Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Val's Version

(Denver, CO)

I think I have a love-hate relationship with garlic. It smells so freakin' awesome when it's being sautéed. Even the house permeates its greatness. I love that. What I don't love is how it smells when it seeps out of my pours. It's not as bad as red onion - which by the way you'll never smell on me - but it's just gross. The aftereffect just takes away from its greatness. 

Speaking of greatness … get you some of this! All 5 of the pieces to our family puzzle chowed this pot down. And I think it was meant to serve 8. Oops. 

Simple, yet sophisticated. A quick and fairly inexpensive delicacy that is sure to entertain a small group of friends or can be canned and delivered to a family in need or new neighbor. 

Here's where I loved the garlic. Within 30 seconds my nose was in heaven.

The cast of characters can totally be substituted. Original recipe calls for sundried tomatoes or paste and I did neither. I grabbed the bruschetta mix that was on sale and can reuse that for flatbread pizzas, a casserole or pita dip. Money well spent. 

Once your garlic is sautéed, add the liquids and top with herbs. Have I mentioned that before? You always add your fats first and your herbs last.

Get that to a boil and then toss in your tortellini. Again, you can use any kind your heart desires. We stuck with a roasted garlic and cheese blend. Set it on low and simmered for about 10-15 minutes.

Topped with fresh parmesan romano and parsley. Accompanied by a few slices of garlic bread and whole veggies. Fabuloso!

Cali had some fun with hers ;)

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

The Kitchen Snap by Key Ingredient

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 whole large Cloves Of Garlic Minced

2 Tbl Olive Oil
2 10¾ oz Cans of Condensed Tomato Soup
¼ cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped or 2 Tbl Of Sun Dried Tomato Paste (I used a bruschetta mix)
2 cups Half-and-half
2 cups Chicken Stock
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 Tbl Italian Seasoning
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
1 whole 9 Oz Package Of Cheese Filled Tortellini
½ cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese, for garnish

Directions:

Saute garlic with the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat until golden brown. Be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too brown or burnt. When the garlic is done, add tomato soup, tomatoes, half and half, chicken stock and spices. Bring to a simmer. Once simmering, drop tortellini into the soup. Cook according to the package directions. After tortellini are cooked, ladle soup into bowls and top with parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread and a choice of salad.

Jen's Version 

(Acworth, GA)

Val mentioned something above that I HAVE to touch on and since this is in fact, a food blog, it's the perfect forum. The red onion. I mean, why? There's just no need for this vegetable. You have sweet onions that suffice just fine. Red onions are overpowering, smelly, sneaky devils. They show up in your pico and ruin your tacos and your day! This is an anti-red onion blog post and I hope I haven't offended our loyal readers. But I do feel much better now. 

On to the amazing soup Val chose for this week. I love tortellini, I love soup and I loved this meal. Mega plus, my kids loved this meal. It was a great pick. If you're stuck indoors on a cold night, make this. I dare you. I made it for a soup swap that I did with my neighbors and they loved it (they said). They are really nice neighbors :)

First you'll brown your sausage and drain out the grease and set aside. I used ground italian turkey sausage. You could do anything here though - beef, chicken...

Oh would you look at that, a NORMAL onion. Dice up a medium sweet onion to get the base of the soup started.

You're gonna saute the onion and garlic with EVOO and add your soup ingredients, minus the cream. 

Let this bad boy simmer for a while and the ingredients blend.

You'll add your tortellini toward the end, because this pasta doesn't take long to get tender.

Then sautee your spinach.

Now add your cream, I added very little and your parmigiana reggiano, I added A LOT.

I added the sausage to half of my dish, because the other half I prepared for a soup swap for my vegetarian neighbor. The versatility of this dish is my favorite!

Serve with some crusty bread and a dash of hot sauce (sorry I put it on everything). 

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

The Kitchen Snap by Key Ingredient

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 whole large Cloves Of Garlic, minced

2 Tbl Olive Oil
1 medium onion
1 pound Italian Turkey Sausage, cooked
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 medium tomatoes, roasted and blended
1/4 cup Half-and-half
2 cups Vegtable stock
1 Tbl Italian Seasoning
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
Fresh Spinach, sauteed
1 whole 9 Oz Package Of Cheese Filled Tortellini
½ cup Shredded Parmigiana Reggiano Cheese, for garnish

Directions:

Cook italian turkey sausage, drain and set aside. In 350 degree oven, roast tomatoes, sliced in half for 30-40 minutes. Once charred, put in blender and blend to a soup consistency. Dice medium onion and saute with garlic and olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat until golden brown. Be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. When the garlic is done, add crushed tomatoes, tomatoes, vegetable stock and spices. Bring to a simmer. Once simmering, drop tortellini into the soup. Cook according to the package directions. After tortellini are cooked, add spinach, half and half, cheese and sausage and heat through. Ladle soup into bowls and top with more parmesan cheese. Serve with bread and a choice of salad.

