Hearty Tortellini Soup

As a lot of you may already know, I'm a planner. Probably to a fault, really.

Having said that, it should come as no surprise to anyone that, every Sunday, I sit down and plan out a menu for the week; from that menu, I make my grocery list. And, as weird as I'm sure it sounds, I really look forward to doing it. 

I'm a huge advocate of menu planning, and I've actually written about it before (check it out here); I can't tell you how much money and time it saves me at the grocery store. On top of that, though, I care a lot about feeding my family well, and menu planning really helps with that. By mapping out our meals, I can ensure that we always have good, healthy options on hand; that, in turn, deters us from resorting to junk or fast food. Not to say that we don't eat that stuff every now and then - we absolutely do. It's just nice not to HAVE to, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I try to make a variety of meals in our house each week. For example, I include at least one seafood meal on the menu, and stick to a limit of one dinner with red meat. This year, I've started doing one "meatless" night a week as well. I also plan for leftovers, because it's nice to have a break sometimes. 

This soup is wonderful for leftovers, and can be frozen very easily should you choose to do so. I made mine with beef broth, but the original recipe (linked below) calls for vegetable stock, making it a wonderful meatless meal as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Hearty Tortellini Soup

Original Recipe by Julia Levy, Cooking Light (recipe here)

2 tbs olive oil

1 large vidalia onion

2 cups chopped fennel bulb

2 tbs minced garlic

12 oz sliced gourmet blend mushrooms

2 tbs tomato paste

4 cups beef stock

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup water

2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

4 cups curly kale, stemmed and chopped

10 oz three-cheese tortellini

1 1/2 tbs red wine vinegar

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add onion, fennel, garlic and mushrooms and cook 15 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add stock, water, tomatoes (with juice), and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for five minutes.

Add kale and tortellini. Cook 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Ladle into soups and serve.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

I use my slow cooker A LOT. You might have noticed.

Honestly, there are just some days when I need an easy, little-to-no prep option for dinner. I know I can't be the only one. There's just something so nice about having a tool that does so much work FOR you.

Side note on that, I can't WAIT to try out the Instant Pot I got for Christmas.

Anyway, this is another meal that my daughter helps me prepare. I brown the beef, but I let her measure and add all of the "flavor" components to the dish; this means that she gets to stir, which is basically her favorite thing to do in the kitchen (at least so far).

As usual, the original recipe comes from Cooking Light, though I've made some adjustments of my own. A link to the original is included below.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

Original Recipe by Deb Wise, Cooking Light Dec 2013 (see it here)

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 tbs onion powder

1 tbs garlic powder

2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers (jarred)

2 lbs chuck roast

Ciabatta rolls (or your favorite sandwich rolls)

Place first 7 ingredients in slow cooker, stirring to combine.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Cook beef in skillet for 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Add beef to slow cooker.

Cook on LOW setting for 8 hours. Shred beef with two forks and stir well. Serve on ciabatta rolls.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken Cacciatore

Anyone who knows my husband (his name is Richard) knows that he LOVES spicy food. And when I say LOVES (in all caps), I'm not exaggerating. At any given time in our house, you can look in the fridge or pantry and find at least one supremely spicy snack that Rich regularly devours when he returns home from work each day. Ghost pepper peanuts and Ass Kickin' Original salsa are among his favorites, I believe, but he'll pretty much take anything that totes an "insanely hot!" warning on its label. When I tell him something is (or should be) spicy, it's a bit of a double-edged sword; he's both excited to try it and doubtful that he'll actually agree. 

I'm telling you this as a bit of a warning; when I made this recipe, Rich said "this actually has some heat to it." So yes, it's a bit spicy. But it's also unbelievably good. Don't like spice? Reduce the crushed red pepper, or leave it out all together. I'm pretty sure you'll still love it. 

Cooking Light gets all the credit for this one, and I've linked the original recipe for you below; as you'll see, I really only made slight changes.  

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Original recipe by Phillip Rhodes, Cooking Light (March 2014) - click here for original recipe

All-purpose flour

2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 tbs olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 large red bell peppers, chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup tomato puree

2 tbs capers

2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 can unsalted petite diced tomatoes

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Add flour to shallow bowl and dredge chicken thighs in flour. Shake off excess.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil, swirling to coat. Add chicken thighs and cook for 4 minutes on each side. 

Add chicken to slow cooker and reduce heat under skillet to medium. 

Add onion, bell pepper and garlic to skillet and cook for 4 minutes, stirring often. Add wine and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker.

Add tomato puree, capers, crushed red pepper, dried oregano, black pepper, kosher salt and diced tomatoes (with juice) to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta as desired and sprinkle with parsley. 

Until next time...

Cheers!

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

My oldest daughter, Zoey, absolutely loves to help me in the kitchen. I try to come up with different ways that she can help me with every dish that I make - easier said than done, sometimes. That's why we both love slow cooker recipes. Generally little to no prep, and hardly any technique required!

This slow cooker white chicken chili is a favorite in our house, and I love how easy it is to make and enjoy. It also freezes wonderfully, so feel free to double the batch and store some for later.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Recipe by Laura Taylor

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 cups chicken broth

2 cans (15 oz each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans (4.5 oz each) Old El Paso chopped green chiles

1 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Dash ground red pepper (cayenne), if desired

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and cook on low 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred using 2 forks. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir to combine. 

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, sliced jalapenos, cilantro and tortilla strips.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Potatoes

Happy 2017, y'all!

2016 was a bit crazy, not gonna lie. I, for one, am glad for the opportunity to start a new year. I've got plenty of goals that I'd like to meet in the future, and there's no better time than now to get started.

I don't know that there is a more fitting recipe to post to start the year, because this is one that was declared a winner by my entire family not only the first night, but on leftover night as well. Heck, my husband even asked for it again later in the week - and I think he was legitimately disappointed that we didn't have any left.

Yes, it's that good.

It's also - wait for it - really easy. Seriously. Grab your slow cooker, do some easy prep, and go enjoy the game while the work is done for you.

It doesn't get much better than that.

BBQ Beef Potatoes

Adapted from Cooking Light January 2017

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

1.5 lbs boneless chuck roast

1/2 cup sliced red onion

2 large russet potatoes

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

8 tbs light sour cream

1/4 cup sliced green onions

Mix brown sugar, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Rub over roast. 

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Place red onion slices in the bottom of slow cooker and top with roast. 

Set to LOW for 7.5 hours, or until beef is tender.

About an hour before slow cooker is done, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray potatoes lightly with cooking spray and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Slice each potato in half lengthwise.

Remove roast from slow cooker and shred using two forks. Return to slow cooker and mix well with onion mixture. 

Split each potato half lengthwise and add beef/onion mixture. Top each potato evenly with sour cream, cheese and green onion. Serves 4.

I'm excited to share many, many more of these easy, wonderful recipes with you this year. I'm planning to make some big changes to the blog in the next couple of months - stay tuned!

Until next time...

Cheers!