Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

How does one photograph soup to make it look appetizing? This meal is really just putting canned goods into the crock pot. It was filling, and we ate a few lunches out of it too. I made this last weekend, when I was dreading returning to work after two blissful weeks off. I used frozen chicken that I had on hand, so I added a bit more than the recipe called for which overpowered the broth. Next time, I will be sure to not use quite as much! I found this recipe on Lemons&Love (who got it from All Recipes). As suggested on that blog, I also added some other seasonings-red pepper flakes, cumin, garlic powder, and oregano. I incorporated these seasonings right after I shredded the chicken. I made a few other changes that I noted in the recipe below.

You will need:
1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans (red beans)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 ounce) can or bottle beer
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained (I used 1 -14.5oz can)
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning (I used low sodium)
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
crushed tortilla chips (optional)

1) Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

2) Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup (this is where I added some other seasonings), and continue cooking for 2 hours (I did just over 1 hour and it was fine). You can serve this topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips.