OG style Italian sausage soup

It's a bit early for soup, but Scott's having TMJ issues, so anything he doesn't have to chew much makes him happy these days. I think OG spares you some of the preconceptions you might have when you see, "Olive Garden." Always nice to have a soup to hit the spot. We even used Turkey Sausage on special, and didn't notice a real difference.

Slow Cooker OG style Italian Sausage & Kale Soup

20 MINUTES PREP; 5 HOURS COOKING;  SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 3 russet potatoes, sliced into wedges then halved
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups kale or Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 2 ounce cream cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Brown and chunk sausage. Fill crockpot with sausage, potatoes, onion, garlic and broth. Cook low for 8 hours, or high 4. Finish with kale, milk and cream for about 30 minutes to desired texture.

Recipe adapted from Somewhat Simple

Pesto Tortellini

It's been awhile, blogosphere. But don't worry, Scott and I have still been taking pictures of our food, and plan to update this blog. So prepare for a bunch of posts. And I've decided to start posting recipes too. Mostly for my (our) sake(s), so that I don't have to rely on internet links going bad. Anyway, here goes.

We made some pesto then mixed it together with a standard cream sauce (made using a standard roux and milk). Served over cheese tortellini with grilled squash and salad.

On a side note, I now have this old iPhone, and the camera isn't very good...the coloring on the pictures is all wrong, usually. Trust me, the food didn't look that yellow.

From: October 13, 2014

Caprese Chicken

I got this recipe off a food blog I follow. I made the pesto fresh. It was pretty good, although this time around I put way too much garlic in my pesto. Anyway, I wanted my garlic bread to also be a little toastier, but turns out my oven thermometer blew out when I attempted to change it over to broil. It has since been fixed.

From September 21, 2012

Creamy Pesto Pasta with Vegetables

Kind of made this up. I made a creamy white sauce with a roux (sauteed onions in olive oil and then added a little flour and milk) and added more of my leftover pesto to make the creamy sauce a pesto sauce. Wasn't sure this was going to work, but turned out very good. Also added some green-can parmesan and tossed in some hot pasta. And then threw on some steamed vegetables and sprinkled with fresh parmesan because that's just what I do.

From September 3, 2012

Pesto stuffed chicken breast

This is the best thing I've made in awhile. I made this recipe up. First I made some pesto in my relatively-new mini food processor. (I make a pretty simple, semi-lightened up version of pesto. I didn't have nuts, so I left them out and I use very little oil. I think most pesto recipes are way too oily.) I then mixed some of the pesto with a wedge of regular laughing cow cheese, and mixed in a little Parmesan cheese just because. I cut the chicken breast open on the side, creating like a pocket, and stuffed the pesto/cheese mixture in there. Closed it with a toothpick, and rolled it in some crunched up croutons I'm trying to get rid of. I was in heaven while I ate it.

From September 2, 2012

Creamy pasta with tomatoes and chicken

Made up this recipe. Grilled up some onions and garlic, added some leftover cutup chicken (from a rotisserie chicken I bought last week), and then Italian style diced tomatoes that I had run through the food processor (for just a second...didn't pulverize it). Once that was done, I stirred in some laughing cow cheese to make it a bit creamier. Stirred in with some hot pasta, topped with shredded Parmesan cheese. Sprinkled with some freshly dried basil. Yum! (I wish I would have had some zucchini to throw in, but I didn't. Next time!)

From July 29, 2012

Pesto stuffed chicken

Finished off the pesto by making up this recipe. Stuffed the pesto under the skin of a chicken thigh, along with some laughing cow cheese (cut up) and baked, uncovered most of the time. Had a great creamy, cheesy, pestoey flavor. Served with pasta (with garlic salt) and peas.

From July 20, 2012

Chicken and Pesto

I had a little bit of fresh basil leftover, so I made pesto. I love pesto. I didn't make very much, because I didn't have very much basil. I made my pasta slightly creamy with a wedge of laughing cow cheese (remarkably tasty in pasta) and a tiny bit of milk, then mixed the pesto in. So good. Also grilled up a chicken thigh and cut it up and mixed it in. Served with steamed asparagus on the side.

From July 19, 2012

Cabonara

Got this recipe for Carbonara from Chase. My first time trying it! Turned out very tasty. Served with ciabatta bread (I didn't make that...leftover from the loaf I had for sandwiches) dipped in olive oil plus balsamic vinegar. Grilled asparagus on the side.

From July 16, 2012