Tortellini Soup

Have you ever had that sinking feeling where you know you're forgetting something, but you just can't lay your finger on what it is you're forgetting?  I had one of those moments this morning as I was getting ready for school.  All of a sudden it hit me, it was Monday and I had to bring food to school for my blog!  Sarah called me thirty seconds later asking me what I was bringing for lunch.  Good thing I had another slow cooker recipe for today.  I was able to throw the ingredients together in about ten minutes, and then take the slow cooker to school to finish off the dish.

The tortellini soup consisted of cheese tortellini, diced tomatoes, carrots, green beans, and plenty of either beef broth.  This short list of ingredients and easy preparation should mean no problems to report, but today was definitely one of those days where something about your dish is bound to go wrong.  Aside from almost forgetting to cook, I realized that eight cups of broth in our smaller slow cooker wasn't going to make it to school without overflowing onto my sister, the official slow cooker holder.  We had to remove some broth, which then allowed for some of the green beans to fit in the slow cooker.  I modified this recipe to fit my needs today, but if you have time I would suggest cooking the soup in a pot on the stove.

 Even though my soup was thrown together this morning, it received many compliments.  Teagen said the soup had just the right amount of spices.  My favorite part of cooking is sharing a recipe with someone who really liked your dish, which happened today with my science teacher.  He said the soup was delicious and he was going to make it at home soon.  The ultimate compliment for a cook is being asked to share a recipe.  I hope for many more instances of recipe sharing.

Manicotti

Last week was a no fuss, ready when you are kind of meal.  This week that was not the case, as manicotti is a hands on meal that requires advanced planning, plenty of time, and a bit of ambition.  My family enjoys a meal like this on a nice, calm Sunday evening as a way to start a busy school and work week.

Manicotti is a pasta dish with a ricotta cheese filing inside noodles and spaghetti sauce covering the noodles.  There are many different ways to make the filling like mixing the ricotta cheese with mushrooms, spinach, or meat.  The type of filling depends on your family’s preference; my family prefers ricotta cheese mixed with mushrooms.  This dish is simple enough to make, but has one very tedious step.  The filling that you mix up must be put into each shell by hand.  This may not sound like a big deal, but after getting enough pasta goo on your hands, it becomes quite difficult to keep the noodle open wide enough to be stuffed.

Seeing as I usually have a few minor inconveniences occur while I am cooking, I’m pleased to say that my latest cooking session went off without a hitch.  The manicotti dish turned out “fabulous” according to Teagen.  After Lisa said she could smell the food all the way down the hall, Eric walked in at lunch saying, “give me some”.  Allie even came back for seconds today.

Hearing the reactions of my classmates reminded me why I love to cook.  However, making food for only my classmates has left my family feeling neglected.  After realizing how much I enjoyed making this dish, I’ll have to make it again sometime soon for my neglected family.