Italian Sausage Cheese Tortellini Soup

I wanted a bowl of soup with Italian sausage and cheese tortellini so I essentially made Zuppa Toscana and substituted the potatoes for cheese tortellini. This turned out really good. Cheese tortellini and Italian sausage go really good together.








Italian Sausage Cheese Tortellini Soup

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14, 1 cup servings 5 WW points per servings

1 lb. Perdue Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage Links
1 1/2 ts. red pepper flakes
1 large onion, diced
2 Tb. real bacon bits or turkey bacon
2 ts. minced garlic
10 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes, low sodium
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole wheat cheese tortellini
1/4 bunch kale, chopped

Take each sausage link and remove the casing. Discard casings and place the loose sausage, onions, garlic, and bacon bits into a skillet. Cook the sausage mixture, breaking up the sausage as it cooks, until the sausage is cooked through. Drain the meat mixture.

Place in a dutch oven. Add the 10 cups water and 5 chicken bouillon cubes. Bring to gentle boil. Add the wheat cheese tortellini and cook for 7 minutes. In the last 3 minutes of cooking the tortellini add the kale and heavy cream. Serve with garlic bread sticks.

Baked Potato Soup

I have never been able to make a really good potato soup until now. This recipe that I found on Foodie with Family is great and I thought pretty easy. What I thought really put this over the top was the Greek yogurt green onion mixture. Mixed into the soup was so good. It gave it a tangy, onion yumminess to go with the bacon bits and cheese. I enjoyed this soup for a couple of dinners and several lunches. I will be making this again.





Baked Potato Soup
adapted from Foodie with Family

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12 one cup servings, 6 WW points per serving

Soup ingredients:

12 large baked potatoes, cooled (*see instructions below for directions on how to bake potatoes)
4 tablespoons butter, divided
6 tablespoons flour
1 onion, chopped finely
4 cups skim milk
6 cups chicken broth
2/3 cups Weight Watchers shredded Mexican cheese
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
optional: up to one cup of instant mashed potato flakes to thicken soup

Creamy onion topping

2 cups Greek yogurt
1 bunch green onions (scallions), cleaned, trimmed of roots and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt

In a bowl mix together the yogurt, green onions and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge until ready to use.

To Bake Potatoes:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Gently scrub potatoes under cool running water to remove any dirt. Pat the potatoes dry on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes. They are done when they yield to gentle pressure when you squeeze them. (Wear an oven mitt when squeezing them! ) When they are done, transfer to a rack on your counter to cool. Once cool peel off the skins and smash the potatoes in a large bowl and set aside.

In a skillet melt one tablespoon butter and cook the onions until soft. Add in the rest of the three tablespoons of butter. Once melted sprinkle the flour over the onions and butter and whisk until smooth. Turn the heat back to medium. Although at first the fat and flour will seem to seize up it will loosen and become liquid again fairly quickly. Once it returns to a liquid state and begins bubbling stir constantly and cook for 1 minute. This is your roux, or your thickener, for the soup. Whisk all of the milk into the roux and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently until thickened. To check whether your base has thickened enough dip a soup or wooden spoon into it and remove it. If it is still thin, simmer a little while longer or until it does coat a spoon.

Whisk the 6 cups of chicken stock into the thickened milk base and then stir all of the smashed potato innards into the soup. With the pot over medium heat, stir frequently to prevent scorching. You don’t need to boil the soup; you just need to get it steaming hot. When it is steaming check the consistency. If it is not thick enough for your liking, sprinkle two tablespoons of instant potato flakes over the top of the soup and stir in quickly. Wait a couple minutes and check the consistency of the soup again. You can continue adding potato flakes until it is as thick as you like it. We like our soup quite thick, so I have added as much as 1 cup of flakes before. Make sure, though, to wait a couple of minutes between additions as it takes a little while for potato flakes to reach full thickening power. Stir in the cheese until it is completely melted. Adjust flavors with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Remove the soup pot from the heat and serve immediately with Creamy Onion Topping, the bacon pieces, sliced green onions and shredded cheese.

Oven Baked Stew

I'm the type of person that can eat ice cream all year round. I'm also the type of person that can eat soup or stew all year round. When I saw this recipe I knew I needed to try it. It sounded great and it seemed very easy. I planned it for Wednesday. I was going to get it ready and have Will put it in the oven to bake. Then I remembered Will is working a different shift now and doesn't get home until 7pm and this dish takes 2 hours to cook in the oven. I didn't want Will to have to wait until 9pm to eat. So I decided to put everything in the crock pot and let it cook all day so it would be ready to eat when Will got home. All Will had to do was throw in the brown in serve rolls in the oven to go with the stew. This was a great meal and making it in the crock pot worked out just fine.

