Making it up as I go - Spicy Sausage Tortellini Soup

Sometimes I cook off of a recipe. Sometimes I cook from memory. Sometimes I cook based on whatever random foods I have available.

My plan today was to go to the grocery as soon as some repair people came to fix our closet doors. They had given me the 'sometime between 12 and 2' deal. Had they come closer to 12:00, instead of 1:15, I would have had plenty of time to get to the grocery and get home before Sebastian got off the bus. As it was though, had I attempted a grocery trip, I highly doubt I would have been back in time.

This left me with only one option for dinner... make something up. I looked in the fridge to see what I had. A pack of whole wheat cheese-filled tortellini. A pound of bulk sausage. A pack of bacon. Some veggies. And a bit of cheese. Not a lot to work with. After scanning the pantry for on-hand options, I decided to try to make up a soup. I only had beef boullion, so I decided to try using the sausage with it to see how it went. Here's what I made:



And here's how...

Ingredients:
7 cups of water + 7 tsp beef boullion (aka 7 cups of beef broth)
1/2 lb ground sausage, cooked & drained (I cooked the whole pound and split it... I'll use the other 1/2 for pizza tomorrow...after I go to the grocery, of course!)
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 cup matchstick carrots
1 cup fresh baby spinach, washed & cut
1 package refrigerated whole wheat cheese tortellini
1 tsp garlic powder (I would have preferred fresh garlic cooked in with the sausage, but I had nothing fresh to work with really, so powder had to do)
1/2 tsp dried basil
generous dash of pepper

Instructions:
1. cook sausage, drain
2. bring beef broth to a boil
3. add carrots & seasoning, stir to combine
4. add tortellini, boil ~ 3 minutes
5. reduce heat, add sausage & spinach; cook on low until spinach is softened & soup is heated through

We served a quick pack of dinner rolls with this, as well as a plate of fresh tomatoes & mozzerella.

Results: Isaac LOVED it. The kid ate three bowls and 2 rolls, plus a slice of cheese (no tomatoes for him). Meagan loved the tortellini, sausage, & spinach. She ate around the carrots and ate some of the tomatoes. Sebastian wasn't so much of a fan. He liked the tortellini okay, but he does not like spicy anything, and this was just too spicy for him.

**********