What's for Dinner?

I don't remember where I first came across this recipe but I've made it quite a few times and it's one of my favorites. It's easy; there are no special ingredients, and it makes a lot, so there are always leftovers (which is a good thing). Oh, and it tastes good, too! 

It's called Crockpot Cheesy Sausage Tortellini. 

In case you can't read my scribbly writing, here's the recipe with my notes:

24 oz chicken broth (I use unsalted)
18 oz frozen tortellini
5 oz fresh spinach (it comes in 10 oz packages, so I just cut it up and add the whole 10 oz)

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (I usually use a 28 oz can)

1 kielbasa, cut up

1 block cream cheese (I use Neufchatel cheese and usually just half a block)

salt, pepper, 1.5 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

0.5 c shredded Italian cheese blend (I usually don't use plain mozzarella, but use 1.5 c of the Italian cheese blend instead)

Just dump all the ingredients in the crockpot, mix them well, and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Stir it a few times to incorporate everything and mix the melted cream cheese into the chicken broth. One hour before serving, add the shredded cheese and stir once more. 

You could easily make this meatless, and if John wasn't eating dinner here, I would most likely substitute hot sausage for kielbasa and add some crushed red pepper flakes. You could probably substitute ravioli for the tortellini if you prefer, but I think tortellini feel "fancier". There is still some left over in the refrigerator and I might claim it for dinner tonight while John eats venison steaks. Happy eating!

Dinner and Dessert

Sometimes I'm at a loss about what to make for dinner, but I found this recipe and it's a keeper. I made it for John and I and we liked it enough that I made it the next week to take to Justin's. Now that I'm writing about it, I might just make it again this weekend.

I could eat lots of things with a garlic cream sauce.

I used a pound of pasta, half a pound of bacon, half and half in place of heavy cream, and an extra tablespoon or two of ranch seasoning, and it still all fit into a 9 x 13 pan. 

Since this dinner was a good one, a delicious but not too sweet dessert made it even better. I had almost a full five-pound bag of self-rising flour in the cupboard and King Arthur was kind enough to provide a peanut butter cookie recipe when I decided I needed to use it up. This recipe only uses one cup of flour but I will certainly make it again in the future.

It's quick and easy to mix and make and I got 18 cookies when I baked them. This is probably still more cookies than two people need, but we managed to eat them in short order. 

I'm a selfish baker; the big cookie is for me!

Whatever you're having for dinner and dessert this weekend, I hope it's tasty!

A Little Weird but Still Tasty

A while ago I cleaned out my pantry. I threw away the things that were expired, donated stuff that I thought the food pantry could use, and organized the unexpired cans and bottles I thought I would use. There were a couple of items that didn't fit into any of those categories. 

These were just slightly expired and even though I have no idea where the Spam came from or what would have possessed me to buy it, I still couldn't bring myself to throw them away. They sat on the counter for several days while I thought about what to do with them when I had an idea. Once I saw that there were actual recipes for this, I decided to try it. 

Behold, fried rice with spam and pineapple! I didn't follow the recipe but made it the way I have prepared fried rice before. I scrambled two eggs and removed them from the pan. Then I fried cut-up cubes of Spam and removed them from the pan. Next, I added a few teaspoons of sesame oil to the pan, dumped in some leftover rice, and added the scrambled eggs and Spam to the rice. After some stirring and frying, I mixed a few teaspoons of soy sauce with a couple teaspoons of pineapple juice, added that, and mixed it in. 

I didn't have any green onions or I would have used them, but it made a surprisingly tasty dinner. It was quick and I didn't have to feel bad for throwing away food. I won't be buying Spam in the future to make this (or for any other recipe), but I might make something similar if I have leftover ham. 

What did you have for dinner this weekend?

Planning

Who knew that a little bit of time invested in meal planning might save me frustration, aggravation, and maybe even some time in the long run?

