cure for stress-Tortilla soup

Ookay, hypothetical here; You wake up semi early on a Sunday morning. You look around and feel kinda displaced. It looks like an atomic bomb exploded in your room, house, whatever. You feel your frustration growing and a huge sense of overwhelmed-ness takes control of your psyche. You want to scream, just a little. You've had a busy weekend, and still have a million and one things to do today. The way I see it, you have two choices:

a.) you can allow the stress to take over and become an insane stress-case

or

b.) you can acknowledge the stress and dive in. Start making things easier. 

If your sane, which i presume you are you will choose option b. Good choice! My family, has a tradition of Sunday dinners, a nice meal on a Sunday is really relaxing and provides you with lots of yummy leftovers. Of course time is an issues. Eating well means slaving in the kitchen. Unless of course you have a crock pot. 

This Sunday I want Tortilla Soup, It's so easy to make. So dust up your slow cooker and follow along.

Ingredients: 

Step One ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

I large onion- finally chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 can of crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 can black beans drained

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup lime juice

1fist size of chopped cilantro

1 Tbsp chili peeper

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

1/3 cup tequila (if you wish)

1 tbsp maple syrup (or any sweetener of your choice)

1 tsp thyme or rosemary

and a dash of salt and pepper

Step 3 ingredients:

Seitan, or protein of your choice.

1 can of corn

Step 4:

Tortilla Chips

2-3 roma tomatoes

1 avocado

MMmmm....

This soup takes only 20 minutes to prep, and serves 6. 

Step one:

Combine all of the above ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours. 

Step two:

 With either a hand blender (they are only $20 at target) or by carefully transferring the contents of a slow cooker to a blender puree the mix. 

( you can always leave the soup chunky if you prefer.)

Step three:

Add the seitan or whatever protein substance you want, and the corn. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Cook again for about an hour.

To serve, cut up an avocado, dice a tomato, and crush up some tortilla chips. Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with the avocado, tomato, chips, and whatever else you wish. 

ENJOY!