Oven (Crock Pot) Baked Stew
adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

6 servings, 6 WW points per serving

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1 (1 oz) package of Dry Onion Soup mix

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Paprika

1 pound lean Beef Stew Meat (cut up into bite sized pieces)

2-3 medium Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces

3 large Carrots, peeled and diced (I used a small bag of petite baby carrots)
1/2 an Onion, chopped

1 can 97% fat free Cream of Celery Soup
1/2 cup Ketchup

In a gallon zip lock bag place the beef stew meat and the onion soup mix, salt, and paprika. Seal the bag and shake to coat the meat. In a large crock pot layer the meat, potatoes, carrots, and onion. In a small bowl combine the celery soup and ketchup together and then pour over the mixture in the crock pot. Cook on low for six to eight hours.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

This isn't the greatest picture. I was trying to get the tortellini in the photo but it wasn't cooperating. This recipe is out of Taste of Homes 2011 Annual Recipe cookbook. This soup is so easy to make and it takes less than 30 minutes to cook. I made it before I went to work one afternoon. It tastes really good to. It's like eating tomato soup with the grilled cheese inside the soup. If you prefer grilled cheese over tortellini leave the tortellini out and make yourself a grilled cheese. But the cheese tortellini is really good and makes this soup extra special. I won't be making this a lot only due to the fact that it is pretty rich and it came out to be 6 points per cup. I don't know about the rest of you but I hardly eat just one cup of soup at a time.

Tomato Tortellini Soup
adapted from Taste of Homes 2011 Annual Cookbook

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10 one cup servings, 6 WW points per serving

1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini, (I had about 2 1/2 cups leftover from another recipe. The WW points are calculated for 2 1/2 cups)
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) reduced sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups skim milk
2 cups half and half cream
1 can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese (I used grated since that is what I had on had)

In a Dutch oven, combine the soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes, and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. When soup is hot add the tortellini and cook for seven minutes or until tortellini are cooked through. Stir in cheese. To serve sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.

Vegetable Chicken Soup

I love, love, love my crock pot. I think I have mentioned my love before but it is worth mentioning again. What's not to love? You can throw all the food in the crock pot and it does the work for you. You come home to your house smelling delicious and to a delicious meal. I try to plan a crock pot meal once a week. I work late on Wednesdays and I like to try and feed my husband a home made meal so the crock pot is perfect for that. I found this recipe in one of my new Taste of Home cookbooks. This is out of the 2011 Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes. I have a cookbook addiction. It doesn't help when the cookbooks are delivered to my house. This soup is so good. And it's full of veggies which are filling foods. I strayed a bit from the recipe. I didn't saute the veggies before putting them in the crock pot. I added some more veggies and put in pasta instead of barley. With the pasta the soup is 3 WW points per cup. Without it would be 2 WW points per cup.

Vegetable Chicken Soup
adapted from a Taste of Home recipe

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14 one cup servings, 3 WW points per serving

1 large onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 chicken breasts
1 can (32 oz) chicken broth
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 medium yellow squash, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 cup small pasta
1 3/4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

Place all the ingredients but the pasta in a crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours. At 5 1/2 hours take out the chicken and cut into pieces. Place back in the crock pot. Add the pasta. Cook for the remaining 1/2 hour. Serve with cheese and crackers if desired. Cheese and crackers will add additional points.

Mexican Beef Stew

I got this really yummy recipe from my friend and co-worker Laurie. Thank you Laurie because I really enjoyed this stew. Unfortunately my hubby thought it was to spicy. I didn't think it was spicy at all so I'm a little confused by that but I did eat it with cheese, sour cream and crackers. If it was spicy maybe all my extras cooled it off. But even if it had been spicy I still would have loved it. This recipe is so easy and cooks in your crock pot which I love. Crock pots are your friends. At least I think so anyway.




Laurie's Mexican Beef Stew

8 one cup servings, 4 WW points per serving

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1-2 cups cubed leftover beef or pork
1 (14 oz) can pinto beans rinsed and drained, I used kidney beans
1 (14 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 little can mild chopped green chiles
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup chunky salsa
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

I added a can of diced tomatoes.

