Beef and tortellini "soup"

To shake up lunch this week, I went with a beef meal. I'm not sure what, exactly, to call it. It's not really a soup or stew, but it has similar consistencies.

The problem with making something using ground beef is the whole getting it cooked without a stove top. Which is why I haven't tried until now.

A while ago, I wanted a scrambled egg and decided to try cooking it on my pancake griddle.  ...it sort of worked. I tried using an egg mold to keep the eggs from running everywhere. That was a complete flop. Still, they scrambled pretty nicely - the egg that didn't escape from the little built-in "drain", that is. One of my loved ones suggested using a small saute pan next time.

Why did I tell you all of that? To tell you that I tried it with the ground beef and it worked!

Griddle + small pan = new cooking set up!

It took about the normal time to cook, too. The pan took a couple minutes longer to heat up initially, though. The beauty of this set up is that there's no hot spot, so it cooked pretty evenly.

For this recipe, which I found online, I decided to cut the ingredients in half, except for the beef. I wanted this to be a little more protein heavy. Even with the halved recipe, this still produces a nice amount of food. It's pretty simple, and only has a few ingredients.

The first thing to do is take your cream cheese out and cut it into cubes. Leave it on the counter, and brown your meat.

*Bonus tip: When I cook, I put on some upbeat music and end up dancing to it while I wait for stuff to finish - like when I'm browning the ground beef. It's an easy way to add in 5 or 10 minutes of physical activity. I'm seriously considering keeping a set of hand weights in the kitchen to dance around with.*

About half a pound of the meat.

I had to split my pound of ground beef in half so I didn't crowd the pan. Once it's browned, just dump straight into the crock pot.

One whole pound - just look at the steam coming off that!

Next, add the tortellini. I used the refrigerated kind. I used a name brand's three cheese kind. There are different varieties, so feel free to experiment. I could only find 8 oz and 20 oz packages. I used half of a 20 oz package and froze the rest.

Tortellini? Yes please!

Next in, the diced tomatoes and chicken broth, plus seasonings. I had to use a little more than a 14 oz can of chicken broth. You want to make sure the tortellini is adequately covered, or they'll dry out and/or not cook right.

Now it's looking soupy.

Last to go in, the cream cheese. I attempted to evenly place it, then realized that was unnecessary given the next step...

This is where the creamy-ness comes into play.

...the last step is to give it a good stir!

Mix well. Then wait!

After 2 hours, you stir it again. And leave it for another 2 and a half hours.

The finished product!

Here's the full recipe:

-14-16 oz chicken broth
- 10 oz tortellini (fresh or frozen)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 (14 oz) Can Diced Tomatoes (undrained)

Basil (to taste)

Garlic powder (to taste)

Oregano (to taste)
- 4 oz. Cream Cheese
- Grated Parmesan Cheese for topping

1. Take the cream cheese out of the fridge, cube it, then let it sit while you brown the meat.

2. Add the meat and tortellini to your Crock Pot. Pour the tomatoes, liquid and all, and broth over the top. Add the spices. Add the cream cheese to the pot.

3. Give your Crock Pot a good stir to get everything evenly distributed, making sure the liquids are adequately covering the tortellini.

4. Cook on LOW for a total of 4 1/2 hours. Stir at 2 hours, and again at 4 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking. This will give the sauce some time to thicken up.

Once it's cooled, I'll split it into some plastic/glass containers. The plastic ones allow me to freeze the extras. The freezer is your friend!

	Nutrition Information: Serves 6 Calories: 331.6 Total Fat: 23.3 g Cholesterol: 84.0 mg Sodium: 391.1 mg Total Carbs: 11.3 g Dietary Fiber: 0.8 g Protein: 18.6 g Analyzed by SparkPeople calculator