Crockpot Italian Meatball and Tortellini Soup

Prep: 10–15 minutes
Cook: 4–5 hours on LOW or 2–3 hours on HIGH, plus time for the tortellini

Best size: 6-quart or larger crockpot 

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 medium white or yellow onion, diced 

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) 

5 tablespoons tomato paste 

8 cups chicken stock 

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes 

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 

1½ teaspoons kosher salt 

1½ teaspoons black pepper

1½ teaspoons garlic powder 

1½ teaspoons onion powder 

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 

1 (14- to 16-ounce) package frozen Italian meatballs 1 (18- to 20-ounce) 

package frozen cheese tortellini 

10 ounces baby spinach 

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish 

Step 1. Build your soup base

Put these directly into the crockpot:

• Olive oil, onion, garlic, and tomato paste

• Chicken stock and diced tomatoes (including juice)

• All the seasonings

• Frozen Italian meatballs

Stir everything together until the tomato paste is reasonably well distributed.

My one optional improvement: If you feel like it, sauté the onion and garlic with the tomato paste first, just as your original recipe directs. You'll get a richer flavor. But you can skip that entirely when you want an easy day.

Step 2. Let the crockpot do the work

Cook covered on:

• LOW: 4–5 hours

• HIGH: 2–3 hours

The meatballs should be heated all the way through, with the center reaching 165°F.

Step 3. Add the frozen tortellini near the end

About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, turn the crockpot to HIGH and stir in the frozen tortellini.

Cook for approximately 20–30 minutes, checking after 15–20 minutes. They should be tender but not falling apart.

Don't add them at the beginning! Tortellini left in a crockpot for four hours will become little pasta pillows of despair.

Step 4. Add the spinach and cheese

When the tortellini is nearly tender:

1. Stir in the baby spinach.

2. Cover and cook another 5–10 minutes, until wilted.

3. Turn off the heat, then gradually stir in the Parmesan.

Ladle into bowls and add more Parmesan if you'd like.

A couple of things I'd change

I'd start with 7 cups of chicken stock instead of 8. Crockpots don't evaporate liquid the way stovetop cooking does. You can always add that last cup if the soup seems too thick.

I'd also start with just 1 teaspoon of salt. The stock, meatballs, and Parmesan can contribute quite a bit of salt. Taste before serving and add more if needed.

One other consideration: this recipe makes a generous batch. With 8 cups of stock, 28 ounces of tomatoes, meatballs, tortellini, and 10 ounces of spinach, a 6-quart crockpot may be rather full. An 8-quart would be more comfortable.

And here's my favorite practical trick: If you're planning to eat this soup over several days, cook the tortellini separately and add it to each bowl. Otherwise, it will keep absorbing broth in the refrigerator, and by the following day you'll have something closer to meatball-and-tortellini stew.

Which, admittedly, might be rather delicious too.

Baked apples

 For four generously filled apples, mix:

• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ⅓ cup dried cherries, roughly chopped if large
• ¼ cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• A small pinch of cloves or allspice
• A good pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons softened or melted butter

Core the apples generously without cutting through the bottoms, then pack in the filling. If some remains, mound it on top or scatter it around the apples—no need to respect architectural boundaries.

Put about ¼ cup water or apple juice around them while they cook. If you want them especially lush, add another little pat of butter atop each apple.

That should give you brown sugar in every bite, plenty of cherry, and enough pecan for texture without turning the filling into trail mix.

One Pan Lemon Chicken

 1 box pasta

1 jar sundried tomatoes

diced chicken breast

lemon

salt/pepper

smoked paprika

jarred garlic

chicken stock (use enough to cover pasta)

Cup of frozen peas

Add borsin cheese, or parm, whatever you have on hand. 

1. In a bowl, drizzle oil from sundried tomatoes over chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add smoked paprika generously. 

2. Over medium-high  heat fry chicken for a couple of minutes till brown on both sides - do not cook through. Use lemon juice to deglaze the pan.

3. Drizzle in a little oil from tomatoes and oil,  generous table spoon of garlic. Add broth till pasta is covered. 

4. Cover pan and cook on low till pasta is about done approx. 10 minutes. (about 80%). 

5. Add cheese and peas. Cover, turn heat to simmer and cook another 5 minutes till everything is cooked through. 

Crock Pot Pork Roast With Sweet Potatoes Ingredients

 

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 (4 lb) boneless pork loin roast
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups BBQ sauce
• 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Sear the pork: In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix flour, salt, and pepper, then dredge pork loin in the mixture. Sear pork for 1–2 minutes per side until golden.
2. Layer the slow cooker: Place sweet potatoes and chopped onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Set the pork roast on top.
3. Season and sauce: Sprinkle garlic powder over the pork, then pour BBQ sauce evenly over the top.
4. Cook: Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours, until pork is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender.
5. Serve: Slice the pork and serve with sweet potatoes and sauce from the slow cooker.

