We had some more snow (about three inches) on Sunday night and while John was cleaning off the driveway, I was trying to answer that eternal question: "What should I make for dinner?" I wanted something easy, requiring minimal effort, warming, tasty, and that I hopefully had all the ingredients on hand. I settled on Crockpot Tortellini. It satisfied all of my criteria except I was missing diced tomatoes. I thought about using spaghetti sauce but I was afraid it would end up like tortellini soup.
I don't follow the recipe exactly. I use smoked kielbasa instead of sausage, I use two packages of frozen spinach instead of fresh (in the winter anyway), I don't add cream cheese (too gloppy for me), and I use more than one measly teaspoon of Italian seasoning. I usually throw in some chopped garlic if I have a few cloves, or garlic powder if I don't, and I use a combination of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. You could really make it however you like to suit your personal preferences.
So we had a tasty dinner and I even have dinner planned for the next two nights. That's a win in my book!
Winner, winner... tortellini dinner!! It looks delicious, Bonny! (and those all important leftovers are key because I think things like this always taste better on the second day!)
ReplyDeleteI would skip the cream cheese as well (and probably also the meat), but otherwise this sounds like a delicious, comforting winter dinner -- all the more so because your time to make it is minimal!
ReplyDeleteThat looks delicious, Bonny! And excellent planning ahead. It always feels good to realize you have something planned or already cooked for the next day's dinner. It's also lucky that the reluctance or inability to get to the grocery store stimulates my imagination about what to do for dinner. Since living alone, my imagination has come up with a lot of dinners that I am sure a lot of people would not like - lol. I am currently on a mission to "eat down" my freezers, and it came in quite handy during the two weeks I was iced in. And it feels really satisfying not to throw away food!
ReplyDeleteDiced tomatoes are one of those things I always keep on hand and I stock up when they are on sale. Then I don't buy them for a long time and run out. I know you get it. Sounds like a great dinner and planned leftovers and planned future meals are very smart.
ReplyDeleteOh, yum! Crockpot dinners are the best.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I always feel virtuous preparing things in the morning and then having dinner ready without any rushing around later.
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