Italian Tortellini Soup

I mixed up our weekly schedule a bit after I read this recipe.  I have classes at work all week, so I knew I'd be getting home a little later, and this recipe called for quite a bit of prep.  The good thing about this recipe is you can do 85% of the work a day or two before, so I knocked that out Sunday night.

This recipe is from a sweet lady I met at a mom's group in San Diego with my sister.  She served a chicken and tortellini soup, which was good, but also gave us the recipe for this one.  I'm trying to up my vegetable intake so this seemed like a great way! Now, I'm not saying this is all that healthy, considering it starts with a pound of sausage... :) but it is so yummy so its worth it!

Ingredients:
1 lb sausage (sweet or chorizo recommended, I used regular italian) - not pictured, it was browning!
1 c chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, minced
5 c beef stock or canned broth- I used 3c beef stock and 2c broth from bouillon
2 c chopped tomatoes - I used crushed, and just 1 can
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 large zucchini, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 medium size green bell pepper, diced
1/2 c dry red wine - I omitted
2 T dried basil
2 T dried oregano
8-10 oz fresh cheese tortellini - like Buitoni
freshly grated parmesan cheese

-Saute sausage in large pot over medium heat until cooked through, crumbling with spoon.  Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a bowl. 
-Pour off all but 1 T drippings from pan (I only had about 1 T or less so I didn't pour any out).  Add onion and garlic to pan and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Return sausage to pan.  Add stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetables, wine and herbs. 
-Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes.  (Up to this point can be prepared ahead 1 or 2 days ahead.  If so, cover and refrigerate.  Bring to a simmer before continuing.)

 Here's what it looked like when it was done simmering and ready to go in the fridge

-Add tortellini to soup and cook until tender, about 8 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Ready to eat!

I made some cornbread to accompany our soup.  It was a Trader Joe's mix that my sister brought me from California and it was SO good.  Trader Joe's - PLEASE COME TO DALLAS!  Everything I've ever had from there has been awesome.  I so wish we had one closer!

Hope you guys try this out, its a perfect meal for winter and quick if you do the prep the day before!  Enjoy!

Meal Planning Monday 11/1

Here's what we're having this week:

Monday - Baked chicken with Tony's, roasted green beans, fruit
Tuesday - our last premarried class at Watermark
Wednesday - Supper club! I'm bringing bread and salad
Thursday - Italian sausage and tortelli soup, leftover bread and salad
Friday - I'm heading to Austin to throw a baby shower!
Saturday - Austin
Sunday - pizza

I'll leave you with a pic from Hawaii...so beautiful!

Caramel Apples

I've been wanting to make caramel apples for a long time, but was always a little afraid of it.  I remembered seeing caramel apples on Annie's Eats, so I checked out this recipe.  She made it look pretty easy, so I decided to go for it.   You definitely need the candy thermometer, so don't even try it with out it (unless you know what candy 'firm ball' stage looks like offhand!)

Ingredients:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
10-12 small Granny Smith apples, stems removed
Popsicle or lollipop sticks

Directions:
Insert a lollipop or popsicle stick into the top of each apple so that it is firmly in place. Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Mix in the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil.  Stir in the condensed milk.  Cook and stir until a candy or instant-read thermometer reads 248° F (firm ball stage.)

Here's me waiting for the caramel to reach 248 degrees

 

 caramel right before being done

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

apples ready to dip - our toppings were candy corn, peanuts, walnuts, M&Ms and reese's

Dip the apples one at a time into the caramel mixture, turning slowly to coat evenly.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with wax paper and allow the caramel to set.  Decorate as desired, with melted chocolate, chopped nuts, or candy pieces.

Some words to the wise - if you are going to decorate with nuts or candies, you need to do it before the caramel sets. My husband was helping me with this, so definitely grab a helper so one person can dip and one can add toppings.  Getting the nuts to stick was much easier when you roll the apple in the nuts rather than sprinkling them on.  The caramel is really hot, so try not to touch it while getting the toppings on.

The only negative about these was the caramel was a little too thick and chewy. Next time I will try to thin the caramel out a little with some cream and also try for a thin layer when dipping.  Let me know if you decide to try it!!

Menu planning

Monday: Lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread and cookies
Tuesday: Dinner @ pre-married class
Wednesday: Soup, salad and french bread
Thursday: Breakfast casserole, fruit salad
Friday: kitchen closed
Saturday: kitchen closed
Sunday: Spaghetti with italian sausage, green beans, garlic bread

Meal Planning Monday - Happy Labor Day!

Its the 3rd annual No-eating-out September in our household, so I'm trying some new things and resurrecting some old favorites to keep us from being bored eating at home all the time! :)

Monday: Hungry Girl's Bacon cheeseburgers, sweet potato chips, green beans
Tuesday: at Leaders training for the Watermark Pre-married class
Wednesday:  South of the Border chicken soup, cornbread muffins
Thursday: Chicken tinga, chips & salsa
Friday:  Mongolian beef, rice, sauteed broccoli
Saturday breakfast:  cinnamon rolls, fruit salad
Saturday lunch:  leftovers
Saturday dinner: pizza night - pick your own toppings!
Saturday dessert:  black and white cookies
Sunday brunch:  sharing the cinnamon roll bounty with our community group
Sunday lunch: grilled cheese and soup
Sunday dinner:  french dip sandwiches, fruit salad, carrots

DIY Burrito bowls

Inspired by our friends at Chipotle, I decided to make burrito bowls earlier this week.  They were delicious!  The options are really endless, so I'll tell you what we did as well as some alternatives we might try next time.

1.  Start by making cilantro lime rice (one recipe yields about 3-4 servings worth for the bowl, depending on how much you want)
2.  Marinate, then cook, your meat.  We used steak I got on sale seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, and lime juice.  Chicken would also be delicious, or slow cooked pork or beef.
3.  While meat is cooking, assemble other ingredients.  Ours were: black beans, corn salsa (courtesy of Chipotle!), regular salsa, lettuce, and cheese.  You could also have pico de gallo, queso, onions, pinto or refried beans.
4.  Layer everything up!  I think the best order is rice, meat, beans, salsas, cheese, lettuce. 

This is really SO easy, and though its a little time consuming to get everything together, its certainly worth the end result.  I think this would be a great (and healthier) option for a get together, especially as football season approaches.  If you try it out, let me know what you think!

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: burrito bowls with cilantro lime rice
Tuesday: herbed quinoa, grilled chicken and broccoli
Wednesday: our 3rd anniversary! out to eat at III Forks
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: out to eat (with a giftcard!) at Texas Roadhouse
Saturday: going to a wedding
Sunday: still need a recipe, but I'm making mahi mahi...any ideas?

Have a great week!