Put all in your crock pot, stir to blend. Cook on low 4 to 8 hours. Serve with crackers, crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup I Have Ever Made

Okay, okay I realize the title is really long and yes I just posted a chicken tortilla soup recipe last month but I can't keep quiet about, The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup I Have Ever Made. I loved it this much! Just envision me with my arms spread wide open. You can't, well it doesn't matter I think you get my point. I have been craving this soup lately and before you ask no I'm not pregnant. I'm just having a craving so I indulged myself and this soup doesn't cost me a lot of WW points. This recipe isn't to different than what I posted last month but I modified it some and it turned out so good. This will be how I make chicken tortilla soup from this day forward. Did I mention how easy it is since you cook everything in your crock pot? I didn't, shame on me. So easy and so yummy. I think the only thing missing is a little heat but if you don't like any level of spicy than this is for you. My hubby and his boys even liked it.



The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup I Have Every Made
12 to 15 one cup servings, 2 WW points per serving w/o extra tortilla chips or cheese

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2 frozen chicken breasts
2 containers chicken broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut into big pieces
1 Tb. minced garlic
1/2 cup cilantro
1 ts. sugar
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
11 tortilla chips crushed

Slice up the carrots and celery into medium size pieces, set aside. In a food processor or blender, blend together the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, and sugar until almost smooth. You want to leave it a little chunky. Place the carrots, celery, tomato mixture, chicken breasts, and chicken broth into a large crock pot. Cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Mine cooked for about 8 hours while I was at work. Take out the chicken and chop it up or shred it. Put the chicken back in the crock pot and add crushed chips. Cook for another 1/2 hour. Serve with more tortillas chips and shredded cheese. I think the cheese is a must but that could just be me. If you want your soup spicy blend as many chipotle peppers that you want to the tomato mixture. I think I would add one chipotle pepper without the seeds to this soup next time. With a little heat I think this would be the perfect chicken tortilla soup.

Chicken Parm Soup

I was looking up something the other day and came across a food blog called The Food in My Beard. I was like hmmm, what's this all about? I found out it is a really awesome blog done by gasp a man with a beard. Most of the blogs I stalk are done by women so finding one by a man is a welcome change. And he has a beard which I love. I'm definitely a beard loving woman. Just look at my handsome beard wearing husband. I told him the day he shaves off his beard I'll know he wants a divorce. If the beard goes, he goes. I kid I kid, not really. His beard just does it for me.

On this blog I found a soup called Chicken Parm. It looked really good and sounded easy enough. It was really good and was really easy since I cooked it in my beloved crock pot. I had to modify the recipe due to I didn't have everything I needed. That seems to happen to me a lot. Every week before I go grocery shopping I decide what recipes I would like to try. I check to see what I have and write down what I need. I forgot to buy diced tomatoes. I thought I had some at home but I'm out. I solved that dilemma by using a jar of marinara sauce. I think it worked out pretty well but since I haven't made it true to his recipe before I'm not sure how it compares.

Chicken Parm Soup
adapted from The Food in My Beard

15 one cup servings, 3 WW Points per serving

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2 containers of chicken broth
2 frozen chicken breasts
1 jar marinara sauce
1 cup uncooked orzo
shredded Parmesan, for serving

In your crock pot pour in the broth and marinara sauce. Add the chicken breasts and cook on low for 4 hours. Take the chicken breasts out and chop them up. Place back in crock pot. Add one cup of uncooked orzo and cook for another 1/2 hour to an hour or until pasta is cooked. Serve with Parmesan cheese and cheese croutons, recipe below.


Cheese Croutons

6 servings, 3 WW Points per serving

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1 french baguette, cut into 32 slices
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cut bread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each slice with cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese has melted.

If the bread is hard, like mine was, before baking that's fine because you will be putting them in the soup. I think this would be really good made into cheese garlic croutons as well.

Cheese Tortellini Soup

Oh the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful and since there's no place to go let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. I'm fine with it snowing since the library was closed today and I didn't have to get out. We couldn't even get out our front door this morning the snow had drifted so high against the screen door. Will tried going out the back door and it was iced up so he had to take out the window and screen so he could climb out that way. I'm pretty sure it's still snowing. UPS even closed last night the weather was so bad. Lake County declared a state of emergency and we were told to only go out if it was an emergency. To stay inside and off the roads. Fine by me. I'm rather cozy sitting here in my bed watching CSI Miami. What's a girl to do when it's cold and snowy out? Make soup of course.

