Chicken, Bacon, and Broccoli Pasta,Three Cheese Tortellini Soup

Chicken, Bacon, and Broccoli
Pasta
One. More. Week. Just one more week of summer vacation left.
Have you seen the video of the mom singing “Bye, Bye, Bye” as
the bus leaves on the first day of school? Yeah, that’s me
right now. I’m ready to see that bus pull away (ok, we don’t
have busses but if we did….) and I’m ready to get back to the
“school year” schedule. Don’t get me wrong, I love my oldest
son dearly. It is just that I’m 36 weeks pregnant, FAT as
ever, out of energy, can’t bend over, and have exhausted all
of our summer plans. I never thought I would be ready for
summer to be over, but today when it hit me that next Tuesday
is the first day of school I was kind of excited! Maybe it is
because I really am just tired of adulting, or maybe it is
because I have been telling myself over and over again that at
the end of summer I will have a new baby. Which ever the case
I’m just not so sad to see summer go this year.
Speaking of adulting, I did a little bit of it today and
whipped up some brownies PLUS this delicious, cheesy, and
somewhat indulgent pasta. Who doesn’t love a pasta dish like
this one? Cheesy..check. Creamy..check. Bacony..check. Carb-olicious..check. Oh and then there is the broccoli that I threw
in there to convince myself I was being healthy..check.
This
dinner is a win-win in the ingredient department, but even
better is that it takes less than 30 minutes from start to
finish! With back to school schedules in full swing I know I
will be needing meals like this to get me through the week
(and keep my kids from complaining).
Recipe Tips:
I used thin sliced chicken breasts for this recipe, as I
always do. If you pick up regular chicken breasts at the
grocery store, you can easily slice them in half
lengthwise before slicing into strips, or use a meat
tenderizer to flatten them a bit before slicing into
strips. There is something really gross about biting
into a super thick and chunky piece of meat so I always
recommend thinner pieces.
I only cook the broccoli for a minute or two when I
first put it in because it will continue cooking. When
your broccoli brightens up in color you are good to add
the rest of your ingredients.
Additional salt and pepper to taste can make or break a
recipe. The cheese in this recipe is pretty salty, so
you probably won’t need to add too much additional
seasoning if you do.
When cooking your bacon you may notice some residue on
the bottom of your pot. THIS IS GOOD. When you stir in
your milk go ahead and scrape that residue off the
bottom of your pan for extra flavor.
As always when cooking I keep my burner at a medium
temperature. Often times I feel like people want to
crank up the heat but this can easily ruin a recipe. A
steady low-medium is where I do most of my cooking!
Three Cheese Tortellini Soup
Well….I’m just going to go right ahead and say this recipe is
a certified cheese-bomb! Shall I shamelessly explain myself or
blame it on the pregnancy?
Ok, now that the cheese-bomb cat is out of the bag, let’s talk
about why I needed this in my life today… You know because it
was 85 degrees here in Central Pennsylvania and I needed a
bowl of hot, creamy, comfort-food style soup. Obviously.
Again, the baby. The hormones. The cheese. Oh my!
But then I realized this soup was so deliciously dreamy,
creamy, and oh-so cheesy that everyone needs this in their
life once in a while. You know, like when your friend gets
dumped and she is not that into chocolate… Or when you realize
one of your kids just peed all over the bathroom (Oh, I’m
sorry.. Is that just MY kids??)… Or that time you realized
your cheat day just turned into a cheat month and you must
have one final “Hoo-RAH” before getting back on track. And
let’s not forget this soup contains tomatoes and tomatoes =
healthy fruit/vegetable or whatever you classify a tomato as.
So there…it’s not that bad after all.
Now let’s review.
TOMATOES = HEALTHY.
MY KIDS = PEE EVERYWHERE.
The End.
AND Moving On…Not only is this soup a cheesy-hot-mess, it is
also really versatile. A versatile dinner is a great thing in
my world because let’s face it… Taking 3 (soon to be 4) kids
to the grocery store before dinner to pick up ingredients is
basically a tantrum roulette. Maybe someone will have a
meltdown, maybe we will all pretend to be normal. Who knows?
And better yet, WHY risk it? If you are missing one or two
ingredients, chances are you can make a simple sub and all
will be well in tantrum land. Plus you won’t have to fight the
after word crowds at the grocery store.
