Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

Every once in a while a recipe comes along that is so good that you sit around counting the days until you get to make it again.  This creamy slow cooker tortellini soup is one of those recipes.  I made it while the hubs was out of town and I'm not going to lie... I ate the entire crockpot full myself.  It took a few days, but I savored every bowlful!  It was like lasagna in soup form.

Honestly, I was really surprised by how much I loved the mushrooms in this because I'm not a huge mushroom fan.  I like them, but I don't love them if that makes sense.  In this soup they were amazing and added some rusticness... I totally made that up, but they were good.  Really good.

I altered the original recipe that I'd found on Heather Likes Food  slightly to make it a little easier to prepare.   I like a lot of spinach so I use the entire bag.  If you're not a fan, add half or skip it all together.   There are a lot of ways you can change this up based on what's in your pantry and what mood you're in.

Give this a try and let me know what you think!

Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup
Recipe
24 oz. jar spaghetti with meat sauce or regular sauce mixed with 1/2 lb browned Italian sausage or beef
2-3 oz. pepperoni, diced
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (fresh)
4 c. beef broth
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 (4.5 oz.) bag spinach leaves, chopped
16 oz. frozen cheese tortellini

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker combine sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, beef broth and cream cheese.  Cook 2 hours on high or until mushrooms are done.  Stir well to mix up cream cheese. 
2. Add spinach leaves and tortellini.  Cook 30 more minutes on high.  
3. Serve with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. 

Adapted from: Heather Likes Food

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Casserole

Since October is the month of all things pumpkin, I decided to try another take on my most pinned recipe, Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Casserole.  I added pumpkin butter, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin spice coffee creamer.   The result was even better than the original. 

This casserole is special enough for Thanksgiving Day breakfast, but easy enough for any morning of the week.  The leftovers reheat wonderfully.

Ingredients
2 (12.4 oz) cans of refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing like Pillsbury (can use light cinnamon rolls)
1 3/4 c egg substitute like Egg Beaters (or 6 large eggs)
1/2 c pumpkin spice coffee creamer or half and half
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2/3 c pumpkin butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease an 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish.
2. Cut each cinnamon roll into 8 pieces and place in dish.  
3. In a medium bowl whisk together egg substitute or eggs, coffee creamer, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pumpkin pie spice.  Pour over rolls.  Give the whole thing a good stir.  Sprinkle with pecans.
4. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool 10-15 minutes (if you can wait that long!!)  Remove covers from icing and microwave 5-10 seconds or until it's the perfect consistency for drizzling.
5. Drizzle icing over top.   Serve with light syrup and powdered sugar.   

 Linked to:

Link Party Palooza - Strut Your Stuff Saturday - Super Sunday Linky Party - Munching Mondays - A Pinch of Joy - Mouth Watering Mondays - A Southern Fairytale - Gooseberry Patch Recipe Round-Up - Lady Behind the Curtain - Cast Party Wednesday -

Cider Braised Pork Chops with Apples

It finally feels like fall and nothing says fall to me like apples... unless it's apples and cinnamon.  When you combine that perfect pairing with pork and onions, you get a bite of heaven.

I love the merging of the sweetness from the apples and brown sugar and the savoriness of the pork and onions.  You could even mix in dried cranberries and pecans to make it extra special for company.

The preparation is pretty simple.  I got all of my ingredients ready beforehand so cooking this was a breeze.  If I prep as I go, I usually end up slightly frazzled with a big mess.

Flouring and browning your chops is important because the flour thickens the sauce and browning gives them more color.  Soggy, gray pork chops aren't all that appealing.  Also, make sure you add enough salt to balance the sweet and give you those layers of flavor.   

We had these with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots, but sweet potatoes and green beans would be wonderful too.

Recipe
Source:  Southernfood.about.com
4 to 6 boneless pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick with fat removed
1/4 tsp salt + more to taste
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 c flour
2 Tbsp light salted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
2 c coarsely chopped apple (I used fuji apples)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c apple cider or apple juice
3 Tbsp brown sugar or 1 1/2 Tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of ground allspice

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook onions 5 minutes or until fairly translucent.  (I lightly salt the onions.)  Place onions on another plate.  Add oil to pan.
2. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a large zip top bag.  Add pork chops and toss to coat. Brown chops in oil for about 2 minutes per side.  Add a little more oil if needed.
3. In the meantime, combine apples, lemon juice, cider, brown sugar and spices.  
4. Pour apple mixture and onions over chops.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer over medium-low for about 25 minutes or until chops are done.

Autumn Harvest Salad

Let me just say that this salad received the hub's seal of approval and that is the highest compliment a salad can receive.  He ate 3 helpings and I nearly passed out.  Then he asked if we could have it again soon and I could have sworn I heard angels singing.  I felt like a super hero.

The best part was that it was soooo easy.  I used leftover chicken, bagged salad, precooked bacon and presliced apples.  It's perfect for a busy weeknight.

This salad doesn't really have measurements.  I just added a handful of this and a handful of that.  It's so simple and you can easily swap out ingredients for whatever sounds better to you.  The key to this recipe is the combination of sweet, salty and a touch of smokiness from the bacon.

In the spirit of keeping things healthier around here, I went light on the cheese, craisins and bacon when I made this for us.  It doesn't take a lot to get the flavor.  Also using a combination of vinaigrette and creamy poppy seed dressing allows you to cut the fat and calories that you would get by using just the poppy seed dressing.

Recipe
Adapted from: Espresso and Cream
2 bags prepared salad mix- (I like to roughly chop them so the pieces aren't as big.)
baked, rotisserie or grilled chicken breast, sliced diagonally across the grain
1-2 apples, thinly sliced
red onion
Craisins
feta cheese, low-fat
real bacon bits
almonds or pecans, toasted
balsamic vinaigrette
creamy poppy seed dressing

Combine all ingredients and toss to lightly coat with dressing.

Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Recipe

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 c pumpkin puree

2 eggs
1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 c canola or vegetable oil
1/3 c water
t tsp vanilla
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 1 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, vanilla and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
3. Bake for an hour to a hour and 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaf is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.