I found this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen site. It looked really good and seemed really easy to make. Both were true. The cheese tortellini is the star. Very delicious. My hubby gave me a gold star so that means he really liked it. Most of the time I only get a "It was good." It is also low in points which I love. If you get a cupful of tortellini without the broth it won't be low in points so make sure the tortellini gets distributed when you serve it.

Cheese Tortellini Soup
adapted from The Well-Fed Newlyweds at Tasty Kitchen

14 one cup servings, 3 WW points per serving

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1 TB. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 TB. minced garlic
15 ounce can of crushed tomatoes with basil
1/2 ts. oregano
salt and pepper
10 cups chicken broth
3 cups cheese tortellini, fresh or frozen, I used fresh
3 cups fresh spinach chopped
Parmesan cheese, to serve

In a stock pot heat up oil and cook onion and garlic until soft. Add the tomatoes, oregano, chicken broth, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions, 7-9 minutes. During the last minute of cooking add the spinach. Remove from heat immediately when tortellini is done cooking so it won't overcook. Serve the soup with Parmesan cheese. I made garlic breadsticks to go with.

Zuppa Toscana

Olive Garden is my favorite place to eat at. If you give me 100 choices and Olive Garden is one of the choices I will choose Olive Garden every time. I love their soups, salad, bread sticks, and Chicken Parmigiana with Alfredo sauce. Their Alfredo rocks.

The menu describes Zuppa Toscana as spicy sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens in a creamy broth. It is so good. It's funny because when I was younger I wouldn't touch this soup. Sausage wasn't my favorite. My mom loved it and could eat bowl after bowl after bowl. I love that they put Romano cheese on everything. I make them grate it onto a plate so I have a pile of cheese and I can distribute it on my soup for every bite. Extravagant you say, but oh so worth it. Their Pasta e Fagioli is really good too but the Zuppa is my favorite. Don't get me started on their bread sticks. I could eat ten of them at a time if I allowed myself. I knew I wanted to try and make this soup at home because you can't always get to Olive Garden. I searched the Internet and found a copy cat recipe and it tastes just like their soup. I use Italian turkey sausage instead of regular but I can hardly tell the difference.

I cook this soup in the crock pot. I brown the meat the night before and then put it all together in the crock pot the next day. The crock pot does the bulk of the work and leaves us with delicious soup when I get home. I decided to make this soup on Tuesday. Tuesdays are my WW nights and I go to Kim's house to weigh and then we go out to eat. I wanted to have dinner ready for Will so this soup sounded good and I knew there would be plenty of leftovers for the both of us to enjoy over the next few days. Since I wasn't going to be home to add the cream and the kale I texted Will to add both around 2pm. I told him to just tear up two or three pieces of the kale since the bunch I bought was huge. Later that night when I got home from Kim's I looked in the crock pot and noticed only a few small pieces of greenery. I thought Will had ate most of the kale but upon further inspection I realized he added cilantro to the soup instead of the kale. I asked him if it made it taste weird but he said no and that he only put a few leaves in the soup. If you are familiar with cilantro you know the leaves are little. He probably thought I was crazy for telling him to only put in two or three of the leaves. So I scooped out what little was left of the cilantro and put in the kale let it cook for another hour. Next time I'll put the kale next to the crock pot so we don't end up with cilantro again but it didn't affect the flavor the soup. Cooking with help from hubby is always an adventure. But he's a good sport.

Zuppa Toscana
About 14 servings, 4 WW points per cup

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1 lb. Perdue Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage Links
1 1/2 ts. red pepper flakes
1 large onion, diced
2 Tb. real bacon bits
2 ts. minced garlic
10 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes, low sodium
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb. potatoes, sliced
1/4 bunch kale, chopped

Take each sausage link and remove the casing. Discard casings and place the loose sausage, onions, garlic, and bacon bits into a skillet. Cook the sausage mixture, breaking up the sausage as it cooks, until the sausage is cooked through. Drain the meat mixture.

In a crock pot place the meat mixture, water, bouillon cubes, and potatoes. Cook on low for seven hours. In the last hour of cooking add the heavy cream and kale. I like to sprinkle on cheese if I have it but it's not necessary. I serve with bread sticks.

Yummy Olive Garden in the comfort of my home. You can't beat that.

Link to original recipe: Copy Cat Zuppa Toscana

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I really like chicken tortilla soup. I have mainly had it in restaurants but I have made it at home. I made a really good recipe a few months back but of course I couldn't find the recipe for it and didn't remember all the ingredients. So I started looking online for one. I found a recipe by a Pastor Tom, called Pastor Tom's Tortilla Soup. I liked how he blends tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, and sugar together. So I printed it out to give it a try. Then of course I found the other recipe I was looking for so I decided to use elements of both recipes.