Just a few quick substitution suggestions:
Sub tortellini for 100% whole wheat elbow macaroni (If
you are wondering about my stance on the tortellini,
check out my Spinach and Tortellini Salad post). I would
go with 1 cup of macaroni.
Omit beef, sub 4 Tablespoons butter. Melt butter in
saucepan, add flour, then slowly add liquids.
Sub freshly grated parmesan cheese for asiago cheese. If
you decide to go the powdered parmesan route, I would
suggest cutting back a little because it may turn out a
bit salty.
*For reference, here are the tomatoes I always use for soup.
FYI, this is a bulk listing so the price looks very inflated.
Black Bean and Corn Fritters
Can I just go right ahead and admit today was just one of
those days. If you have kids then I know you know what I’m
talking about! Having my 8 year old son home for summer
vacation and being super preggo is a lot more then I bargained
for. Hello… when you can’t see your feet how are you supposed
to bend over and pick random things up?? Or bend over and give
the babes a bath?? Or put your own shoes on?? The big belly
struggle is real! #pregnancyproblems
However…. somehow I managed to throw these super fun and
delicious Black Bean and Corn Fritters together and the kids
gobbled them up for lunch. I wish I could say that I served
them with a green veggie or fruit salad but no, the kids are
on a hard boiled egg kick so protein + protein it was. Hey,
nothing wrong with that…. until tomorrow morning when I have
to smell the aftermath of this bean + hard boiled egg meal.
Thankfully my husband wasn’t here!
In other news my husband wants me to stop purchasing kitchen
stuff. How do I put this…nevergonnahappenhubby.
In other, other news Donald Trump is running for president. Am
I missing something here? Is he a politician now? Is he just
going to pay someone off to make important decisions? Am I the
only one super confused about this? And by the way, if you
haven’t seen his Toupee memes I suggest you Google that
immediately and have a good laugh!
AAAANNNNDDD…. Back to the fritters because they are super easy
to make and come together in about 30 minutes from start to
finish. 30 minutes!! They are so easy I would say this would
be a great recipe to let the kids help out with. I served mine
with a nice dollop of sour cream and a little extra cheese on
top and they were just perfect. Hope you all enjoy as much I
we did!
Creamy Chicken and Dumpling
Soup
This super silky milk based soup will have your family smiling
ear to ear on cold winter days. Great for thermoses and
leftovers!
This soup will hit your mouth like BAM! The perfect dreamy,
creamy, comforting chicken soup + dumplings. Does it get any
more comfort food then this? I think not.
While the Holiday cheer was wrapping up I was all like *Creamy
Chicken and Dumpling Soup must happen now!* Parties are over,
gatherings are over, and I don’t have to share with anyone!
This soup = Not for sharing! That is, unless your trying to
impress your hunky new man (or woman), or trying to prove to
your kids that you are indeed the best cook ever and nobody
will ever come close to Mama’s home cooking.
Speaking of Mama’s home cooking… I have an 8 year old that is
determined to tell me about every single time in his life that
he hated my food. Today in the car I heard something along the
lines of:
“Remember that time that you made that lasagna with the
broccoli and squash and you promised me that you were going to
save a corner with no veggies for me, and then you didn’t, and
then you actually burnt it and I hated it. Remember that
time?”
Of course I remember that time honey, the time I actually
tried to get you to eat broccoli and you acted like I was
trying to kill you. How could I possibly forget that you don’t
understand that cruciferous veggies are loaded with all the
good stuff to keep your little body growing the right way? How
could I possibly forget that I didn’t make enough béchamel to
cover the noodles completely and ONE BITE got a little crispy
on top? One….bite….!!!!! Kids, they don’t forget a thing!
Cooking Tips and Techniques
I used chicken breasts for this soup, however you could
sub 2 cups of shredded chicken if you’d like.
I added 1/2 cup finely chopped kale for some extra
nutrients. I added it very last so it didn’t get soggy
and gross. I promise, you can’t even tell it is there!
Oh Hi Kale!
I adapted this recipe for the dumplings. I used whole
wheat white flour, which does yield a courser dumpling.
I advise using whole wheat flour MOST of the time, but
if your family isn’t used to whole grains you might want
to sub 1/2 all purpose. I loved the dumplings, they had
a great flavor, and the longer they sat in the broth the
better they were!
The dumplings will get bigger after you drop them in
your pot. Small dumplings = better dumplings because if
you make them too big you will end up with a weird
center.