Maybe many of you who have planned your meals knew this secret, but I'm really just beginning to give it a try. Cooking is solely my responsibility, which is okay because John usually takes care of plumbing and electrical issues (not at the same time). Often, I just stand at the kitchen counter while sipping my tea in the morning and wonder "What in the world am I going to make for dinner tonight?" I try and figure something out based on what I've got in the refrigerator and freezer, along with the additional questions of "What do I feel like making?", "What are the easiest, yet tastiest things I could make?", and "Why isn't John happy with just a salad for dinner in the summer?" It seems as if thinking about dinner, making dinner, and trips to the grocery store to get just a few things I'm lacking for that night are taking up far too much of my time, so I decided to try some meal planning.

Yesterday I needed to grocery shop, so before I went and wandered the aisles aimlessly, I made a menu list for six days. This is the scribbled list on the blue index card above. I had two trout in the freezer from fishing last weekend, and fresh snow peas in the refrigerator from the garden, so yesterday's dinner was easy. Then I just started writing down possibilities for the remaining five days. I'm not a big fan of pork chops (dinner tonight), but I'm a grown-up, don't have to eat any pork chops, and I'm also making a pasta salad that I do like. I thought about things that I haven't made in a long time (corn salad, broccoli salad, and a raspberry jello salad) and put them on the list. I have a wild turkey breast in the freezer from Justin's spring turkey hunt that should be used, so we'll be having wild turkey nuggets this weekend. 

Then I made a grocery list from the meal planning list so I would be sure to have all the ingredients on hand and wouldn't be running back to the grocery store for raisins or black beans or something else I was missing. (Shredded cheddar and bacon are both on the list twice, but you can never have too much bacon or cheddar.) I'm really not much of a planner so this is not my usual modus operandi, but I hope it pays off in the long run. (We'll see how long I stick with it.)

So how do you deal with the eternal question of dinner? Do you plan? Make things on the spur of the moment? Are you lucky enough to be part of a family that shares cooking, offers meal ideas, or is at least happy with a good salad in the summertime? I'd love to hear how things work at your house!

What's for Dinner?

This dinner was a winner! I don't know what to call it, but it was easy, satisfying, and everyone in the family liked it. I have very few dinners like this so I had to take a picture and tell you about it. 

I diced three chicken breasts, cooked them, and threw them in the crockpot. I added three cans of drained black beans, a large bag of frozen corn, some salsa, an envelope of taco seasoning, and let it cook all day. I had flour tortillas, so Justin put some of the chicken mixture on them, added Mexican cheese and hot taco sauce, and proclaimed it delicious. I also added cheese and scooped it out of my bowl with some hint of lime taco chips. John ate his over rice and was happy that it wasn't too spicy.

I'm going to have to resist the temptation to make this every week, but I thought it was pretty darn good and there are even some leftovers for me to eat with more taco chips. 

What's for dinner at your house tonight?

What's for Dinner?

I'm not sure that today's recipe will be anything new for many of you, but it was new to me. I've eaten it plenty of times, at restaurants and at other people's houses, but I've never made it myself. During our last conversation, Ryan strongly encouraged (meaning he basically demanded) that I finally give it a try. With only a few ingredients, he assured me I would be up to the challenge. :-)

I was quite capable of boiling penne, sauteing garlic, and adding a can of tomatoes.

Once the penne was done, I whisked vodka, cream, and grated parmesan cheese into the sauce and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Then I mixed the sauce into the pasta. 

John basically considers a meal without meat not worth eating, so I anticipated this and browned some sausage for him to add, which he did. 

Ryan says that John is like Homer Simpson, he won't try anything new unless he's had it before. That is pretty much the case, so I also made zucchini bread for dessert to sweeten the deal.

But I was quite happy with penne vodka, and will definitely make it again, no matter what Homer John thinks.

(Sometimes a Yuengling helps take the edge off when I'm dealing with 20 questions about what's for dinner and why does it have vodka in it.)

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