Tortellini Soup

One week till April vacation. I can do this. I can I can. Teaching only four classes again has been weird . . . somehow I have way too much free time with only 45 minutes more in a day. Huh. I just need to make it through one more crazy week. Crazy, crazy week.

I also had my students try to set me up with one of the students in their class for prom -- but this particular student had been on the news for his creative ways of trying to find a prom date. It was really funny. Kind of awkward, but really funny.

I feel like I'm falling behind here. NES was here on Wednesday evening for dinner and I even made a good dinner, but I haven't had a moment to sit down and even take the pictures off my camera for goodness sake.

But behold, it is the weekend. Thank goodness.

If you look through my recipes that I have at school with me, I think that fully half, if not more, of my soup recipes involve tortellini. Can you tell I like tortellini soup? I think I love this one because it has so many veggies in it.

Anyway, it's also pretty easy, because it just uses rotisserie chicken. However, this was not as easy for me, because I was obviously not going to make enough to buy a whole chicken, nor would I have eaten enough of it otherwise to make it worth it. However, I did have a chicken breast and a half in the freezer . . . with aluminum foil stuck all over it. I ended up boiling it with some foil left on it. There ended up being some in the soup, but it was really the only option. I just boiled water and cooked the chicken breasts in it for 20 minutes or so. It actually, amazingly ended up being about the right time for the soup. I never get timing right.

Chicken and Tortellini Soup

from some random BJ's flyer

1.5 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

24 oz. chicken broth

14 1/2 oz. can of diced tomatoes

2 cups spinach fresh spinach (of 8 oz. frozen -- just add about 5 minutes before the chicken)

10 oz. cheese tortellini

cooked chicken (about 1 1/2 large chicken breasts)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and reduce heat to medium. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms start to turn brown and soften. Add the spinach and cook until it begins to wilt.

Increase heat to high and slowly pour in the broth and the diced tomatoes and their liquid. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, dice chicken and set aside.

Add the tortellini and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in diced chicken. Serve.

I also added a lot more broth (like a whole extra half can), but I remember that it ended up being very much chunky with a little broth last time mom made it. I am glad I did. I think because I did that, it also made 4 servings instead of the 2 I was expecting.

I also made roasted parsnips. I just poured a little olive oil on them, and roasted them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, flipped them, and then put them in for 10 minutes. They came out really well.

Then, as a celebration of the fact that I finished my hours for student teaching, I made dessert. More specificially, I made this dessert.

Mug cakes have been a craze in our apartment all semester. They are convenient, easy and satisfy a dessert craving. This one is the best I've found yet. It's actually the right consistency, but it didn't taste all that nutella-y, which is a little disappointing. Still really good though.

And I was definitely glad that there were two of us eating it. It is perfect to share.

Yum.