Creamy Tortellini Soup

 An easy and creamy Cheese Tortellini and Spinach Soup takes about 20 to 30 minutes to make in a single pot. [1, 2, 3]

Ingredients

2 cans chicken or vegetable broth (14.5 oz each, or 32 oz total)
1 package cheese tortellini (9 oz, fresh or frozen)
5 oz fresh baby spinach (or 10 oz frozen chopped spinach)
1 small yellow onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp olive oil or butter
½ cup heavy cream or half-and-half (optional, for a creamy broth)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for topping)
Salt, black pepper, and half a pack of Good Season Zesty Italian  (to taste) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

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Instructions

Sauté the aromatics: Heat the olive oil or butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Stir in the minced garlic and Italian seasoning, cooking for 1 minute until fragrant. [1, 2]
Simmer the broth: Pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. [1, 2]
Cook the tortellini: Add the cheese tortellini to the boiling broth. Reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer and cook uncovered for 3 to 5 minutes (or according to package directions) until the tortellini floats and is tender. [1, 2]
Add cream and spinach: Turn off the heat or reduce to low. Stir in the heavy cream (if using), grated Parmesan cheese, and fresh baby spinach. Stir gently until the spinach wilts and the cheese melts into the broth. [1, 2]
Season and serve: Taste the soup and season with salt and black pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and top with extra Parmesan cheese. [1, 2]

Peach Cobbler Chat and the Birth of Floral Confetti Cat Part 3

 For the sake of brevity (if three posts can be brief), this is a summarized transcript of an evening long conversation which retains both the my own voice and that of Sol. We work very well together! 

There is no such thing as solitary cross-stitching in a house full of cats.

This is particularly true when beginning a floral cat.

As I started testing a new project, one cat settled behind me on the chair.

Another positioned himself directly under my elbow and repeatedly bumped my arm while I tried to type.

A third supervised from across the room.

At one point my phone began sending messages before I could correct them, resulting in several mysterious fragments of conversation.

I initially blamed the technology.

This was unfair.

The technology had accomplices.

Meanwhile, the actual stitched cat was undergoing evaluation.

The chart was suspicious.

The palette was questionable.

The confetti was outrageous.

The first stitches were so pale they were barely visible.

Still, after only a handful of stitches, the shadow of a leg appeared.

Then the blue tip of a paw.

The household committee did not formally announce its decision, but nobody sat directly on the fabric, which I am choosing to interpret as conditional approval.

This is the thing about stitching with cats around.

They contribute.

Sometimes they contribute fur.

Sometimes they contribute movement at the exact moment one is counting across twenty-count fabric.

Sometimes they contribute an elbow collision that causes a perfectly sensible sentence to become unintelligible.

Occasionally they simply sleep nearby, which is the most useful contribution available to them and the one they seem least interested in making.

And every so often they become part of the history of the piece.

Years later, I may remember the pattern, the artist who inspired it, the colors I changed, and whether I eventually added backstitch.

But I will also remember the night the first forty-five stitches went in.

I will remember the cat under my elbow.

I will remember another asleep behind me.

I will remember looking across the room at the third member of the committee and realizing that Floral Confetti Cat was being brought into existence under peer review.

This is probably why cat hair appears in full-coverage cross-stitch.

It is not contamination.

It is documentation.

Bread Maker Banana

 If your bread machine has a Cake, Quick Bread, or Quick Cake setting, this recipe works well:

Bread Machine Cake Mix Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix (15.25 oz)

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1½ cups)

• 3 large eggs

• ⅓ cup melted butter or vegetable oil

• Optional: ¾ cup chocolate chips or 1 cup chopped walnuts (Bread Dad)

Directions

1. Remove the kneading paddle if your machine's manual recommends it for quick breads.

2. Add mashed bananas, eggs, and melted butter/oil to the bread pan.

3. Add the cake mix on top.

4. Select the Cake, Quick Bread, or Quick Cake cycle.

5. After mixing begins, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula if needed.

6. Add chocolate chips or nuts when the machine beeps for add-ins (or about 5 minutes into mixing).

7. Bake through the cycle. Test with a toothpick; it should come out mostly clean.

8. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely. (Bread Dad)

Tips

• Yellow cake mix gives the most traditional flavor, but butter pecan, spice cake, or vanilla cake mix also work well. (Bread Dad)

• Use very ripe bananas with lots of brown spots for the best flavor. (Bread Dad)

• If your machine does not have a Cake or Quick Bread setting, use the Dough/Mix cycle to combine ingredients, then bake in a loaf pan in the oven at 325°F for 60–70 minutes. (Allrecipes)