Velveeta Rotel Dip

Sunday nights around here are for leftovers or frozen pizza. Since I'm not really cooking I've been making some kind of dip to eat with the pizza or the leftovers. I first had this dip at a friend's party and it's easy and yummy. I also got some of the new Hint of Jalepeno Scoops chips to eat with the dip this time.

VELVEETA ROTEL DIP
1 lb. ground beef (I usually omit this - it's good with or without meat)
2 lb. box of Velveeta cheese
1 med. onion (omit)
1 can Rotel tomatoes

Cook ground beef and drain off grease. Add chopped onion and let cook until onion is tender. Add Rotel tomatoes (break up tomatoes with your hand). Slice up Velveeta and add to other ingredients. After cheese is melted, remove from heat and let stand until thickened. Then serve with plain Doritos or Tostitos.
I usually heat the velveeta on the stove then add it to the crock pot to keep it warm.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This was very yummy! It reminds me of a Mexican Chili but with chicken and more flavors infused. Next time I may substitute ground turkey and see how that tastes. Friends ate almost all of it. It was a hit!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
From Good Thymes and Good Food

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup white hominy (I don't like hominy so I used chickpeas)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (omitted as I did not want to purchase a huge package of it)
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (I roasted them at 425 for about 22 minutes.)
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I had cheddar/jack and just used that.)c
hopped green onions
chopped red onion
lime juice
sour cream

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425.
Drizzle chicken with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and a little chili powder.
2. Roast chicken for 22-25 minutes. When cooked, shred with two forks.
3. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat.
4. Saute onion, carrot and celery in oil until soft.
5. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
6. Stir in chili powder, oregano and cumin. Coat vegetables.
7. Add tomatoes, broth, and water.
8. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken.
10. Simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top/garnish with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, chopped green onion, red onion, lime juice and/or sour cream.