Chicken Tortilla Soup

8 t0 10 servings
2 WW points per cup w/o tortillas

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1 can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut up
2 clove garlic, or tablespoon minced garlic
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Two containers low sodium chicken broth
2 cans white chicken meat, undrained
2 or 3 chipotle peppers and little adobo sauce
2 t. lime juice

tortilla chips, I used a brand called Texas Toast Tortilla Strips Chipotle Cheese flavored they were 1 point per 11 strips
shredded cheese

In a blender or food processor combine undrained tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, and sugar. Cover and blend until nearly smooth. Put mixture in a stock pot with chicken, chicken broth, and chipotle peppers. I only used two chipotle peppers and I removed the seeds. Next time I will blend the peppers up with the tomato mixture because I didn't like the big chunks. Add the lime juice. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve soup with crushed tortillas and cheese if desired. Cheese adds on WW points as well.

Next time I think I will add another can of chicken and double the tomato mixture. I think I will cook it in my crock pot.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

So today was D day. D meaning back on my diet day. Except I don't like the word diet so I will call it a lifestyle change. I have jumped back in my Weight Watcher wagon and am hopeful I will have less bumps this time then I did last time. I do need to learn the new program. They went and changed it on me. But I subscribe to the online tools so I should be okay. I am definitely ready to eat healthier and start exercising. Though I do hate to exercise. I'm still trying to talk myself into liking it. I haven't succeeded yet. To help me get back into the swing of things I went to the store and bought healthy foods, lettuce, veggies, low calorie snacks, and stuff to make stuffed pepper soup. I love this soup but don't make it that often because my hubby doesn't care for green peppers. I didn't make him eat something he's not fond of so I cooked him one of the freezer meals I prepared a few weeks ago. I will be posting about that tomorrow.

I was introduced to stuffed pepper soup by my other mother Mary. Mary is mom to Angela and Angela is one of my very close friends. Angela and I met in elementary school and we became friends and so did our mothers. Mary and Angela are always there when I need them. I got the recipe from Mary and have modified it slightly over the years to make it mine. The original recipe calls for ground beef, rice, and just green peppers but I substitute turkey for the beef, orzo for the rice, and a variety of peppers. If you like stuffed peppers you are going to love this soup. And for those of you changing your lifestyle this soup is waist line friendly at only 3 points a cup.

Looking at this picture makes me realize I need to organize my measuring cups and spoons. It looks a little chaotic.

What you need: Big bottle of V8 Juice, ground turkey, can of diced tomatoes garlic powder, pepper, onion, peppers (green, yellow, orange, and red), orzo, and olive oil. Or if you are allergic to olive oil like my friend Jessica use vegetable oil.





First start by chopping up the peppers. I used one yellow pepper, one orange pepper, one and half green peppers, and a half of a red pepper.











Chop up a medium onion. In a stock pot pour in some olive oil or vegetable oil. Then throw in the peppers and onions and saute until almost tender. Add the ground turkey, garlic powder, and pepper and cook until turkey is cooked through. Most of the time I don't need to drain this because turkey is not very fatty but if you have excess grease drain it.






This is the cooked pepper, onion, and meat mixture. Doesn't it look pretty with all the colors. To this add the bottle of V8 juice and the can of diced tomatoes. Once the juice is hot add the orzo. Let cook for about 20 more minutes or until the orzo is cooked.








Stuffed Pepper Soup

3 WW points per cup

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1 package lean ground turkey
1 large bottle of V8 juice
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 1/2 green peppers
1/2 red pepper
1 onion
1/2 tablespoon to a tablespoon garlic powder, I like a lot of garlic so I use a lot
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
4 oz uncooked orzo
Olive Oil

Directions:

Dice up the peppers and onion. Place a stock pot on the stove and pour in enough olive oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. You want enough to keep the peppers and onions from sticking to the pan but not so much that they are swimming in oil. Saute until almost tender. Add the turkey. To the pan add the garlic powder and pepper. I don't measure I just shake it in. Cook until the turkey is cooked through. Drain if you need to but most of the time turkey isn't to greasy.

To the turkey mixture add the V8 juice and tomatoes. Let the juice heat up and then add the orzo. Cook for about 20 more minutes or until the orzo is cooked through. This allows for all the flavors to meld together.

I like to eat mine with shredded cheese and crackers. If you are doing WW using cheese and crackers will add on some points.