What I Ate: Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Spinach

This is so easy I wasn’t going to blog it, but those are famous last words which then became the What I Ate series. I whipped the soup up on a cold day and it was a hit! This is a super easy soup that could easily be customized by what you have around. I had spinach to use up or freeze. I had seen some crock-pot soups with tortellini but that is an ingredient that definitely doesn’t benefit from cooking forever. This could have been a one-pot-wonder if I had only cooked the sausage first.

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Tortellini, Spinach, and Sausage Soup

Ingredients:

1 jar light Alfredo sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper
3 sausage links
1 bag frozen cheese tortellini
3 cups baby spinach

Directions:

Add Alfredo, broth, and milk into a large pot over low heat.
Cook sausage links and slice into disks when cooked through.
Add garlic, seasonings, cooked sausage and tortellini to the pot, bringing to medium heat and cooking for 7 minutes.
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Test tortellini. When fully cooked, add spinach and stir.
Cook for 1-2 minutes and serve.
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I liked that this one was creamy but not super thick. The spinach reduces greatly even in just a minute so load it up, that’s the healthiest part of the soup!

Girl Scout Cookie Bars

Samoa Girl Scout Cookie Bars

adapted from Baking Bites

These cookies are Girl Scout Cookies-gone to the bar. Hahaha. I crack myself up. I gave these to Mr. J as and I-owe-you at Christmas when I had lots of cooking before our holiday celebration with each family, and had plenty of holiday cookies around. I finally made ’em and they were a baking success!
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Ingredients for Shortbread Base:

½ cup sugar
¾ cup butter, softened
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt

Directions for Shortbread Base:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray/flour/line with parchment a 9×13 baking pan.
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream sugar and butter together.
Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
Gradually add flour and salt, mixing until crumbly.
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Press doughy mixture into the pan and make a few holes with a fork.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. (Note: the base should be somewhat cooled before topping and topping cannot be prepped in advance to using it. Also note: I used a little pan but it was too thick.)
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Ingredients for the Topping:

3 cups shredded cocoanut
1 bag wrapped caramels (16 oz) unwrapped
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup milk
8 oz chocolate chips (or drizzle with chocolate sauce)

Directions for the Topping:

While shortbread base is cooking (or cooling if you prepped it in advance), put cocoanut onto a cookie sheet (with sides/edges) and spread into an even layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or so, until evenly golden brown.
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While coconut is toasting, start unwrapping caramels.
Melt caramels over a double-boiler or in the microwave. Stir occasionally.
When partially melted, add milk and salt.
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Stir toasted coconut and caramels together.
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Spread coconut & caramel topping onto the shortbread base.
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Allow to cool somewhat before drizzling melted chocolate chips or chocolate syrup.
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These are not exactly as tricky as they might first seem. I’m not a baking connoisseur, so I’ve listed steps so you’re ready for the next one. I stuck to the recipe (I never deviate when baking) except that I used a 9×9 pan and the shortbread was wayyyy too thick. It didn’t seem like it until I baked it and it puffed a lot.

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The flavor was good and as bars, they were much less work than shaping cookies etc. These guys won’t exactly fool anyone into thinking they are sold by your local girl scout, but a 4-something a box, you could make a LOT of pans of these bars for that price.

Heat

Heat by Bill Buford: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

I haven’t written about a foodie book lately but this one wrapped me right in. I didn’t care that I didn’t know the name. I was intrigued that this guy worked for Mario Batali so I felt like I got to know that star, by way of Bill Buford. He became a kitchen “slave.”

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I learned right along with Bill as he made his way through the stations in Mario Batali’s kitchen. It really sounds like a humbling experience given just what kind of learning curve it was from being a talented home cook to the bottom rung of the food chain chopping carrots for hours on end. Buford provides a lot of insight and life to the “characters” in the restaurant industry. There’s a lot of realness and upfront personalities behind the scenes at a restaurant.

In an effort to round out his education, he goes to Italy to learn pasta. I’d do that right now if you want to fund my trip! Ha! I actually don’t really want to learn to make my own pasta…there are some things I think are better left to the professionals. I haven’t been to Tuscany but I wouldn’t pass up a trip! It would be amazing to eat my way through Europe…not exactly Eat Pray Love style, but I’m sure you can imagine it too.