Hot Spinach Salsa Queso Dip

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

App night! I adore app night. I adore all apps. Dips, finger foods, cramming lots of different foods onto a little plate and conveniently allowing all to run into the cheese dip. I adore app night.

So there's a running joke that my family, particularly my sisters, mother and I, always make dips. We are dip people. And all dips must have a cheese. Usually cream cheese but Velveeta will do. And if both cheeses are combined, well heck, it might as well be my birthday! So I came across this amazing looking spinach dip and had to share. Not only are we in the throws of football season, but it's the holidays - so everyone should have a good dip on hand. Plus, it has spinach, so it's healthy. Duh.

So you start with cream cheese...

Then add Velveeta, and cube it up nicely so it melts evenly.

It gets tricky here - you have to open a can. Don't worry, it only takes a little effort. Open your can of Rotel and pour it over. I use hot Rotel because I'm not a wuss.

Oh see, I told you this was healthy. Add some spinach. Make sure you rinse your thawed spinach and squeeze out the excess water. 

You just have to check in every now and then and stir (and test). 

There it is! App night! My little plate with spinach cheese dip, teriyaki meatballs and bacon wrapped tator tots. And yes, everything is conveniently touching the cheese dip :)

Hot Spinach Salsa Queso Dip

(Big ups to Haystacks Champagne)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, plus

Total Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes (plus time to keep warm)

Ingredients:

1 lb Velveeta (cut into cubes)
8 ounces cream cheese
1 can Rotel
1 package frozen spinach (thawed, rinsed and drained)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a crockpot and heat until cheese has melted (continuing to stir the mixture to combine ingredients). It should take somewhere around an hour to have the cheeses melt (but check as crockpots vary). This particular method is great if you can leave it on the low setting, then your dip will stay warm for a while. Serve with chips.

Val's Version

(Denver, CO)

Kinda funny how when you're told to do something as a child, you always want to find an excuse not to or try and argue your way out of it. Like … take a nap, clean your room, sit in time out, shower, read, etc. All of those examples are things that I'd love to be able to do on a daily basis now, as an adult. More so, nap and read. I'd kill for time to sit down with a good book and read till my eyes are heavy enough for me to exercise my right to nap for a good hour. Such a dreamer. But, I do get to read. On occasion. Good thing too since I'm in a book club. The ladies in my book club make me sane. They totes do. They are super awesome and we have such a great time gossiping over wine and apps once a month. This months book club meeting happened to fall on blog night. So, they got a bonus!

We read On the Island this month, so I thought it would be cool to go with the theme of the book. I pulled together a bunch of snackies and candies that they incorporated into the story and then cooked up some Caribbean style cocktail sausages and Moms infamous buttermilk chicken (I made mine into chicken nuggets). Spoiler: book takes place in the Caribbean and they killed and ate chickens. 

Jen kinda threw a monkey wrench in it by picking this dip, but it's one I've made before so I knew it would be a crowd pleaser. 

I was in a rush to get everything I needed before picking Lucas up from school, so happened to forget a main ingredient: spinach. Soooo - you'll notice my recipe is missing something. Something critical. But, it was still oh-so good.

Cube your cheeses and toss in your salsa. As always, I pick a salsa that's fresh with all kinds of bold flavors. 

Here's a snapshot of the snausages. Very zesty!

Since I have managed to surround myself with a bunch of gluten free peeps out here in Denver, most of my spread is in fact, gf. Kinda ridiculous how expensive gf crackers are though. I mean seriously, should be cheaper since they're missing a key ingredient. 

I chose to be wheaty and loaded up some sliced french bread with my queso dip and would be lying if I didn't admit to going back for seconds. And thirds. Trifecta, so to speak!

Hot Salsa Queso Dip

(Big ups to Haystacks & Champagne)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, plus

Total Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes (plus time to keep warm)

Ingredients:

1 lb Colby Jack Cheese (cut into cubes)
8 ounces cream cheese
1 jar salsa (I used 3/4 full jar of a 16 ounce jar)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a crockpot and heat until cheese has melted (continuing to stir the mixture to combine ingredients). It should take somewhere around an hour to have the cheeses melt (but check as crockpots vary). This particular method is great if you can leave it on the low setting, then your dip will stay warm for a while. Serve with blue chips for a gluten free app or load up some french bread slices!

