Fall Favorite: Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

I have a ton of fall favorites, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: none of them are pumpkin spice. I do like a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving (although Sweet Potato Pie will always beat Pumpkin to my tastebuds!), but other than that, pumpkin is just kind of meh for me. 

I do love a cozy, soft fall sweater. A comfy blanket for sofa snuggles. A crisp fall afternoon spent in the football stands. Funnel cakes and apple cider and caramel apples also top my fall favorites list. But at the very top?

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup! It’s a fall favorite for us, although we will make it year round through the colder weather months. But that first pot of fall? It’s always the best because our taste buds have been missing it through the summer heat! I thought I’d share the recipe with you today. 

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 Cups chicken broth

2 Cups of Cheddar Cheese, shredded; if using Velveeta, cube it

2 Tb butter

¼ cup Maseca (a cornmeal flour … you can sub regular flour if you don’t have Maseca on hand)

3 tortillas, cut into thin strips of about 2 inches

1/3 Cup Taco blend cheese, used as a topping, optional

2 Tsp cumin

3 Tsp chili powder

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained

Directions

Bake the chicken at 350 for about 20 minutes (until done) and then cut into small cubes. Set aside. In a 5 quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and then add in the maseca, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Slowly add in the chicken broth until well combined. Add in the cheese, again stirring constantly until well blended. Add in the seasonings and rotel tomatoes. Stir until blended. Add in the chicken, again stirring until blended. Put the lid on the pan and simmer all ingredients together for another 20 minutes or so. Heat the oven to 450 and bake the cut-into-strips tortillas for 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, top with a sprinkling of the tortilla crisps and the taco blend cheese (this cheese is optional). Serve!

This makes about 8 bowls of soup.

If you try this recipe, I hope you love it as much as we do! And happy FALL!!  

Kristina Knight’s sweet romance, Moonlight Match is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 

Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?


Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Reading and Writing

By:  Susan Sands

I'm reading and writing this month, but my reading load has increased exponentially between now and the next couple months. While normally I would spend my days writing with a little reading on the side, it seems I'm full up with reading as well as crafting stories.

I'm judging two contests and taking critiques for another workshop where I'm giving two one-hour talks on craft. Me? Craft discussions? Critiques? A few years ago, I would have actually laughed out loud at the idea of telling someone else how to improve their writing or edit their stories to make them stronger. But I've learned a few things since working with editors and publishing books of my own. Sharing any bit of wisdom and information is the very least I can do for those who are working so hard to get to the next level with their manuscript, find an agent, or publish for the first time.

I've had help from wonderful author friends along the way, and without it, I don't know where I would be in this very difficult process. We put in our time for others because it's our turn. I'm not a brilliant writer, but sharing the hard lessons that might make it less hard for someone else in their journey feels right.

I continue to learn about myself as a writer with every page I complete and rewrite. I still attend craft workshops and industry talks by other authors in hopes I'll hear something to get me to the next level in my own journey. Still waiting for the next light bulb to go on...

Wish me luck to finish all my reading, critiquing, and stay on my writing schedule!! It really is the most fun job in the world.

I hope everyone stays warm and dry until spring finds you.

Take care!

Susan Sands

#WriteTip: Make Your Own Space

Kristina Knight's summer workspace: swim practice!

Follow a few authors on Instagram or Pinterest, and you'll find all kinds of writing and reading space boards. There are the pictures of amazing European and Asian libraries, DIY hacks to create the perfect office in everything from spare bedrooms to a small corner of the living room. Some authors have office spaces in renovated garages or backyard sheds. I saw one DIY project that involved a gazebo and butterfly bushes and lightning bugs...I'm still not sure how they trained the lightning bugs to stay in that particular area.

I don't write in any of those places, although I do have an office (in a spare bedroom of our house) with an actual door that actually closes (not that anyone bothers to stop at the closed door). But nine times out of ten, I don't write in there. This summer, most of my writing has been done at our YMCA pool because bebe made the swim team. That's my Apple Keyboard right up there, with a view to her favorite lane. I've written at our library, our Starbucks, on our back deck and in our living room, too, depending on my mood.

Because I write in so many different places, I thought it would be fun to ask some other writers where they get down to the business of writing books. Here's what they had to say:

Historical romance author Sharon Cullen said, "I don’t have an office and to be honest, while I’d love one, I don’t think I’d use it. I write in my recliner. LOL. I’ve trained myself to block out the TV and anything else going on. Up until last week (when we painted the room) I had research books piled up next to my chair and had created a mini-office. Now I’m trying to be a little more organized. I do plan on creating my own office once one of the kids moves out and I can snag their room. But I think I’ll always prefer my recliner."

Constance Phillips' - ready for writing!

"I have a spare bedroom in my home that is a designated office space. It's decorated with a lot of my favorite things, and I have a large monitor on my desk that I can plug my laptop into.  I think it works best because it's comfortable, quiet (if I want it to be) and my space," said Constance Phillips, contemporary and paranormal romance author.

Contemporary romance author Nicole Flockton writes in a variety of places, "I don't have a designated office. I have a desk set up in the corner of the living room and I usually write there," said Nicole. "I wear headphones and listen to a writing playlist that I've added to over the last couple years. Being summer I've also taken to writing at the roller rink when I take the kids to give them something to do."

"I prefer to write in my office, with the door closed, and with music playing softly in the background. For some reason, it acts like a time warp, and I get lost in the writing and get much more done," said Elley Arden, contemporary romance author.

Jill Kemerer's office - aren't those folders awesome?

Inspirational romance author Jill Kemerer goes the office route, too, and don't you love those folders!
I need some like that! "I write in a spare bedroom with oodles of fun office supplies in the closet. I have a large desk to spread out my planner, essential files and notes, and the door is usually open, unless l'm frazzled," said Jill.

"I have a home office but I never use it because it only  has 1 little window. I like to write anywhere that is bright and quiet. Generally that means I end up in my living room because it's full of windows, gets an amazing breeze in the summer, and a glorious nature view wherever I look. Sometimes I write on my front porch for the same reasons, and if I just need a change of pace I write in the dining area, but that is rare," said contemporary romance author Christine Warner.

Your turn readers (and authors), where is your favorite place to get lost in a book?

Kristina Knight's second book in her Billionaire Cowboys trilogy, What the Heiress Wants, is available now; book three will release in September. 

The Billionaire Cowboys trilogy by best-selling author Kristina Knight continues with What the Heiress Wants.

Denver publishing heiress Miranda Clayton craves more from life than society parties and shopping sprees, but her tycoon father refuses to take her seriously. Her solution? Beat him at his own game by going to work for his top competitor, Connor Reeves, in Las Vegas.


Connor isn't fooled by Miranda's new plan for a second. He knows exactly who she is; what he doesn't know is why she's pulling him into her games. After their first meeting, Connor knows what he wants - Miranda in his bed! But the more he's around his new vice president, the more he wants something deeper than a short-term fling. The question is does the lady want Connor - or his business?

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You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.