Taco Tortellini

As I've mentioned before, I like quick and easy recipes. Kennedy Chugg, on Instagram (and I believe Tik Tok, although I'm not on Tik Tok) often posts 5 Ingredient, 20 minutes, $10 dinners, perfect!

I came across this post on Instagram.  She didn't really give the recipe a name, but I call it Taco Tortellini because it's Tortellini with seasoned Taco meat.

Taco Tortellini

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey - I usually prefer turkey)

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (I prefer fire roasted or mild), but can also used diced tomatoes

1 package Taco Seasoning Mix 

Shredded Cheese (Cheddar or Mexican Blend)

1 family sized package of Tortellini (I used 3 cheese but can use any kind)

Directions:

Cook ground beef or ground turkey until brown and no longer pink. Drain fat (another reason I like turkey, there is hardly any fat to drain).

While meat is cooking, boil pasta until done (note: fresh pasta in the refrigerator section doesn't take long to cook, when it starts to float, its done). Drain pasta.

Add a can of undrained Ro*Tel tomatoes. If you'd like it a bit less spicy, substitute regular diced tomatoes. I like the extra kick that Ro*Tel adds to the flavor.  However, I do prefer the mild version or the fire-roasted version.  I don't like it TOO spicy.

Add the ground beef/rotel mixture to the cooked tortellini, add shredded cheese and stir.

You can top with extra cheese and some sour cream if desired.  Enjoy!!

Cenise Shawl CAL - Part 3 Completed

 The 3rd part of the Cenise Shawl was released, which was Wing 2.  You'd think it would be easy to complete since it was basically the same as Wing 1, which I already completed, with the decreases on the opposite side.  

Well...that was going perfectly fine, and I put it away for the evening with about 32 rows left to crochet...but I was tired and was getting sleepy.  I woke up about 3 am and couldn't sleep so decided to finish Wing 2.

Let me tell you, if you wake up at 3 am to crochet, resist the urge.  The next day, I looked at my work and realized from row 32 - 60, I did the decreases on the WRONG side of the wing!  Ay ya ya!  It was all lop-sided.  So, I had to frog it.  Frog is a knitting/crochet term when you rip out the stitches you already did...you "rip it, rip it, rip it" - which is similar to the sound a frog makes so it's called frogging your work.

So, I had to re-crochet rows 32-60 again, but the right way this time.  

Here is the WIP after Part 3 of the CAL has been completed.

Easy Cast Iron Skillet Shrimp Scampi

I was browsing Pinterest one day and stumbled upon Cooker of Deliciousness - a website maintained by a guy out of Kentucky.  He posts quick, easy videos. I assume he is on Tik Tok and you can find him there but I don't use Tik Tok, so luckily he has a website where I can find all his quick and easy recipes.

While browsing through his website, I saw what seemed to be a quick and easy Shrimp Scampi, using a Cast Iron Skillet, so I decided to give it a try.

I'm all for recipes that use few ingredients and this was one of them. I revised the recipe a bit to better suit the items I had on hand and personal preferences.

I actually had DanOs Cheesoning on hand in my pantry.  I recall that I bought it for a different recipe but now, for the life of me, I can't remember what it was.

Easy Cast Iron Skillet Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs jumbo shrimp peeled, de-veined
• DanO's Cheesoning
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
  
• 6 oz Land O' Lakes Garlic & Herb Butter
  
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
  
• Wipe moisture off shrimp with paper towel and cut off tails
  
• Place shrimp in bowl and season with DanO's Cheesoning and mix well
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Place shrimp evenly in cast iron skillet
  
• Drizzle olive oil over the top 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Pour chicken broth evenly over the top
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Place dollops of butter evenly in the pan
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Add grated Parmesan on top
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Bake in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes, until shrimp are pink and opaque
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  I served it over Pasta-Roni (Olive Oil and Herb flavor), which I made according to package directions while the shrimp was in the oven.

  
  

  Let me tell you....this was SO GOOD.  It tasted as if it came from a restaurant.  It is definitely a keeper recipe.  Especially since dinner can be ready in less than 30 minutes. I think if you add a vegetable, such a steamed broccoli or a vegetable medley on the side, it would be a nice dish to serve when you have company.

   

  I heated the leftovers up in a saucepan the next day and it was just as good as the day I made it.
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

Cenise Shawl CAL - Part 2 Completed

I completed the 2nd part of the Cenise Shawl - called "Wing 1" - it is the first half of the side of the shawl.  It may not look like much right now, but it will start coming together soon.

The next part of the pattern (Wing 2) was released today...so I'm working on that now.

CAL - Cenise Shawl - Part # 1

 The first part of the Chenise Shawl crochet-a-long was released, it was the center motif square. 

First, I did a gauge swatch, which I don’t normally do for a shawl, but since the yarn was hand dyed & special ordered, I don’t want to take a chance of running out.

My gauge was a little big, so I decided to switch from the recommended 5.0mm hook, to a 4.5mm. I didn’t re-check the gauge so I hope I went down in hook size enough.

I really like this yarn, it’s such a beautiful shade of blue, with little darker blue specks throughout. The pictures don’t really show how pretty it is.

I also liked the square motif pattern. It was well written, easy & fun to crochet.

Project Life - July 2024

July was a fairly quiet month.  Highlights were going to the Center for Puppetry Arts, visiting mom (even though it was because she had been sick) and going to the New Kids on the Block Concert!

I want to create some layouts for the concert.  In fact, I thought I had, but I couldn't find them so maybe I just had a dream that I made the layouts. Ha Ha!

I worked more hours than usual, hence a lot of kitty cat pictures this month.

You can click on the photos to enlarge.

The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings

 Just like the Harry Potter movies, that I can watch over and over again....The Hobbit movie series and The Lord of the Rings movie series are also movies that I can as well.  These movies are rather long though, coming in at almost 3 hours each!  Therefore, I never watch them when they are on broadcast TV.  I only watch on HBO or some other non-commercial outlet.

They are just so beautiful.  They are so well written and wonderful adaptations of the books. The special effects are incredible, and they are so entertaining and just so....well...eloquent.  The musical score throughout the movies only add to the magic of it. 

Today, I'm having a Hobbit movie marathon and while watching the ending credits of the 2nd Hobbit movie "The Desolation of Smaug", I heard and was reminded of this hauntingly beautiful song by Ed Sheeran.  I never heard it on the radio but in my opinion, it should have gotten a lot of airplay.