Chicken Tortellini Stew

Hey, Foodies! My turn to cook. I'm thinking quick, I'm thinking easy, and I'm thinking healthy. That can mean only one thing:  Chicken Tortellini Stew. I love the crockpot. Best invention ever! Perfect for easy dishes like soups and stews.

This weeks food adventure begins by placing 2 chicken leg quarters in the crockpot on high 4 hours and then on low for an additional 2 hours. Start it early in the day. This is great because I can do my running around while my crockpot does its thing at home.

Scoop the chicken out of the crockpot and put in a bowl to cool. Put the broth from the chicken into our cooking pot, along with a 32 oz box of broth and 6 cups of water and 2 additional bouillon cubes. So now we have this big pot of broth over here. We added 3 carrots, washed up and sliced. 12 oz of sliced baby portabello mushrooms. 12 oz of baby spinach. 3 stalks of celery, chopped. And, a handful of fresh parsley straight out of the garden.

We let it come to a boil, then put it on simmer for about 30 minutes. Next, we added the de-boned chicken cut into chunks and 24 oz of cheese tortellini. Let it simmer for another 20 minutes, so the pasta can soak up some of the vegetable reduction and give us that thick stew consistency that we love so much. You can't overcook carrots. =) 

Tony's rating : 4.0

Sandy's rating: 4.5

Our commentary:

It's nice and colorful. It looks pretty.  And, it looks yummy. This is a big ass pot-o-soup and will make lots of leftovers. It hits the spot, there is something special about soup. Oh, its good. And, it goes well with a crunchy, toasty baguette.

We could have added more carrots and maybe one less bouillon cube. It's all about personal preference.  Salt can always be added afterwards. We washed this down with a glass on Sandy's home made sweet tea. Fantastic! Can't wait to have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Cost to make:
2 leg quarters $1.49

32 oz box of chicken broth. $2.00

baby spinach $2.99 

carrots $.69 for a one pound bag

celery was $1.69 for a whole bag.

mushrooms were 2 for $5.00 

Tortellini was $5.00

Total cost : Less than 20 bucks. Note we did not have to buy parsley.

 Until next week my friends. All men must dine!