Menu Plan Monday 2/20, Tortellini & Italian Sausage Soup Recipe

Happy President's Day :-) I love having a Monday off.   I went to jazzercise, then Target (honored the presidents by spending some money), then spent some time reading/journaling at Starbucks inside of Target, crossed a few things off of my to-do list... I just keep thinking how easy it is to just do what I need/want to do and how in a matter of days my needs/wants will not be coming first. 

Thanks to Pinterest and my inability to get a dessert out of my mind once I've decided I want it, I made these Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats yesterday: 

Here's our menu plan this week:

Sunday: Tortellini & Italian Sausage Soup (see below for recipe)

Monday: Chicken and Rice bake, green beans

Tuesday: I have a (free!) breastfeeding class at the pediatrician's office... so if Grant & I are going to eat together, it will be dollar menu date night between 5:30 and 5:50pm :-/ 

Wednesday: Ravioli, garlic bread & veggie

Thursday: Parent-teacher conferences... I won't even get home until after 8pm... sigh...

Friday: pork tenderloin, pierogies & green beans

Saturday: Baby's Due Date!! If he hasn't arrived, we are going out.

Tortellini & Italian Sausage Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium sized onion, diced

1/2 cup green pepper, diced

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

 1 lb Italian Sausage

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp sage

1/4- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp parsley 

1/2 tsp sugar 

1/4 tsp black pepper

8 cups chicken broth

1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed. 

1 bag dried or frozen tortellini (I used the tri-colored dried kind from Trader Joes)

Parmesan cheese 

In large soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add onions, green pepper and salt.  Saute until softened.  Add sausage and cook until browned.  Remove from pan and let mixture drain on paper towel-lined plate.  Meanwhile, using the same pot, add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, sage, red pepper flakes, parsley, sugar and black pepper.  Stir in frozen spinach.  Add 8 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to directions on the package.  When tortellini is almost done, add the Italian sausage back into the pot.  Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese on top. 

Note: this soup absorbs a lot of the liquid so you may want to add extra broth before reheating the leftovers. 

for more menu planning ideas, head to www.orgjunkie.com