Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup with Pork & Butternut Squash

Here's another slow cooker recipe that was a huge success.  The addition of butternut nut squash makes the soup both decadent, and perfect for fall.

To be fair, if you look closely at the picture of the soup I made you will notice a lack of tortilla.  This wasn't intentional, and when we have leftovers I will be adding homemade tortilla strips.  BUT we had a bit of a sink emergency the other night, and I wasn't able to get into my kitchen for a couple of hours right around dinner time.  Needless to say, once the maintenance man left, B and I both were starving, so we I guess we technically had tortilla-less soup last night.  It was delicious none-the-less!

Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup with Pork & Butternut Squash

2 lb. pork butt or pork shoulder, fat trimmed and cut in half

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 {14.5 oz.} can diced tomatoes

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and sliced

2 cloves garlic, whole

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups water

In a 4-to-6-quart slow cooker, combine the pork, squash, tomatoes, jalepeno, garlic, chili powder, salt and water.  Stir everything together before putting the lid on the slow cooker.

Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 5 to 6 hours.

Serve with tortilla strips (homemade or store-bought), sour cream, cheese, cilantro, radishes, and/ or wedges of lime.

*Next time I make this I may try frozen butternut squash to save myself a little time.  If you want to try frozen butternut squash instead, you will most likely need 2 {16 oz.} bags.  Let me know if you try it, and how it works out!

Recipe adapted from Real Simple