Creamy Tortellini Soup

This delicious soup came from the Damn Delicious blog. I made a few alterations to make it a little friendlier to my dietary needs. I'll go ahead and leave the original recipes for my milk and cheese lovers, and include my alterations in parentheses. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken stock (reduced sodium)
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated three cheese tortellini (I used a tomato and oregano tortellini from Aldi, it was good, but I think the cheese is probably better!)
• 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (I like to use oatmilk or oatmilk creamer when I can find it)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
2. Stir in garlic, onion and Italian seasoning. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
4. Gradually whisk in chicken stock and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in tortellini; cover and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Stir in kale until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and basil until heated through, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
7. Serve immediately.

Instant Pot Instructions: 

1. Set Instant Pot to saute setting.
2. Drizzle olive oil into the pot and add Italian sausage and cook until browned, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat (if using a milk substitute, you may want to leave a little grease in the bottom, since you're losing fat from the heavy cream).
3. Stir in garlic, onion and Italian seasoning. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent; season with salt and pepper, to taste. (I did not add any salt to this recipe. I think it would be fine to leave the salting to the individual taster. I also did not need to add pepper, as I used hot sausage)
4. Stir in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
5. Gradually whisk in chicken stock and tomato sauce. 
6. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, set time for 5 minutes. When finished cooking, do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then a controlled quick release.
7. When the pin drops open the lid. 
8. Stir in tortellini, kale, heavy cream (or milk substitute), and basil until heated through. (You could add the cream and tortellini first, and then the kale and basil after about 5-8 minutes, once your tortellini has had time to cook.)
9. Serve immediately (season with salt and pepper, to taste).

(Dairy-Free) Zuppa Toscana

I have a friend who makes a delicious version of Zuppa Toscana (to be honest, I've never had it at the Olive Garden!), so I finally decided to try it myself. I decided to try oatmilk creamer in place of the heavy cream. Also, there are versions with bacon as well, which I'm sure is delicious, but I left it out of my recipe (bacon is not a necessity for me most days).

I borrowed ideas and measurements from this tablespoon.com recipe and this one from thechunkychef.com. The Chunky Chef link will give you lots of tips and options, as well as instructions to use on the stovetop, crockpot, and instant pot. I made mine in the instant pot, but used more of the recipe from tablespoon.com. In either recipe, oatmilk creamer could be substituted for the heavy cream - or cream it up, if that's what you like!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground hot Italian sausage
• 1 medium (yellow) onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T flour
• 2 cartons (32 oz each) chicken broth (I used low sodium)
• 6 russet potatoes (cut in half lengthwise, then in 1/4" inch slices)
• 1 cup oatmilk creamer (can use heavy cream, if not dairy-free)
• 6 cups torn kale (about half of a bunch)
• salt and pepper to taste
• red pepper flakes

Instructions (Instant Pot)

1. Set Instant Pot to saute setting.
2. Drizzle olive oil and add Italian sausage. Cook, stirring frequently until sausage is lightly browned (around 5 min), making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks.
3. Drain excess grease (I didn't have a lot of extra grease, so I left it, adding a little fat to make up for my oatmilk creamer having less fat).
4. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions become soft (about 3-5 min).
5. Sprinkle flour over mixture, and stir in completely.
6. Add potatoes and chicken broth.
7. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, set time for 5 minutes. When finished cooking, do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then a controlled quick release.
8. When the pin drops, open the lid.
9. Add oatmilk and kale, and stir together.
10. Serve. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.

Southwestern Chicken Chili

This recipe is from my meal prepping a couple of weeks ago (originally from New Leaf Wellness). It has good flavor, but I made a few small alterations because I like my chili to be spicy! I may also include some spicy rotel or something next time. Drop in the crock pot and enjoy!

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 pound chicken breasts
1 onion, peeled and chopped (one cup)
2 stalks of celery, chopped (about one cup)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 red pepper, chopped
14oz can of tomato sauce
15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 cup chicken broth
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons (the original recipe had 2 teaspoons) chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2-3 dashes of tabasco sauce (not included in the original recipe)

Materials (if made as freezer meal)
1 gallon-sized plastic freezer bag

Prep
4. Label your freezer bag with the name of the recipe, cooking instructions, and “use-by” date.
5. Add all ingredients.
6. Remove as much air from the bag as possible, seal, and lay flat in your freezer for up to three months.

Cook
3. The night before cooking, move frozen bag to your refrigerator to thaw.
4. The morning of cooking, pour contents of freezer bag into your slow cooker.
5. Cook on “Low” setting for 6-8 hours or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are soft.
6. Shred chicken.

Serve: Top with cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips.

Spring Chicken Soup

This recipe is from my meal prepping a couple of weeks ago. This recipe is quite tasty. The only things I would consider changing would be using some sort of small pasta rather than the orzo (it was hard to get to, as it sunk to the bottom, and just didn't fill the soup out very much). I also needed to cut my carrots smaller (you can't quite tell in this picture, but they were still pretty long, and not super thin...). I did have to pull about half of the soup into a pot on the stove as I was finishing it up. It was a bit much for my crock pot (which I think is pretty standard-sized). This recipe is quite large (and could be larger if you wanted to add more chicken broth to stretch it a bit) - it will obviously depend on who you're feeding, but I believe that this will give me at least 10 servings.

Yields: 8+ servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (1+lb)
1 bunch of green onions, chopped (whites and greens)
1 medium-sized zucchini, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
The juice from one lemon
1.5 teaspoons dill
1.5 teaspoons dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup orzo *not needed until day of cooking
48oz chicken broth (6 cups) *not needed until day of cooking
16oz water (2 cups) *not needed until day of cooking

Materials  (if made as freezer meal)
1 gallon-sized plastic freezer bag

Prep
1. Label your freezer bag.
2. To your freezer bag, add all ingredients except orzo, chicken broth, and water.
3. Remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible, seal, and lay flat in your freezer.

