Safari Trip: Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup

Last month Thatbaby asked to go to the zoo after nap.  He does that.  On the weekends he'll request that after nap we go to (Disneyland, Legoland, the zoo).  He usually has very sad weekends, because most of the time we have to inform him that after nap we will be cleaning the house, or going to the grocery store, or something else equally disappointing.

So when we came across a weekend with no plans, we conspired to give Thatbaby one of his wishes - a trip to the zoo (or in our case, the Safari Park).  Having an early riser meant we got there early, when the animals were a little more active than in the middle of the day.  We got a whole show with the lions.

Papa Lion was keeping an eye on the rest of the family.

Mama Lion started out with her cubs, taking a little nap, but when the kids started getting rowdy she moved to a more secluded location.

But as anyone with kids knows, there is no such thing as a secluded place when you're a mom.  Within moments the cubs came a-looking for her.

Family photo!

We also got a chance to check out the new Tiger Trail which gets you up close and personal with the beautiful big cats.

We visited the elephants and watched some youngin's tusk-wrestling, had some lunch, and then let Thatbaby cool down a bit at the splash zone.

We stopped off at the gorillas on the way out, to visit another baby.  Of course I didn't grab my camera when the mom was giving a piggy back ride to her teeny tiny baby, so you're stuck with this one of him sitting on her lap in the cave.  Which is hard to see because of black fur on black fur  (hair?)

Since we spent the day at the Safari Park, it cut down on our homebody time.  Which means that even though it was a weekend, I didn't have a lot of time for dinner making.  Instead, I popped the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it cook while we played.  I came back and we had soup ready to go!  I used enchilada sauce, which made it a little spicy for Thatbaby, so if you're spice intolerant, a can of tomato sauce would make a nice mild substitute.

Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup

1 chicken breast

2 cups chicken broth

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can black beans

1 can diced tomatoes with chiles

1 cup frozen corn

1 onion, diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt  

1.  Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours.  
2. Remove chicken, shred with forks, and return back to the soup.
3. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, avocado, tortilla chips, and/or sour cream