Think I went to the grocery store five times this week. I should rent a room.

So yesterday my list included ingredients for a Tex-Mex Chicken Soup. It is bone chilling cold outside and soup just sounded good to me while flipping through a couple of cookbooks. I’ll share that recipe with you later.

At the top of my list, besides a can of green chilies and chicken stock, was an extra-jumbo bag of rawhide chips for Lulu. Our English Springer Spaniel loves to chew … a lot … and she was down to her last rawhide strip! To say Lulu is a rawhide junkie is putting it mildly. We have her down to two a day.

When the clerk rang me up and it was over $90, I thought … what just happened here? Of course I purchased bunches of other food items so I just stuck the receipt in my checkbook to subtract later and left the store. It is what it is … right? I shoulda listened to my gut. Isn’t that what Oprah used to say before she started her own network?

Two days later I glanced closely at the receipt and discovered … what the heck … I’d been charged twice for Lulu’s chews. That’s two times $10.97, plus tax. Geez Louise! There is a lesson to be learned here … and we already know what that is! Customer Service is not just for purchasing your car tags or paying your utility bill I can tell you that.

But back to what’s for dinner. I’ve got this great soup cookbook that has … no kidding … 900 soup recipes. It says it right on the cover. Actually, that could be stretching it a tad. There is a whole chapter on chili, which to me, seems in a class all by itself. Always thought of chili as more like a stew than a soup. Heck, we can debate that one if you want. So let’s cook some soup!

TEX-MEX CHICKEN SOUP
Serves 4+

Ingredients
1 rotisserie chicken (2 cups of boneless chicken shredded)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups chicken stock
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups thawed frozen whole-kernel corn
1-14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 small can green chilies, drained
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
Liberal dashes of salt and pepper
Crumbled tortilla chips and some shredded cheese for sprinkling on top

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, or soup pot, over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté for 10 minutes. Add cilantro, chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, green chilies, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, cover for 20 minutes. Add corn and chicken and heat through. Sprinkle with tortilla chips and shredded cheese on top in bowls.

Adapted from Reader’s Digest “The Ultimate Soup Cookbook“