Sausage & Bacon Tortellini Bake

Yesterday, day two of mat leave sans husband, my lovely sister came over to visit.

It gave me a chance to have a shower, play with the dog outside, and prep something for dinner. 

She also brought McDonalds which was highly appreciated. 

You might think that making dinner when you're spending an entire day looking after an infant who doesn't nap for very long at any given time would be the last thing you'd want to think about doing. 

But I actually enjoyed getting into the kitchen and putting a little thought into what we would eat.

It was a nice return to normal life for a bit. 

While browsing Facebook during our early morning feed, I came across a Martha recipe for a bacon tortellini bake. 

Since we had tortellini in the freezer, and since the dish was relatively quick and easy to prepare, I decided that making this would be my goal for the day.

It was, true to its word, quick and easy.

And delicious.

• In a pan, add 3 or 4 sausages to 1/3 cup water and heat, covered, over medium-high until the sausages are cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Remove sausages and allow to cool. Drain water from pan.
• In the same pan, fry 1/2 onion, diced, with 4 strips of bacon cut into strips. Add in 2 cloves of garlic, diced.  Add sausage back to pan. Cook until the onions are translucent and the bacon and sausage is cooked. 
• Add in 2 tbsp flour and stir to combine. Pour in 1/2 cup milk and stir again to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add in 1 pkg tortellini and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and allow mixture to thicken over medium heat for about4 minutes. 
• Pour into an oven safe dish and sprinkle top with more cheese (parmesan or whatever you want). Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, until warm and the cheese is browned. 
• Then serve and enjoy!

Easy enough to make with a newborn (and someone to keep said newborn entertained)!

A Few of My New Favourite Things

As you may (or may not) be aware, I've gone cold turkey on junk food and subsequently the majority of carbohydrate-loaded foods because bread is my #1 vice and I cannot eat normal portions of pasta.

I've now gone 5 whole days without consuming sugar.

It's horrible.

But my body's sugar cravings are in their death throws. They've almost worked themselves out of my system.

I've eaten a ton of vegetables this week and I'm feeling good.

I went shopping after work today and was poking around the vegetarian section when lo and behold, I came across this amazing product that I've read about but never before seen:

It's pasta but it's not! It's tofu!

It's also only 40 calories for the entire package.

Ridiculous!

I could eat bowl after bowl of this stuff and never gain a pound.

I made the package of angel hair shirataki (I also got spaghetti and fettucini) and tried it with chicken and soy sauce.

Really good.

I'm so happy I found this!

Second: I tried this for the first time this morning and I'm in love.

I had the Apple Pie flavour and it's exactly like taking a bite of apple pie.

I need to stock up on this gum. I want to try the other two as well.

That's it for today. I've worked all week so far and I have an exam on Monday that I should probably study for somewhat.

Tomorrow is the first of December!

We had our first real snowfall today and I also heard my first Christmas song on the radio (perfectly timed with the falling snow) so I'm ready to get into the festive spirit.

Staying true to my promise, I'm embarking on the Christmas Cookie Countdown.

I've been baking ahead to ensure I don't miss a day.

Expect daily posts until Christmas!

And leave suggestions if you have a holiday favourite you enjoy baking.

Oh hi, remember me?

It's been awhile.

But you'll have to believe me when I say it's me, not you.

School has taken over my life in recent weeks but the light at the end of  the tunnel is getting brighter.

I just handed in a history essay that has taken up every free moment of my time for the past two weeks.

Tuesday I hand in a group paper and then on Saturday I have the final exam for my history elective.

Then things will get a bit easier, at least temporarily.

Here's what you've missed:

My sister had a birthday and my best friend made her an incredible cake! After asking what her favourite kind of cake was my sister replied, "I'm not a huge fan of cake. Honestly I'd prefer a big plate of nachos."

So she got the best of both worlds. 

So cool.

And the carrot cake underneath was delicious.

 I also made pulled pork and cheddar biscuits to go with it. I think that may have been the last thing I posted about. I didn't have jalapenos for the biscuits so I added a dash of cayenne pepper to spice them up.

A few nights ago I asked John what he wanted for dinner and he asked if we had any Kraft dinner.

We didn't.

So having an excuse to not write my essay any more drop right into my lap, I decided to make mac and cheese myself.

We only had spaghetti (John cleaned out the cupboards cause we had a moth infestation and he ended up throwing out a lot of our stuff) but it worked well enough.

I melted cheddar and mozarella cheese into milk then added the cooked pasta.

It was pretty good!

One night this week I decided to make a nicer dinner (again, needed a good reason to not have to sit in front of my laptop for hours). I went with a fall-themed chicken and stuffed chicken breasts with brie, bacon, and apple slices.

The flavours worked really well together, not to mention the fact that bacon makes everything taste better.

In other news -

I found (and subsequently purchased) my wedding dress!

Well to be clear my mom purchased my wedding dress (thanks mom!) but wow!

I made an appointment last Saturday to go and try on some dresses to get an idea of what style would look best.

The second dress I tried on was the one.

It happened so fast!

I wasn't expecting to walk out of the store with a dress but it's been purchased.

I want to put up pictures but I also want to wait and do the big reveal in August.

And I also don't want John to see it.

I did cave and show him a not-so-great picture from a phone but that's all.

Ohhhhhhhhh man, so very very exciting!

It's beautiful.

I'm going to go look at the pictures of it again.

And take my banana bread out of the oven!

And then finish my group paper section :(

Spinach Cavatappi Gratin

I'm still excited about my placement!

It's so much more nerve-wracking than being on a nephrology unit or a post-surgical unit ... I don't know what to expect and I think that's what's making me so anxious to get onto the unit and to see what kinds of skills I will be learning and using.

Last night John and I went to see Contagion and I recommend it.

It's not exactly a happy, feel-good movie but I enjoyed it.

We also ran into two friends just as we were going into the theatre which was a nice surprise!

This morning we're going out for breakfast and to run a few errands but before I go I want to post the recipe from last night's dinner.

We had a pasta dish that I saw in the Milk calendar and wanted to try.

Having tasted the recipe I'm suggesting the addition of bacon or ground turkey (which I bought with the intention of using but forgot in the fridge).

• Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook 1 1/2 cups of pasta (you don't have to use cavatappi but the curly shape grabs more of the sauce. Cavatappi is also called scoobi-do.....ya, I know). Add in 2 shredded carrots at the last minute of cooking. Drain and set aside.
• Using the same pot, melt 1 tbsp butter and 3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tsp paprika, 3/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Whisk in 2 cups of milk.
• In a bowl whisk together 1 cup of milk and 2 tbsp flour. Add to the pot of warm milk and stir until combined. Stir on medium high heat until bubbling and thickened.
• Remove from heat and add in pasta and 1 pkg (thawed) spinach. If you're using fresh spinach stir it around until it is wilted. Add in 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (I used marble).
• *** For added flavour add in crumbled bacon or ground turkey/beef.
• Spread pasta into a casserole dish and set the oven to broil. Top the pasta with 1 cup of bread crumbs and 1/4 cup cheese. Melt under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the top is bublly and brown.