And this is exactly why I don't bake

I have a confession to make. I can't bake. Sure I have made a batch of chocolate chip cookies once but that's after spending way to much time making sure I got every ingredient exact. The thing I don't love about baking is how precise you have to be with the ingredients and if you try to throw something else in or wing a measurement, it will most likely end up tasting awful. (At least for me it does)

The reason I went on that little rant is because if the Chicken Enchilada Soup I made today was a cake, it would have failed. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me rewind and break down what I made today. I had been meaning to try this chicken enchilada soup recipe that I found on www.realmomkitchen.com. It was a crock pot recipe and I vowed to try and use my crock pot more for the fall and winter months. I started by getting all of the ingredients.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used italian style because it was all I had)
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper (I used red, since I grew it in my garden)
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce (I used mild)
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)
1 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese (I used sharp Colby jack cheese with 2% milk)
2 chicken breasts (I used 4 chicken tenderloins since they were already defrosted)

Anyone catch my mistake in the picture? I'll give you a hint:

I accidentally got chicken noodle soup instead of cream of chicken. I need to learn to read labels. I have the same problem with milk. I somehow always get 1% instead of skim. I wasn't about to go back out to the grocery store so I strained the noodles and added a little more milk and continued with the recipe. No harm no foul. Now do you understand why I love cooking over baking?

Anyway, the first thing I did was to combine the drained beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and bell pepper in the crock pot. You probably want to use at least a 3.5 quart crock pot. Then you want to place the chicken on top of the mixture.

The next steps were to whisk together enchilada sauce and soup. Then you whisk in milk until smooth and pour into the crock pot.

After you have everything in there, cover and cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. I cooked it for 8 hours because I like the chicken to fall apart and I was still at work anyways so I figured why not? When it's done, take the chicken out and shred it and then put it back in the soup. It will look something like this.

It looked so good but I wanted it to have a little more of a kick so I threw in some Franks Hot Sauce.

That gave it the kick I needed. After that, take whatever cheese you decided to use and throw it on top so it melts and makes the soup even creamier.

And that was one of my first crock pot while you're at work experiences. I know I was stupid for worrying about it overcooking the food or short circuiting and catching on fire but crazy ideas like that pop into my head now that we own a house of our own. Since this was a big success and I really enjoyed the meal, I decided I am going to give the crock pot a chance this upcoming season so I can enjoy meals like this more often.

Anyone have a good crock pot recipe for me? Have you tried this one before?