Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup

I am a huge fan of two types of soups 1- The kind that you make in the slow cooker and 2- The kind that you can throw together quickly and simmer for less than 20 minutes.  This one falls into the second category.  When I made this the other night, I had to eat it and rush out the door to a meeting so I didn't get to hear everyone's comments and feedback.  I enjoyed the soup a lot, but I wasn't sure what my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and husband were going to think.  Well, 3 days later my father-in-law was still talking about how much he enjoyed it and was wondering when I was going to make it again.  He generally likes everything that I make.  He is by FAR the most critical member of the family.  If you likes something he lets me know and if he doesn't like something he also lets me know:)  I appreciate his feed back and I have learned to take his critiques as encouragement  so I appreciate his opinion.  Although sometimes he tries to get way to technical and we all laugh at him and keep eating.  

Ingredients:

• About 2 Cups of Baby Spinach
• 3 14 oz cans of Chicken Broth
• 1 lb of Mild Italian Sausage
• 1 can of Italian Seasoned Diced Tomatoes
• 4 oz Cream Cheese (not fat free, it won't melt) at room temperature and cut into cubes
• 1 small package of Frozen Tortellini

Serves 6

Cook, crumble 1 lb of bulk mild Italian Sausage.  Drain off excess grease.  In a large pot combine chicken broth, tomatoes (undrained), and cooked sausage.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med and add cream cheese.  Stir to combine and melt.  When cream cheese is melted throughout, add in spinach and tortellini.  Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until tortellini is cooked.

If you want this soup to be spicier, add a pinch of red pepper flakes and/or use HOT Italian Sausage.  

Follow the Magical Moms on Facebook and Pinterest for weekly menu ideas, crafts, and Disney Magic.  

Hearty Beef Stew

This week the temperatures dropped considerably and we needed something to warm us up.  We were on vacation all last week and this was the perfect recipe to ease back into the cooking routine.  I was spoiled eating at Disney World- NO cooking, but best of all NO CLEANING!  Personally the mushrooms were my favorite part of this stew (but I love mushrooms!!) I am glad that I finally paid attention and wrote down how I made this stew because I always forget what I put in it.

Ingredients:

• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• 1 lb of Cubed Stew Beef
• 4 Carrots- cut into pieces
• 2 Potatoes- cut in to pieces
• 2 Stalks Celery- cut into pieces
• Small Onion- I leave my fairly in fairly large pieces
• 6-8 Whole Mushrooms- cut into thick slices
• 6 Cups of Beef Stock (I use Better than Bouillion- it comes in a jar.  I usually add a little more than the directions say on the jar to give it a little richer flavor.  I added 3 tablespoons for 6 cups of water)
• 3 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• About three strips of Bacon- cooked and chopped
• 2-3 Tablespoons Red Wine (I used Shiraz because that is what I had open this time)
• A pinch of Steak Seasoning
• A pinch of Dried Rosemary
• 1 1/2 Cloves of Minced Garlic
• 1 Bay Leaf

Serves 4-5

Drizzle Olive Oil in a large skillet.  Add beef.  Sprinkle beef with steak seasoning.  Cook for about two minutes and then add in celery, onion, and carrots.  Cook for additional 3-4 minutes.  Pour meat and veggies into large slow cooker.  Add in potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, bacon, and stir together.  

Pour in the wine and beef stock.  I know it looks like a lot of mushrooms in the picture.  Everything else is heavy and sinks to the bottom while the mushrooms float to the top.  Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with 1 tablespoon of softened butter to make a paste.  

Remove one cup of broth from the slow cooker and whisk in the flour butter mixture.  Pour back in the slow cooker and mix well.  If this isn't enough to slightly thicken it, remove another cup of hot broth and mix in another another tablespoon of flour.  I didn't want my stew super thick so this was perfect for me.  I then turn slow cooker to high for about 20 mins and served with garlic cheddar biscuits.

Follow the Magical Moms on Facebook and Pinterest for weekly menu ideas, crafts, and Disney Magic.  

2x4 Pumpkins

I love fall!  So of course I love to craft and decorate for the season.  This year I made a few things with scrap wood.  I did this for a couple of reasons.  1.  My boys think of it more as "Building" not crafting and 2. They have discovered that they love to paint.  I love when they want to participate so I am all for it!  Don't be surprised if  I continue the "building" crafts into winter!  

Supplies:

• 2x4 (or 2x2) Piece of wood
• Orange Paint
• Wood Glue
• Various Artificial Fall Foliage, Berries, or other
• Ribbon
• A stick with approximately a 1 inch diameter (for the stem)
• A Piece of Sand Paper
• Hot Glue Gun

First I cut the 2x4 to the appropriate lengths.  I made the large pumpkin with 2- 8 inch and 2-10 inch pieces.  The smaller ones are made with 2- 6 inch and 1-8 inch pieces.  This allowed me to make 3 small and 1 large without wasting any of the piece of wood.  PERFECT!!!!  Next, I lightly sanded the rough edges.  I then glued the pieces together.  The small pumpkin has 6 inch, 8 inch, 6 inch and the large is 8 inch, 10 inch, 10 inch, 8 inch.   Make sure to center the smaller pieces on the larger ones.  Then using two shades of orange paint ( I put them both on a paper plate and lightly swirled them together as I painted the wood) I painted all sides of the wood.  The wood needed to coats of paint.

After they were dry I glued a piece of the stick to the top of the pumpkin.  When that glue was dry, I tied a piece of ribbon around the stick and then attached a few pieces of the accessories.  I used the hot glue gun to secure them in place.

Make sure to check out the Frankenstein I made with a piece of scrap wood
Here is the link to Frankenstein