Blender Tortilla Soup

This Blender Tortilla Soup is the EASIEST! Drop all the ingredients into the blender and you're just a pulse or two away from a warm bowl of healthy, delicious soup. 

This super easy, super healthy Blender Tortilla Soup is me trying to mend my broken windows.

According to Gretchen Rubin, the “broken windows theory” of policing holds that when a community tolerates minor examples of disorder and petty crime, such as broken windows, graffiti, turnstile-jumping, or drinking in public, people are more likely to commit more serious crimes.

As an author interested in habits and happiness, Gretchen Rubin applies the broken windows theory on a more personal level. People, she says, have broken windows in their personal lives, signs of disorder that point to stress and feeling overwhelmed. Some common broken windows that Rubin identifies are things like piles of laundry or trash, staying in pajamas all day, dirty dishes, etc.

When I read about this on Gretchen's blog a couple years ago, I identified my broken windows right away. One of my most common broken windows is Pizza.

As someone who values healthy, home cooked meals, and as someone who finds the routines and processes of cooking to be both enjoyable and cathartic, it's not a good sign when I keep swinging by Papa Murphy's for pizza. When I'm hitting good ol' Papa Murphy's more than once a week, it's really going downhill.

Last week, when I ran in to pick up my order, the guy behind the counter called me by name and handed me my order before I even said a word. Then, he asked about the kids. 

I know I'm always going on about community, and I'm certainly pleased by that kind of friendliness in general, but when I realized just how familiar my face was becoming at the pizza store I also realized I was staring into the dark hole of a broken window.

When I start feeling overwhelmed, losing control of my schedule and time far too often, I start leaning on the old pizza standby for dinner. I'm all for purchased pizza now and then of course, but I know I feel best when I take the time to plan and prepare for healthy family meals.

So, I'm taking back the reins. No more pizza. I still don't have my schedules worked out and I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything together, which is to say, I'm still feeling overwhelmed. However, I'm going to work on the overwhelmed part without adding the guilt of pizza to it. That's where this Blender Tortilla Soup fits in.

This tasty and very healthy Tortilla Soup probably takes less time to make than it takes for me to drive over and pick up a pizza. It's only whole food ingredients, with a good number of veggies packed in too. Best of all, the kids love it and it really takes me less than 10 minutes if I already have a piece of chicken cooked or if I leave out the chicken.

It's the perfect solution to the end of day business that's been knocking me off course recently.

I offer it to you, dear readers, as a really healthy, really simple family dinner and though it's not about to solve all of my problems or yours, it's a really easy and delicious way to ease the burdens. Enjoy!

I originally shared this recipe over on the always fantastic Food Fanatic site - you can check it out here.