Weight Watchers Chicken & Dumplings

Val's Version
(Denver, CO)

Being healthy isn't easy. Truthfully, it's rather challenging. It's a life choice. A life change. It comes with many benefits and can definitely prolong your life and therefore happiness of those who need you, but for those of us who are less disciplined, there are many sacrifices. Some may think the complete opposite, but let's be honest … sometimes it's much easier to do away with the fuss, the thinking, the counting, the planning and the contemplating. Sometimes it's much easier to just go with the quick and easy drive thru lane. THAT, I hardly ever do anymore, but it is much simpler. 

Time for something new. Time to satisfy Juliemybestfriends request and hit up the Weight Watchers recipe book. Even though this title has WW in it, who doesn't love the sound, smell and site of chicken and dumplings?? You can make this fattening - believe me - but pulling out the low sodium and fat free ingredients can be just as fulfilling. 

Speaking of filling … look at my eyes. They are filled with water. I truly despise chopping onions. Pluses and minuses.

Toss the chicken, seasonings, liquids and liquid producing veggie into the pot. Set the temperature according to how much time you have and let the crock pot do all the work.

Well, until you have to add the biscuits. There's just something about biscuits that make me giddy. They come in so many shapes and sizes. So many flavors and textures. I don't care how gluten free I try to be, I will never give up biscuits. 

Cut up da biscuits and toss 'em in with the almost perfected meal. Have your favorite sou chef give it a quick stir. The chicken will shred all on it's own when you stir. 

Boomchakalaka!!! An incredible meal that won't completely rest on your thighs!

Weight Watchers Chicken & Dumplings

(Imitation by Design, 8 WW Points)

Ingredients:

20 oz chicken breast (about 3 large breasts) 

1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped 

1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of celery soup

2 c chicken broth- 99% fat free, reduced sodium

5 canned buttermilk biscuits

Optional Seasonings: pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley

Directions:

Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and place in crock pot. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder and poultry seasoning. Add onions, soups and broth. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8.

At this point the chicken is super tender so you can just use your fork to break the breasts up into smaller pieces or let it cook a little while longer and they'll shred when you stir.

Flatten biscuits with your fingers and cut them into small strips. Drop biscuit pieces into broth and continue to cook on high for 20-30 more minutes or until cooked through. Sprinkle individual servings with parsley if desired.

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

We recently had a reader reach out and request that we make something "healthy" but specifically "low sodium" and "weight watchers friendly" so that she could try something from our blog. I'm very "quote happy" today. Okay, the reader was our aunt, but she's a trusted blog follower, and we listen to our followers. And that was a fair request. So make your requests people! Go ahead. I dare you to request something like a burger with krispy kreme donut buns, because we will do it!

I was nervous about this one, but I'm gonna tell you right now, this was the bomb! The bomb!

Oh yeah - did I mention this was a crock pot meal? I mean, the more good ones I have in stock, the better! 

I dumped all my chicken in and seasoned first. I actually had quite a few low sodium seasonings on hand, so I used those. And some pepper of course.

My lovely shadow...

This just looks warm and cuddly. 

I didn't capture the biscuit process, but it was simple enough. Just cut em up and pop em in until they cook for 20-30 minutes. 

I enjoyed mine with hot sauce and a salad and it was perfect! A new healthy, too busy to cook a big meal to add to my queue! A special thanks to Julie for inspiring the meal :)

Weight Watchers Chicken & Dumplings
(Imitation by Design, 8 WW Points)

Ingredients:

20 oz chicken breast (about 3 large breasts)
1 medium onion, chopped 
1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of celery soup
2 c chicken broth- 99% fat free, reduced sodium
5 canned buttermilk biscuits
Optional Seasonings: pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley

Directions:

Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and place in crock pot. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder and poultry seasoning. Add onions, soups and broth. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8.

At this point the chicken is super tender so you can just use your fork to break the breasts up into smaller pieces or you can remove them and shred them. I like to leave them in decent sized chunks because they will break up more whenever your stir them.

Flatten biscuits with your fingers and cut them into small strips. I used the smaller "junior" sized biscuits and cut them into 8 pieces. Drop biscuit pieces into broth and continue to cook on high for 20-30 more minutes or until cooked through. Sprinkle individual servings with parsley if desired.

Crock-Pot Balsamic Pot Roast

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

It's birthday season! October houses 75% of the birthday's in my family. It's basically Christmas. And then, it is Christmas!

