Creamy Tortellini and Sausage Soup

There's little more comforting to me than curling up with a steamy bowl of soup on a brisk evening during the chillier months of the year. If you poke around a bit, you'll discover a hoard of soup recipes here on Joyously Domestic. I tend to rely a good deal on homemade soup for dinner in the colder months. Thankfully, my family is on board and for the most part, they share my soup obsession. We typically have soup on the menu two or three times a week this time of year. And, the soups are usually a mix of classic stand-bys {our favorite Potato Soup or BLT Soup} along with lots of experimenting with new recipes.

Recently, I tested this Creamy Tortellini and Sausage Soup. It was a big hit. I'm already planning to put it on the menu again in a couple of weeks.

It comes together in about 45 minutes. Besides your purchase of the sausage, tortellini and spinach, I'm betting you probably have the remaining ingredients on hand.

All that's missing once this pot of deliciousness simmers up is a crusty loaf of bread for dipping.

Yields 4 - 6 servings.

Southern-Style Sausage Gravy {Over Biscuits}

My Kentucky-born grandmother was the queen (in my book) of making the most magnificent biscuits and "white pepper gravy" loaded with chunks of browned breakfast sausage. Weekend breakfasts of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits were a staple in my childhood. I am always leery ordering the same when I am dining out because there is rarely an occasion when the gravy comes close to measuring up to my grandmother's version.

So, I make it often at home. I wasn't lucky enough to have my grandma's recipe written down ... and frankly, I highly doubt she ever had or followed an actual recipe. But, I did spend years by her side watching and helping her prepare this dish. And, after many years of tweaking and perfecting the recipe as an adult myself, I think I now come close to what was served to me as a child.

I want to mention that the purpose of this post is to share with you my gravy recipe - not a biscuit recipe. Being honest, I often cheat and purchase frozen biscuits that simply need baked off in the oven. However, when I do take the time to make biscuits from scratch, I almost always use Alton Brown's Southern Biscuits recipe. I've found the recipe to be the best for yielding ultra-soft, tender, fluffy biscuits that most resemble my grandmother's.

Skillet Lasagna with Italian Sausage Meatballs

 

Don't you love laboring for an hour (or more) assembling traditional pan lasagna and then waiting for another hour (or more) for it to bake?  Me neither.  (And, we won't even talk about all those dishes!)

But .... I do love me some lasagna.  So, what's a girl (or guy) to do?

Whip up this skillet lasagna in a fraction of the time while still enjoying all of the flavors of pan lasagna.  There - problem solved.

Yes, this recipe truly uses only one pan.  (No need to even pre-boil the pasta.)  Isn't that fabulous?

I chose to shape the Italian sausage into mini meatballs, but you could totally just break the sausage up and cook it as you normally would for a meat sauce.  (You could even use ground beef if you prefer.)  I utilize a good-quality marinara in this recipe, but if you have some canned or frozen from-scratch sauce on hand, go for it and use that!

Serves 4 - 6.
Adapted from Center Cut Cook.

Coney Dogs in the Slow Cooker

Since it was only going to be a quiet evening at home this past New Year's Eve, I didn't have to really plan much in terms of party-type food.  Our thirteen-year old daughter was going to a friend's for a party and my ten-year old son was having a friend over for the night.  Other than that, it was just our five-year old, my hubby and myself.  (Exciting, huh?)

Honestly, I was looking forward to some time with my husband home for a couple of days and us not having any major commitments or plans.  While so many people party it up over the New Year's holiday, it is usually our "down-time" after the prior week's craziness surrounding Christmas.

My son wanted coney dogs for New Year's Eve while his buddy was over, so I broke out the slow cooker!  We made up a huge batch of homemade french fries and enjoyed some simple grub while we prepared to ring in the new year!

It's almost embarrassing to post this "recipe" since it is such a simple and easy one.  But, it is a great tip for those who have never heard of cooking hot dogs in the slow cooker.  This is a great way to do hot dogs or sausages for a large crowd. They stay hot throughout a party or event as people eat at their leisure.

This is a great idea if you plan to host a Super Bowl party this year, too!  Guests can trickle in and out of the kitchen to make a coney or chili dog all throughout the game!

Sausage & Roasted Vegetable Casserole

 

I've been a little melancholy (do people even use that word anymore?) for the past couple of days.  I have so enjoyed having the three kids home for the past couple of weeks during their winter break and I so dread sending them back to school on Monday.  I wish I could just lounge around with those guys and snuggle them every day.  But, such is life.  We've been trying to squeeze in a bunch of last-minute fun things during these final days of their break.  I took them swimming at an indoor pool on Friday and after a stop off at a birthday party early yesterday afternoon at our local bowling alley, we nestled in by the fire for a relaxing evening at home.

This delectable recipe was made.  Hot fudge sundaes were eaten.  We read books.  They tinkered with Legos.  We played a few board games. 

It was pure bliss.

I was inspired to make this recipe from the beautiful Kay over at Kayotic Kitchen.  She calls her version Lazy Sunday Casserole.  I so appreciate and adore roasted, caramelized veggies of any kind.  So, I was drawn to this dish.  However, since I didn't make it on a Sunday and to better convey (and capture) the essence of the dish, I decided upon a different name.  Whatever you want to call it, it's darn tasty and a perfect recipe to make on these chilly winter days.

Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole

This recipe couldn't be easier, folks.  Unroll a rube of crescent roll dough, throw on some breakfast sausage, pour on some eggs that have been whipped with milk and top with lots of cheese. Super easy peasy!  Of course, you can use ham or bacon (or leave it meatless) and you can add in peppers, onions or mushrooms.  Make it your own.  But, this is a recipe that everyone seems to love!  It's great for holiday mornings and weekends.

We had it for dinner tonight with some fresh fruit on the side and some orange juice.  It's nice when we have breakfast for dinner because the hubby is usually gone for work before the rest of us get up.  So, sharing breakfast - even at dinnertime - together is always a real treat!

Rise and Shine Breakfast Casserole

I think everyone has breakfast for dinner every once in a while.  It's not unusual for us to have french toast with bacon or loaded omelets every few weeks for dinner.  We are breakfast food lovers in our house, but with my husband leaving so very early every morning for work, it isn't often that we sit and enjoy a big, home-cooked breakfast during normal breakfast hours.  So, we sneak it into our dinner rotation every now and then.

So, it's funny that this recipe is called "Rise and Shine Breakfast Casserole" since we don't usually have it during the part of the day when we're rising! 

I've been making a version of this recipe for years.  I've always called it by the recipe title above.  Mine has usually had some kind of a crust or soaked bread in it, however.  So, when I came across a very similar recipe without bread or a crust posted by Ashley on her blog, Center Cut Cook, I decided to try her version.  And, wouldn't ya know it ... I liked it much better!  She calls her version "Amish Breakfast Casserole."  (She posted that she adapted the recipe from All Recipes.)

I don't always put potatoes in mine.  When I do, they are chunky bites of spuds.  In Center Cut Cook's recipe, shredded potatoes are a key component and I really liked it this way!  She, also, used cottage cheese in her recipe, which is something I had never tried!

She does mention that this recipe can be changed up using different types of meats or veggies ... ham would be delicious in this!  Spinach or various kinds or colors of peppers would be tasty, too! Whatever you like!