Tag: diced tomatoes

Creamy Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

 

The holidays sure do look different this year! Most of you know that gathering with my family has always been a cherished time for me. That time holds memories like no other; gathered with the people who know me best and love me anyway.

I admit I may have had a tiny meltdown today. I mean, Thanksgiving was one thing, but Christmas is another thing altogether! However, I have so many things to be thankful for this season that I will not let a little distance spoil my season.

Typically, I would be running around. I would be searching for the perfect gifts. I would go a little overboard and spend way too much money. This year, I will make homemade gifts, spend more time reflecting on all of the good things in my life and the incredible things that await me in 2021, like my very first grandchild!

Today I share a new recipe that I made for Savannah while she was home during Thanksgiving. This soup is delicious and perfect for a cold night. It comes together fast, so it’s easy to put on the table after a busy day of work, shopping, or making homemade gifts.

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Creamy Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Sweet Italian Sausage crumbled, cooked and drained
  • 4-5 cups Vegetable broth
  • 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes undrained
  • 1 cube Vegetable bouillon cube
  • 2 cloves garlic grated with microplane grater
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 8-ounce cream cheese cubed
  • 18 ounces cheese tortellini
  • 3 handfuls fresh baby spinach

Instructions

  • Add browned and drained sausage to a slow cooker.
  • Add broth, tomatoes, bouillon cube, garlic, oregano, and cream cheese.
  • Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until the cream cheese has melted.
  • Add tortellini and spinach. Give it a stir and cook about 30 minutes, or until tortellini is tender and spinach has wilted.
  • Serve with garlic bread, if desired.

Beef Tamale Pie

While living this new normal life, my thoughts of cooking are changing. My once passion for cooking is turning into a thing I dread daily. I am getting tired of making a mess, I am over cleaning the kitchen constantly, and quite honestly, I am sick of my own cooking! On top of that, when I place my weekly grocery order, I find out that the store is out of many of the items I requested.

And while it is so easy to be petty, there is much to be thankful for, though. We have food in our freezer and plenty in the pantry. We have not lacked for food on the table and in our bellies. My family is still healthy. We do not battle the loneliness of isolation because we have each other. No matter how much I complain about being in the kitchen, I am oh so thankful!

I found a handwritten recipe from my Aunt Janis last week. I knew, without a doubt, it would be delicious coming from my aunt. This recipe for Beef Tamale Pie seemed simple enough, and I almost had all the ingredients. Since I had no chili mix in the house, I substituted taco seasoning, and it was terrific! I cooked everything in one skillet, so I had minimal cleanup, which is always a plus.

*Note:  My cousin, Regina, told me that she often puts chopped jalapeños in the corn meal mixture for a little extra zip!  Sounds great to me!  

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Beef Tamale Pie

Course Main Course
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 medium green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 envelope chili mix
  • 1 (14.5-ounce can) petite diced tomatoes drained
  • 1 (15.25-ounce can) whole kernel corn drained
  • 1 cup self-rising yellow corn meal
  • 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • water

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400℉.
  • In a large skillet brown the beef, drain.
  • Add onions, bell pepper, salt, chili mix and tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Stir in corn.
  • In a bowl mix corn meal, shredded cheese and enough water for spreading consistency.
  • Drop mixture by spoonfuls over beef mixture and slightly spread out.
  • Bake 20 minutes or until the cornmeal mixture has browned.
  • Serve warm with desired toppings.

Keto Vegetable Beef Soup

keto-vegetable-beef-soup

Before I started keto, it was nothing to bake a cake with 2 cups of butter and a pile of sugar and wheat flour. Or to load a baked sweet potato with butter and sugar. Many people think of keto as a bad thing. I guess they think you are sitting around eating sticks of butter, and bacon and sausage.

