Gnocchi & Mushroom Soup

Soup is the perfect hands-off lunch to have at the ready. At a season when more veggies are needed, I was glad to throw this together and have a few servings ahead of me.

Creamed spinach was the quick ingredient for a light creaminess. This was brothy, yet filling, though creamed spinach could swap for cream of mushroom soup with baby spinach for a creamier version.

Gnocchi and Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
(serves 3-4)
1/4 white onion
2 carrots
1-2 garlic
1 pint baby portabellas
1/2 cup white mushrooms
1 package creamed spinach
1/2 pound gnocchi
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:
Chop the onions, carrots, and garlic to saute over medium heat in olive oil. Add in the sliced mushrooms.

Add in the frozen creamed spinach, broth, and gnocchi.
Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!
This keeps well and freezes too. It was perfect to drop everything in – even frozen and let it come together. I packed it for lunch knowing there are never enough veggies this season. My carrots were the saddest ever, but useful for soup.

Jingle Jangle Cookies

Jingle jangle is such a treat of Trader Joe’s and were the inspiration for these kitchen-sink style cookies. They have toffee, M&Ms, pretzels, and peanuts! The mix is chocolate covered but I wanted the sweet-salty mix here. Swap any of the candy to go from holiday to anytime.

Jingle Jangle Cookies
Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 additional yolk, at room temperature
2 cups candy (1 cup toffee bits, 1 cup mini M&Ms)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/2 cup chopped pretzels

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
In a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
Add in the egg and yolk, mixing well.
Slowly pour in the dry ingredients until well mixed.
By hand, mix in the toffee and M&Ms.

Scoop into small balls – roughly golf/ping pong size. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for ~12 minutes.

Out of the oven, top with pretzels and peanuts while still hot on the baking sheet. Allow to cool 2-3 minutes and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Enjoy!

These Popcorn Bucket Cookies are the base I went with but have a movie-themed with popcorn and even gummy candies though I took it more salty-sweet. Buncha Crunch, Reeces Pieces, KitKats, or butterscotch chips in there too.

Maple Bacon Waffles

The perfect match – sticky maple bacon is an ideal addition to crisp waffles. Make ahead and freeze or to have on hand.

Maple Bacon Waffles
Ingredients: (for 3 waffles, serves 6)

2 cups waffle mix (plus water & oil, as directed)
1/2 pound of bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Directions:
Chop and fry the bacon until crisp draining the grease but reserving a teaspoon or two.
Add the sugar and syrup stirring over low heat until sticky.

Mix the waffle batter adding in the reserved bacon drippings.
Heat the waffle iron and fill halfway and spoon some bacon jam on top.

Top with remaining batter and cook the waffle.
Serve with syrup and enjoy!

These are so good and perfect to make ahead of time and freeze. They are so flavorful that I enjoy them on-the-go without any syrup. These savory waffles with sausage, egg & cheese are a favorite too!

November Recap 2025

November is always packed with work and we had a few dog visitors. There were some highs – we had a fun trip downtown on a day off and also some stressful and worrisome moments too.

I made this restaurant recreation for a very Autumn Chicken Salad with flavors of apples, honey mustard, sharp cheddar, and arugula.

Tortellini & Sausage soup was a great way to welcome winter with big flavors and a little spice.

My blog’s 15th blogaversary came up as a time for reflection and a look forward.

The Big Kid: He absolutely loved the golden retriever visiting. He convinced us he had to try the never-ending pasta bowl at Olive Garden and he was into it! We enjoy seeing him meet up with the boys in the neighborhood to ride bikes until it is too dark. He’s still into ramen.

The Littler Kid: She started back to ballet and tap and has been enjoying it. Her Christmas list is lengthy and detailed. Her lunch of choice has been a tuna sandwich…on repeat.

Goals for the year: 
Year of new pizzas – we had a white one with honey garlic sauce, cheese, potato slices
Side dish emphasis  – I was on mashed potato duty for Thanksgiving!
Soups & salad – Yes! The tortellini & spicy sausage one was great
More drinks – not yet
What I’m reading – the end of the year is approaching and I’m at 46 books

Tortellini & Sausage Soup

I went a little spicy with this but this has room to make it as you wish! The broth has tons of flavor from tomatoes, wine and broth while tortellini, spinach, sausage add the texture. It is exactly what to eat when everyone is turkey-ed out.

Tortellini & Sausage Soup
Ingredients (serves ~4)

~12 oz sausage about 2/3 of a 16 oz package (~4 sausage links, casing removed) hot or sweet Italian
1 carrot, chopped
2 gloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup white wine
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups tortellini
1 bag of baby spinach

Directions:
In a heavy bottomed pan, saute the sausage over medium until cooked through and crisp. Remove from the pan and add the chopped carrot into the drippings to saute. Cook for about 2 minutes.
Add in the garlic and tomato paste giving it a stir, and stir well cooking for another 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour in and again, stir and cook through.
Add in the wine and stir well scraping the bits off the bottom.

Add in the tomatoes, chicken broth, and sausage to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Lastly, pour in the tortellini and spinach. Stir well and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir well and cook for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with parmesan to serve. Enjoy!

I loved the little bit of heat. The broth is perfect – it is tomato-y but the wine and chicken broth make it soup, not marinara sauce. This would be a good one to make in advance and just add the tortellini it when ready to serve it.