It's been a while and Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Hi Friends,  It's been a good while since I've posted anything, but since I'm stuck at home during this global pandemic, I thought I'd say what's been going on with me.  Since I last posted I sold the house I was living in, moved in to the basement of a family member, built a house and moved into the newly built house.  I've been living in my little blue house for about 4.5 years now and it's awesome.  The house I sold was a three bedroom over 100 year old house that was too big for me.  The house I built is a one bedroom less than 800 square feet that is perfect.

As for the pandemic, even though I live in a rural area, it's still crazy here.  Stores here are also out of toilet paper and a lot of other paper goods, so don't think we have it better than you city dwellers in that department.  I pray that we all make it through this time and come out better on the other side.  Let's all work together to physically distance ourselves to help lessen the spread of the virus.  Even if you're stuck at home, call, text, or email family or friends and keep your circle strong.

Anyway, here's my favorite soup recipe.

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t each garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder (or more to taste, or your favorite seasoning)
1 small or medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 carrots sliced or diced, fresh or frozen
1 potato, diced (optional)
1 small or medium zucchini or yellow squash, fresh or frozen, sliced or diced
1 can, 15 oz, diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 cup jar spaghetti sauce, your favorite
1 t of bullion of your choice if you are using water
2 to 4 cups water or broth of your choice
8 to 10 oz Fresh or frozen tortellini of your choice.
Spinach or kale, amount to your taste, fresh or frozen
Grated Parmesan cheese or your favorite cheese, for topping when served.

Into a pot add olive oil, onions, garlic, carrots, potato and squash.  Saute until onions are translucent.  Add canned tomatoes,  tomato sauce, jarred spaghetti sauce and spices and combine well.  Add water or broth to your desired consistency of soup.  If using water you can add 1 teaspoon of bullion of your choice.  Don't add too much water or broth here if you don't like thin soup, you can always add a bit more AFTER the tortellini has cooked.  Bring to a boil and a add tortellini and cook for length of time suggested on package.  When there's two to three minutes of cooking time left for your tortellini, add the spinach or kale to allow it to cook the remainder of time.  Serve and top with your favorite cheese.
I love to make a big pot of this and save it for lunches and dinners.  It keeps in the fridge well and reheats perfectly.
I change up the vegetables according to what I have fresh or in the freezer.  I've even used frozen green beans and a bit of frozen corn too.  Great with a diced sweet potato as well.  Don't be afraid to make this recipe your own.

Mug Fudge! Yes, mug fudge for two.

You can smile now. 

Mug Fudge for two:

We've all heard of a mug cake, but what about mug fudge?  Well you have now!  Mug cakes are okay, but just wait till you try this simple fudge recipe!

1. Get a mug. 

2. To the mug add 1 tablespoon milk, 2 tablespoons white sugar and 1 tablespoon real butter(can be cold) and microwave for 20 seconds. Mine looked like this:

Give the mix a good stir and pop it back in the microwave for 20 seconds more. It should look something like this: and yes it will look foamy. 

3. Add 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips to the mug. And stir, stir, stir until it's smooth.  Add a pinch of salt. 

4. Add 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows to the mug. 

Now stir more, more, more!  The marshmallows will almost completely melt. Sometimes I add a few more if they all melt. I like marshmallow chunks in the fudge. You can also add nuts. Here I added walnuts. 

5. Pour out into a container lined with wax paper. Here I used a small plastic food storage container. Spread the fudge to corners and place in fridge to let it set. 

6. Lick the spoon and scrape the sides of the mug. 

Your welcome!  Enjoy. 

Sometimes I also add a dash of vanilla, but if you do add it when you add the marshmallows. 

Crock pot skirt steak

Serves 2

1/2 pound skirt steak

1- 10 ounce can rotel

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium bell pepper, diced

1 T. Ketchup

1 T. Your favorite steak sauce

Two shakes of garlic powder, chili powder and salt and pepper. 

Mix everything except steak in crock pot. Lay steak on top. Cook on low 4 to 6 hours. Serve on tortillas or over rice. 

Buckwheat pancakes

I've been listening to "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the description of Almanzo making buckwheat pancakes made me want to try them. They are delicious!

I topped mine with real maple syrup. My dogs were very interested in what I was eating, and they each got one after I had mine. 

The recipe:

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

3/4 cup self rising flour

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1-1/4 cup milk

2 egg whites

3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

In a large bowl add flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir with a whisk to mix. 

Add the milk, egg whites and melted butter or margarine and mix till smooth. 

Cook on a griddle using about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Brown on both sides and spread a little butter or margarine on each pancake as they get done. Top with your favorite syrup, Almanzo used molasses, I used maple syrup.  Enjoy!

Yield: 10 to 14 pancakes. 

Freezer Burritos

I love burritos, but I hate the ones you buy in the freezer section at the grocery store, so I tried making my own frozen burritos and it works very well!  I usually make a dozen at a time and take half to work with me to put in the freezer there.  Pop one in the microwave for a minute or two and YUMMY!  I really like that I know what is in it and I can customize it any way I choose.

 My fillings:
Spanish rice; I made it in my rice cooker
Ground beef, browned and seasoned
1 can chili beans
Shredded cheese
Sour cream mixed with my homemade salsa; you can use your favorite

I wrapped the whole stack of tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwaved them together for a minute.  Then, one at a time, I placed them on foil and filled and rolled.

Place the burritos into a freezer bag or the bag that the tortillas came in, put the date on it and put  in the freezer.  I have done this at least 10 times now!  I love that I have an instant meal when I'm tired and don't feel like cooking.  They heat up beautifully in the microwave.

I actually use pre-cut foil wrappers.  You can find them at Dollar General on their $1 isle.

Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese Bread - OH MY GOODNESS!!!

We had our Christmas Eve party this year as pot-luck and I decided to give Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese Bread a try.  The recipe is dead simple.  Let me just say what everyone at the party said "Oh my goodness!!!  This bread is the BOMB!  Give me the recipe!"  And it was the bomb and I suppose it should be, with almost a pound of cheese and a full stick of butter...

This is NOT my photo.  It was gone too fast to even think about getting one, haha.  This photo is straight from the Pioneer Woman's website.  She gets full credit here!  Click here to visit Pioneer Woman's website.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French Bread
• 6 ounces, weight Pimiento-stuffed Green Olives
• 6 ounces, weight Black Olives
• 2 stalks Green Onions (scallions)
• 1 stick Butter, Room Temperature
• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
• 3/4 pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated

Preparation Instructions

Roughly chop both black olives and pimiento-stuffed green olives. Slice green onions into thin pieces.

Combine butter, mayonnaise, cheese, olives and green onions in a mixing bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture onto French bread that has been sliced lengthwise. Bake at 325ºF for 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning.

Mixture can also be refrigerated (up to two days) and used as a dip. Great with crackers.

Thank you Ree "Pioneer Woman" for this wonderful recipe that we will definitely make again and again.

Crock Pot Mongolian Beef or Chicken

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds beef, cubed.  I used sirloin, but you can use stew meat, round steak or whatever you have or is on sale.
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 to 3 Tablespoons corn starch
1 onion chopped
1 Tablespoon Sriracha sauce, optional

Into your crock pot add the oil, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar, chopped onion and sriracha sauce, stir to combine.  Coat your meat cubes in the cornstarch and add to the pot.  Cook on HI 2 to 3 hours or on LOW 4 to 5 hours till done.  Serve over rice.  Garnish with green onion, peanuts or whatever you like.  This recipe was super simple and was good.  I thought it tasted pretty close to what I've had at an Oriental Restaurant.
You could also use chicken, but the cook time may be shorter.