that would make a chicken go far and feed lots of people. Ahh haaa!! I wish that I could tell you that I was more organized and had all of the cost of this soup figured out...but I don't. I just thought of doing this an hour ago! A while ago, my friend gave me an easy recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup which I then altered slightly. It only calls for 1 Cup of shredded chicken! Even better! Save the other cup for another recipe! Yay! This recipe is certainly not the authentic traditional yummy yummy yummy goodness~ but it is delightfully easy and delicious in its own way! My family really enjoys it, I have received some serious compliments and the recipe makes enough to feed a small army! Because I often am bringing meals to new mommies that may be nursing- I only use mild salsa. If you like it hot- go for the gusto and get'cha some hot salsa and maybe add an extra can of rotel instead of the plain tomatoes. Here we go! Easy Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 Cup Shredded Rotisserie Chicken 1 Can Black Beans (Rinsed) 1 Can Rotel Tomatoes 1 Can Petite Cut Tomatoes 1 Jar Salsa (I used mild) 1 Bag Frozen Corn 1 Pkg Taco Seasoning (I make my own- I will do a link later!) 1 Box Chicken Stock 1 or 2 Bags Tortilla Chips Sour Cream or Cheddar Cheese Dump the first 8 ingredients into a large pot! Cook on medium heat until the soup has thickened. Serve with Tortilla Chips, Sour Cream and Cheddar Cheese. It is yummy and so easy!!