I read a lot of material before starting this diet. At first I did not think I could do it. When you hear that it is high fat and low carb and you were raised during the time that low fat was always preached you have to retrain your way to thinking entirely. It wasn’t until I had kept up with my macros for weeks that I figured out that I wasn’t adding a bunch of fat to my diet. What I was doing was controlling the carbs and protein in my diet. Pre-keto I did not keep up with the nutritional counts of my daily intake. I can honestly say that my days consisted of a pile of carbs, many calories and tons of fat though. After you have been eating very low sugar and carbs for months, it does not take a journal to figure out that a muffin, bowl or cereal, or toast with jelly for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and a taco salad for dinner is off the charts, even with no snacks. Throw in a sweet tea here or there, and you are on a carb and sugar overload!

Today I have a fabulous Vegetable Beef Soup for you. This soup is amazingly good, and it all started when I was cleaning out the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator. I used turnip roots in place of the potatoes in most vegetable soups and zucchini instead of beans or peas. The bacon, which I almost did not add, was the key ingredient. The smoky taste that it added was a hit with my family!

 

keto-vegetable-beef-soup
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Course Soup
Keyword ground beef, beef broth, bacon, carrots, zucchini, turnip roots
Servings 12
Calories 282kcal
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 4 slices bacon chopped and browned
  • 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1/4 cup diced carrots
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 29 ounces Green Pepper and Onion Diced Tomatoes
  • 2 medium zucchini seeds removed and diced
  • 1/2 cup diced turnip root
  • 32 ounces Beef Bone Broth
  • 2 tablespoons double concentrated tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock concentrate

Instructions

  • Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp.  Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon.
  • Add onion and carrot to the bacon grease and cook until the vegetables start to soften,  
  • Add the ground beef to the skillet with the vegetables and cook until the beef is no longer pink.  
  • Pour the beef mixture from the skillet into a slow-cooker.  
  • Add the diced tomatoes, zucchini, turnip root, beef broth, tomato paste and chicken stock concentrate and stir to combine. 
  • Cover the slow-cooker and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 4 to 6 hours.  

Notes

12 Servings: 6 g. Net Carbs; 17 g. Fat; 25 g. Protein; 282 Calories

Low-Carb Deconstructed Pizza Casserole

 

Deconstructed-Pizza

My family has been keeping me on my toes lately requesting low-carb meals. Low-carb diets can become so boring to me. I enjoy cooking, and I like to keep things exciting. Recently, I made my week’s menu using new low-carb recipes. We had a not so good Mexican dish, some soggy zucchini boats, and a chicken dish that we hope never to see again! However, I feel that it was successful because my family found three recipes that we will make again and again. This low-carb deconstructed pizza from Kayln’s Kitchen was fabulous. It’s a super easy recipe that makes me wonder why I never thought of doing this before.

I suggest that if you prefer to use a slightly larger dish, say a 9 x 13-inch, use a little more cheese than the recipe suggests. This will make your casserole gooey and delicious. Top your casserole any way you like. We had two deconstructed pizzas for my family topped differently and they were both great. Other than using a fork, and not your hands to eat, you will never miss the crust.

 

Low-Carb Deconstructed Pizza Casserole
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 lb. Italian Sausage
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes
  • 8 to 12-oz. fresh mushrooms, cut into thick slices, optional
  • ½ tsp. dried oregano
  • salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 1½ c. grated Mozzarella cheese
  • Topping suggestions: Pepperoni, Green Peppers, Onions, Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, Jalapeno Peppers, Banana Peppers
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a 8 x 11-inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
  2. Pour the diced tomatoes into a colander, rinse with cold water. Let tomatoes drain well, then spread them out on paper towels to dry completely, blotting with another paper towel, if needed.
  3. Using a skillet, brown the sausage in a little extra-virgin olive oil, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain on paper-towel lined plate.
  4. Add a little more extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet and saute the mushrooms until all the liquid is released and the mushrooms are starting to brown.
  5. Layer the cooked and drained sausage in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the dried tomatoes. Layer the mushrooms over the tomatoes and then sprinkle the ingredients with oregano, salt, and pepper.
  6. Sprinkle the cheese over the entire casserole and add topping of your choice. Bake about 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Serve hot.