Cheese Tortellini Soup

Ingredients: 

• 1lb ground meat (could use any you like, hamburger, turkey, chicken, sausage, etc.)
• 1 bag of baby spinach
• 19oz of frozen Tortellini
• 1 8oz package of Cream Cheese (I don't use the reduced fat kind, but it would likely work the same)
• 1 can of cut tomatoes (undrained)
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• Shredded Mozzarella *Optional*

Directions:

1. Cook your ground meat thoroughly and drain. [I used hamburger meat with 2 cloves of minced garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, onion powder, and parsley. I didn't measure the spices, just eyeballed it. Was going for an ''Italian'' seasoning sort of flavor. Go with how much your family would like]
2. With the drained meat in the pan on medium heat add the entire bag of spinach and wilt. 
3. Add the chicken broth, cut tomatoes, and cubed cream cheese (we did about 6-8 cubed chunks). 
4. Cook on low for about 2 hours stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the entire bag of tortellini and turn the heat up to medium high cooking for about 30 minutes. Soup should be reducing and thickening. 
6. Serve and top with mozzarella if desired. 

Penne Pasta Salad

Penne Pasta Salad

Approximately 4 servings

Cooking Spray
1/2 pound Italian Pork Sausage [you can use any ground meat you like]
2 cloves of garlic [I buy pre-minced from the dollar tree!]
16 cherry tomatoes [you can use grape, cherry, or regular tomatoes cut up].
2 tsp Perfect Pinch Savory All Purpose Salt Free*
7 ounches of whole wheat penne
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Parsley
2 handfuls of baby spinach (I buy it bagged)
2 Tbsp Pesto

**A container of marinated mozzarella balls (NOT REQUIRED)** 

1. Spray pan cooking sausage. As it starts to brown add garlic, seasonings (except parsley), tomatoes. Cook until sausage is brown and tomato skins have burst (this doesn't apply to cut up whole tomato). Season with Salt and Pepper to taste. 

2. Place cooked pasta in a bowl with the olive oil. Top pasta with sausage and tomato mixture, add the pesto. Mix well, and top with parsley. [If the dish doesn't seem to have enough pesto add another TBSP]

*If you don't have this seasoning in your kitchen, no worries! It's made with Thyme, oregano, rosemary, paprika, chili pepper, ginger, cinnamon, tumeric, garlic, and onion. You can play with the flavors yourself! Use what you like and customize the dish to your families liking.

**After dishing each bowl, add 3-4 mozzarella balls into each bowl. Super yum!**