Crockpot Tortellini Soup

*Tap, tap* Hello?  Is anyone still out there?

I've been gone for months.  I'm sorry, dear reader.  It wasn't my intention.  Let me explain myself.  You see, almost exactly a year ago this week, I found out some fantastic news.  Baby #3 was on it's way to our family!  If you remember, baby #2 had given us quite a few scares, and spent a long time in the hospital, and then home with medical equipment.  I was, of course, quite nervous.  But things progressed smoothly, until the time for the standard ultrasound came.  We were given the dreaded news that our sweet baby was not compatible with life, due to the absence of kidney's, often referred to as Potter's Syndrome, or bilateral renal agenesis. Needless to say, we were devastated that our baby's life would be cut so short.

At at that point, I took my hiatus from this blog. I felt I needed to focus on other things for a while. Our son was born in the middle of July, 10 weeks early.  He lived for a precious 35 minutes.  

Since then, I've been thinking about getting back to this blog, but then we put our house up for sale, and I was packing up my kitchen.  We then moved--twice.  Into a apartment for a short time, and then into our new house.  I'm still unpacking my kitchen.  

I've also been toying around with starting a new blog, starting fresh!  And I am!  It's just going to be a sister blog for now, posting the same things as this blog (and reposting some of my older recipes that are already live on this blog), while I still figure out where I want to take my blogging life. You can see it at: Krystalskitchen.wordpress.com 

So here we are! Back into the recipes!

I'll admit, I'm not much of a crockpot user.  I have a few recipes that I tend to use it for, but for the most part, I'm never pleased with how crockpot recipes turn out.  So when I see recipes for it, I usually don't try them.

I'm glad I took the time to try this recipe.  I totally altered it though, to fit into a smaller crockpot (3 quart I believe), and be better suited for our small family.  

The best way I found to make this recipe, is to layer all the ingredients. I did 1/2 the tortellini's, spinach, tomatoes, cream cheese, and sausage.  Repeat.

Word to the wise--the sausage gives it a lot of flavor.  I've tried to both ways, with and without, and the version WITH it was much better!

Layering means you don't have to stir things up too much.  Tortellini's are a fairly fragile pasta, and you don't want to mess with them too much, so they don't break apart.

I just stir it gently before serving, to make sure things are melding nicely. And to, of course, try a bite or two!

Top with some parmesan cheese and you're ready to enjoy! 

CROCKPOT TORTELLINI SOUP

Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

1 package frozen cheese tortellini's

1 8oz package cream cheese, chunked up

1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

2 cans broth (I used vegetable)

1/2 small bag fresh spinach

1/2 lb ground sausage, cooked and crumbled

Parmesan cheese for topping

In a small crock pot, layer tortellini's, spinach, 1/2 a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 the spinach, 1/2 the cream cheese, and 1/2 the sausage.  Repeat layers.  Pour the broth over everything.  Cover and cook on low for about 3 hours.  Check it at 2.5 hours, as the tortellini's cook quick, and you don't want them to turn to mush! Serve warm with parmesan cheese.