I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and the balsamic caught my eye when paired with pot roast. My husband LOVES pot roast and also really enjoys balsamic flavoring. Once I scanned through the ingredients, it was an easy blog worthy meal. Val pushed it off until the fall though, so here we are. Fall and birthday season, making pot roast. 

I started by mixing all ingredients minus the roast and carrots. 

This is a really clever shot, I know. 

Have you guys met Jack? This is our pet hermit crab from Garden City beach. He has been with us for over a month and a half now. That is something special. Worth noting, Jack used to have a friend. (RIP Jessica)

It does not matter WHERE you stand in my kitchen, there WILL BE a shadow. But you get the point. That's a pretty roast!

For all the food bloggers out there, this picture is valuable to us, because that's a hard shot to take and pour at once! 

What I should show you is what I do in the interim, while my food cooks itself; because that's what's happening here folks. The food is cooking itself!

A perfect fall dinner. 

Oh and I made these:

I am the mom who makes homemade birthday treats. How else do you put love in them :) Yay for birthday month! 

Crock-Pot Balsamic Pot Roast
(slightly adapted from The Chic Table)

Ingredients:

4 – 5 Lbs of Beef Chuck Roast
2 Cups of Beef Broth
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 T of Soy Sauce
1 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp of Red Pepper Flakes
3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic – Pressed
Zest of 1/2 an Orange
3-4 Carrots, chopped

Directions:

Place meat and carrots into crock pot and turn on low heat. Whisk together all the other ingredients and pour over the top of the meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.Serve with mashed potatoes.

Val's Version

(Denver, CO)

I was totally waiting for it to get a little colder so I could thoroughly enjoy cooking this recipe. In Denver, we seriously experience all 4 seasons within a weeks time. It's crazy. Before we moved here I thought it was always cold. Total lie. That's actually seldom the case. There are many times it's in the low 40's and I'm only wearing a long sleeve shirt with jeans. No jacket. No hat. No gloves. No scarf. Sometimes, no socks. Like today …

But, there needs to be a little nip in the air to enjoy something so hearty and soul warming. That would be this concoction. Not a lot of ingredients but it blasts you in the face with flavor. So delish and it's definitely good mood food. (((Arby's thief)))

Sooooo, this is what happens when you plan to cook a meal for 15 people AND celebrate your little girls first birthday. You remember to take one picture. One. A good one, but only one. 

Good thing Jen stayed on task this week and had better documentation. I failed and I apologize. I can't promise it won't happen again because let's be honest … this is part of my reality. But, I'll pay more attention next time. 

I stayed pretty true to this recipe. I did, however, pick the wrong meat. I did pork instead of beef. Again, my reality. But, it was quite tasty and there was barely enough to go around. Served this over a bed of egg noodles with buttered bread and salad!

Oh, and this was not baked by me, but was too cuooooooote not to post. 

Our little Peanut is the newest addition to our October birthday extravaganzas and I must say …

 the cutest! Happy 1st Birthday, Princess!!

Crock-Pot Balsamic Pot Roast
(slightly adapted from The Chic Table)

Ingredients:

4 – 5 Lbs of Pork Roast
3 Cups of Beef Broth
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 T of Soy Sauce
1 T Hot Sauce
1 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp of Red Pepper Flakes
3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, minced
Zest of 1/2 an Orange
1 lb bag of Baby Carrots
Red Potatoes (don't overcrowd crock pot)

Directions:

Place meat, potatoes and carrots into crock pot and turn on low heat. Whisk together all the other ingredients and pour over the top of the meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with egg noodles.

White Bean Turkey Chili

Val's Version 

(Denver, CO)

"Beans beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you …"



Sorry. That was for my Dad. Although, I'm not sure why I did it for him since I'm fairly certain he's never read our blog. He actually probably doesn't even know that it exists. Anywho, every time I eat, look at or say "beans," that ridiculous song comes into  my head. If you don't know it, use your imagination. You'll hate me later.

My church does a chili cook-off each year and I've asked my husband to partake in it for the past couple of years. He's never indulged, so this year I thought it would be fun to compete. I'm an adrenaline junkie for competitions. I prefer something at stake, but friendly ones will suffice. But when I lose …
I. Hate. Losing.