He goes back seeing an Italian butcher lesson. That is really fascinating because he finds a real talent. It was endearing to read about the culture in a tiny Tuscan village. I think what really made an impression on me was not the picturesque setting, but rather the pure passion they all have. These butchers and pasta makers do everything they can and everything they know to do it the right way.

I had a freak-out moment (#MomentsTurnedMonths) in grad school when I was so desperately unsure of my future. I worried what to do if I had a job that I knew I never loved. I felt claustrophobic. I was living with 3 girls who all hated their jobs/lives/futures. I interned where everyone was constantly annoyed by others around them. It terrified me. I left. I left grad school. I left the publishing industry. I left the terrible roommates. I made the right choice. I wanted to do something I could be good at. I wanted to do something that mattered. I wanted to feel happy at the end of the day.

I don’t want to be a chef. I don’t want to apprentice and work 80-hours-per-week in a kitchen. I’m happy to cook what I like and share that here. I admire that Bill Buford knew it wasn’t too late when he worked his way through the kitchen.

At the end Batali asks him about a restaurant. Buford says what every reader is (probably) hoping he’ll say. No, he doesn’t want his own restaurant. He wants to keep learning from the best. He’s hungry for more knowledge.

Peanut Butter, Banana and Nutella Smoothie

My go-to breakfast is often a smoothie. I got a pretttty awesome new Nina blender with single serve smoothie attachment. I ran my last one into the ground (circa 2004?). It is still kicking but my new one is freaking amazing.

Smoothies are filling enough when there’s protein (read: Greek yogurt) and several servings of fruit. My key is liquid to make it blend nicely (milk or low-calorie juice). I was craving nutella too, which is a new ingredient for my smoothies.
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Ingredients:
¾ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 small-medium banana, sliced
¼ cup reduced fat peanut butter
2 tbs nutella
¼ cup milk (if needed)

Directions:
Add yogurt and banana into the blender.
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Add peanut butter and nutella
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Blend until smooth.
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Add milk as needed.

I loved this one. It was sweeter than some of my other smoothies. I think the banana with the peanut butter was perfect. It was thinner than I usually make. Freezing the banana chunks or adding ice would have made it more thick/frothy/luscious.

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Do you have a favorite smoothie combo?

Chinese Pork in a Crockpot

This was just what a snowy day needed. We shoveled a lot last weekend and it was great to have this welcoming us back with a lovely porky scent. It may have driven the pups crazy though. I know I was salivating whenever I stirred it!

This was suuuuper easy, only a few ingredients, and was definitely the best Chinese dish I’ve ever made.
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Cantonese Pork in a Crockpot
adapted from Happy Tummies

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds pork shoulder, sliced into thin strips
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
salt & pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 tbs brown sugar
1 can tomato sauce, 8oz
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
3 tbs rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbs sesame oil (optional)
2 cups bean sprouts
4 scallions, chopped

Directions:

Trim the fat from the pork shoulder and slice thin.
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Heat a heavy skillet to medium heat and add vegetable oil.
Add tomato sauce, onion, brown sugar, green pepper, water chestnuts, vinegar, salt, Worcestershire, and sesame oil into a large crockpot.
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Toss pork slices in flour, salt, and pepper until evenly coated. A few at a time.
Pan fry pork, turning for just a minute on each side, in batches. (They don’t need to fully cook, just get a crispy sear on each side).
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Remove and drain on paper towels.
Add pork into crockpot, stir, and turn to low heat for about 4-5 hours.
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Enjoy over rice!

This was so good. I’ve attemped only a few Chinese dishes but they’ve never been great. This was great. I like that this is a bit different and would easily vary the dinner menu.
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The pork was falling apart. It was really good, but I think 4 hours was plenty. I cooked mine for 5 ½ and think it was borderline too long. I think it could use a bit more salt. Unlike take-out Chinese, it wasn’t overly salty. Soy sauce, more Worcestershire, or table salt would do the trick.

There were only a few ingredients and I think this would turn anyone into a pork believer. I forgot bean sprouts and was so early to the grocery store they didn’t have all the produce out! I debated getting a huge bone-in pork shoulder and making half into pulled pork, but those suckers are pricey and I hadn’t ever seen the little ones.