Hearty Cheese Tortellini

~adapted from a recipe in a Taste of Home Ground Beef cookbook~

1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 jar (24 oz.) marinara sauce
1 can Italian diced tomatoes
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 package (19 oz.) refrigerated cheese tortellini
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

*I used a spaghetti sauce with mushrooms instead of adding the fresh mushrooms.

Cook sausage and beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker.  Stir in the marinara sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms.  Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until heated through.  Prepare tortellini according to package directions; stir into meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Spaghetti and Company

This recipe is already listed with the nutritional information. Look under "Pasta" label.

Sticky Coconut Chicken

In honor of the warm weather, this is a grilling meal.  If you don't have a grill or don't want to grill, it works in the oven too.  Instead of grilling, put the chicken and all the sauce in a 9x13 pan and cook at 350 for 40-50 minutes until chicken is done.  Serve over rice or salad.  Use the glaze sauce as a dipping sauce.

Adapted from www.melskitchencafe.com

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup canned coconut milk
1/2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour (I let mine marinade four about four to five hours). Grill on barbecue.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice.

Calories:  204

Fat 9.5 g

Cholesterol  68.4 mg

Sodium  81.6 mg

Carbs 1.1 g

Fiber 0

Protein 28 g

May Menu

Please post your meal for May here. Thanks.

Nanci Edwards: Sticky Coconut Chicken
Lesa Gunn: Cheese Manicotti
Savanna Sorensen: Spaghetti Sauce
Bobbi Loosli: Kabobs
Vanessa Gunn: Sloppy Joes