Being that this was in Gods house, I tried to keep my smack talk to a minimum and cry in solitude. If you haven't figured it out by now, I lost. Well, I didn't finish last, but I wasn't in the top 3. Or in the top 10 for that matter. BUT, don't let that deter you from trying this recipe. White bean turkey chili is an acquired taste. Only the sophisticated and brilliant palate can learn to truly appreciate it. That's my way of rubbing my back and making myself feel better. I guess that's also my way of saying the judges weren't sophisticated or brilliant. (wink wink) Oops!

I had my alarm set for 3am to get this bad boy started. My competitive nature was not willing to risk cooking this on high to cut corners so I could sleep. That being said, the pictures came out a little dark. Good thing I like to talk (type) and will describe what's happening here.

I used a garlic salsa and then added more tomatoes. Chili is typically a red sauce, so this helps with the appearance for those that are stuck on a more traditional chili. 

Here they are. THE ingredient. And lots of them. Beans. Lots and lots of beans.

Whatever your protein choice is (I prefer turkey), make sure to season it before you tuck it into the bed of beans. Then, cube your cheese(s) and tuck around, under and over. Get it spread out all around the crockpot.

Wham! Let it do it's thing and go back to bed. Or be normal and start it mid-morning for a ready-to-eat meal around 6pm. All you gotta do after it cooks all day is shred your protein. And if you did it right, it'll be fork tender and just fall apart when you stir.

Here you will see the selection of chili's I tried at the cook-off. Mine is the very bottom one with the 2 others in a section. There was obviously a lot going on and with 29 chili's, it was hard to decide. So, I tried a little of a lot. I happened to taste 2 of the top 3 and will admit, they rocked! Like, rocked my taste buds with zest and spice. If that's the reaction you're going for, feel free to add some cayenne pepper or a hot salsa to this recipe. Can't hurt. Well, maybe later ...

White Bean Turkey Chili

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 

Total Time:

This recipe serves 6-8, but my pictures are set for a larger serving; about 20.

Ingredients:

4 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 turkey breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper
8 ounces Pepper jack cheese, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 cups salsa (any flavor, any heat)

cayenne or Tabasco for heat (optional)

Directions:

Combine the beans, cheese, and salsa in a crockpot. Nestle the turkey breasts into the mixture and cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove chicken breasts, shred with a fork, and return to crockpot. Stir to combine, and serve with desired garnishes. Avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, Frito's and/or cilantro are excellent choices!

*** For the record, Jen COMPLETELY used a different recipe. Why? It's Jen. She does what she wants. Goes against the whole "same recipe 1400 miles apart" theme, but hey … whatever floats your fancy. Try 'em both!***

Jen's Version 

(Roswell, GA)

When Fall rolls around, it doesn't get much better than lazy Sunday's, cool weather and chili. Val picked one of my favorites this week, white chicken chili. Well, she picked turkey chili, but I like chicken chili. Every Halloween night, I serve chili. This way, we can trick or treat and then come home to a warm pot of chili. It's also a great Christmas Eve dish. I've done the classic chili alongside white chicken chili, to give options. I'm not even against chili in the summer. But I must say, when the temps dip into the 50's in Fall, it just feels right to make chili.

Rinse your beans. If you don't feel like it, smell the can when you open it. You will change your mind.

So you were supposed to put your chicken in first and then the beans, but my picture doesn't show much proof to that process. I promise there's chicken in there.

Val would be so proud of my organic, range free broth decision. It was an impulse buy really. I was like what they hey, let me be trendy.

This picture really jumped out at me. I love the different colors of the beans, onions and seasonings blended together.

Say hello to my mom's crock pot! 

So here's the yum part. After it cooks all day, and your chicken shreds apart, add some heavy cream. Real cream too. You can't add fat free cream. Cream = fat. If you take the fat out, you no longer have cream but instead are using some chemically infused liquid. So add some cream. If you're worried about the calories, skip this part and it will still taste good. Scoop into bowls and enjoy!

I paired my White Chicken Chili with a corn casserole. It didn't set right though, and the only person who ate it was my Dad. He's inclined to eat all things mushy. 

Oh and bonus, this is my husband. In honor of lazy football Sunday's, I introduce you to my husband's doppleganger, Alex Smith.

Crock-pot Chicken Chili
(slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts or thighs (frozen or fresh)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cans pinto beans
5 cups chicken broth
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies (or two cans if you really like things spicy)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

Rinse beans thoroughly and toss them in the crockpot. Add everything else except the sour cream and whipping cream. Stir a little bit and cook on low for 7-10 hours.

Shred the chicken a little bit with two forks (this should be super easy - the chicken will be falling apart by this point). Stir in the sour cream and then the cream. Let sit for another 15 minutes or so to warm through. Serve.