Cook
1. The night before cooking, move frozen bag to your refrigerator to thaw.
2. The morning of cooking, pour contents of freezer bag into your slow cooker and add chicken broth and water.
3. Cook for 6 hours on “low” or until chicken is cooked through and tender.
4. Shred chicken and add orzo.
5. Cook for additional 30 minutes.

Serve with fresh, crusty bread.

Smoky Corn Chowder with Shrimp

This is another recipe found on Pinterest, through this blog. The blogger adapted the recipe from Real Simple, which makes sense because it's quite yummy!

Ingredients:
* 2 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 Tbs. smoked paprika
* 1 pinch crushed red pepper
* 3 ears fresh corn, kernels removed
* 2 cups chicken stock
* 1/2 cup half and half (or cream)
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* basil slivers for garnish (optional)

Instructions:
Heat a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy. Remove bacon from the pan and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Drain all but 1Tbs. bacon fat, if you have that much in the pot.

Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the shrimp to the pot and sear on one side for 2 minutes. Flip and sear 30 more seconds. Remove shrimp from pot and set aside.

If you need to add a little oil (or bacon fat) to the pot, do so. Add the onions to the pot and sauté 5 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, crushed red pepper and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté another minute.

Add the fresh corn to the pot and toss to combine. Sauté another minute.

Add the stock and half & half to the pot. Stir to combine. Keep on a low simmer for 15 minutes. Add a pinch or two of salt & pepper if needed (taste it).

If you have an immersion blender, place it in the pot and pulse it a few times until about half of the soup becomes creamy, still leaving whole kernels as well. If you don’t have an immersion blender, ladle about a cup and a half of the soup into a blender and pulse until creamy. Pour back into the pot and stir to combine.

Serve chowder with the shrimp and reserved bacon crumbles. Garnish with slivered basil if desired.


What I did..
*I doubled most of the recipe, however, I did not double the paprika and forgot to double the onion. I think it was really good without the extra paprika, and it could go either way with the onion. I am not a huge onion person, so I was fine with the half.
*You'll want to be careful about having things ready, because it's a pretty quick-moving recipe. I may have burned some of the bacon, and had trouble getting things in and out and ready quickly enough.
*It's the middle of winter, so I used frozen corn (and I probably would even if it wasn't winter...). I used two 12oz bags of frozen corn.
*I stirred the shrimp to sauté, but didn't "sear" each side individually.

It was tasty, and I'm hoping it will reheat well. Enjoy!

For Meal Prepping:
You will want to prep this way if you're prepping ahead with the meal prepping post.

Ahead of time

• chop up and freeze onion
• mix seasonings and keep in a separate sandwhich-size bag
• 
  

Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili

I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago with my friend, and wanted more of it, so I made my own tonight! We originally got it from here. When we read the comments, we noticed that many people said that it was REALLY HOT, but we followed the recipe... and it was pretty spicy. :) I like spicy, but I found myself choking quite a bit... so it was spicy. Tonight I put a little less cayenne pepper. Just a thought... consider the spicy. Here it is!

Ingredients:

1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped (made me cry like a baby today)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (4oz) can diced jalapeno  peppers
1 (4oz) can chopped green chili peppers
2 t cumin
1 t dried oregano
1 t ground cayenne pepper
2 (14.5oz) cans chicken broth
3 c chopped chicken breast
3 (15oz) cans white beans (we pureed one of the cans of beans)
1 c Monterey Jack cheese


Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove the mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

The only other thing to consider is that I didn't add the cheese until served...  It's yummy and pretty easy - just watch out for those onions! :)

Grandma's Chili

{Grandma's Recipe}
Serves 4-5

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2- 14 1/2 oz cans diced tomatoes (maybe blend)
1- 15 oz can chili beans
1-2 dashes tabasco sauce (opt.)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1- 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
*Adjust spices to taste

Instructions
In dutch oven, brown ground beef; drain. Add red pepper & onion; saute in with drained beef until vegetables start to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili beans, and spices. Stir well. Simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes. Serve with grated cheddar cheese & sour cream.

Saute the vegetables with the ground beef

Summer over low heat for 20-30 minutes

ta da!

***

I followed the recipe almost exactly; I did use turkey instead of beef and left out the salt. This chili is chunky and pretty tasty. I do not own a dutch oven, so I took care of the meat and vegetables in a saute pan, then transferred everything to a crock pot before adding in the other ingredients. You could also put it it in a large pot and keep it on the stove.

There is a lot left over, so I plan to refrigerate some for lunches and dinners, and freeze the rest. I was recently enlightened to the idea of freezing soup in ziplock bags, so I am planning to try that method out. I'll let you know how that works out.

If you're interested in something a little simpler (and smaller in portions), I will post the "Rush Hour Chili" recipe that I tried a while back. It is quicker and less chili, but not as tasty. If you choose the "Rush Hour Chili" instead, I would highly recommend adding some of the spices from this recipe.

INSTANT POT:
Use the same ingredients, but follow these steps:

• Brown the meat on the "saute" setting.
• Drain the liquid.
• Add the pepper and onion, and saute for a few more minutes. 
• Add the remainder of the ingredients and use the "slow cooker" or "bean/chili" for the remainder of the cooking time:
• Slow Cooker: 2-3 hours
• Bean/Chili: 25 minutes, with a 5-10 minute natural release