Whip It Up Wednesday???

I'm experimenting. I love to cook...and now that I'm giving up on fast food (with the exception of some...like Panera bread and Jason's Deli) I've been cooking a LOT more at home. Having a desk job from 8-5 has allowed me to want to cook when I get home...it's my release time...yet it keeps the creative part of my brain going. Anyway...I thought I might dispense some of these recipes every Wednesday for "Whip It Up Wednesday"...I would appreciate your feedback:

On to the post...

I've got two recipes for you today. I don't know the Muffin Man...but I have a severe crush on the Stew Man...whoever he might be. I looovve a warm stew or soup in the winter time..and since you never know exactly when the wintertime might be in Arkansas...I thought I might share 2 of my favorites:

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

--this is by FAR one of my favorite soup recipes EVAA! My sister wanted to "try this out" on my one night and I'm not one to turn away a free home cooked meal....WORTH. IT. This is such a beautiful soup, as well, but believe it or not it wasn't visually appealing enough for me to get excited about it...so glad I was wrong, but me and my roommate CRAVE this soup now (and that's saying a lot with she being a retired vegetarian and me growing up eating red meat and potatoes at almost every meal). Anyway...enough, my mouth is watering...on to the recipe!

--3 Italian turkey sausage links (4 ounces each), casings removed (I used the "hot" sausage version)
--1 medium onion, chopped
--6 garlic cloves, minced
--4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
--1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
--1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
--1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
--2-1/4 teaspoons minced fresh basil or 3/4 teaspoon dried basil (or, you can substitute thyme and oregano)
--1/4 teaspoon pepper
--Dash crushed red pepper flakes (optional if not using hot turkey sausage)
--Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional (or if you're me...not optional)

Directions

--Crumble sausage into a Dutch oven; add onion. Cook and stir over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Add the broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Stir in tortellini; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-8 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach, basil, pepper and pepper flakes; cook 2-3 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted. Serve with cheese if desired.

This makes about 6 servings and even if that's too much for your household...it's still wonderful as a leftover. It only takes about 30 minutes to make! The best part? Each serving is only about 252 calories...and believe me, it fills you right up.

Pumpkin Stew

--This is a recipe our President/CEO sent to all of us -- SO FREAKING CUTE FOR FALL!! I love it! Serve it in a pumpkin for added fall flair.

--2 lbs. of beef stew meet cut into 1 inch cubes
--3 TBS of vegetable oil, divided
--1 cup of water
--3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
--4 carrots, sliced
--1 large green bell pepper, chopped
--4 cloves of garlic, minced
--1 onion, chopped
--2 tsp. of salt
--1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper
--1 (14.5) can of whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
--2 TBS. of beef bouillon granules
--1 sugar pumpkin

Directions

--heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Place beef in saucepan and cook until it's evenly brown. Mix in water, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer approximately 2 hours (yes...I know that is ridiculous..what I prefer to do is do this in the morning, and let in "simmer" in my crock-pot while I'm at work...multitasking is key!). Dissolve the bouillon into the mixture and then stir in the tomatoes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut out the top of the pumpkin and remove seeds and pulp. Place pumpkin in heavy baking pan. Fill pumpkin with stew mixture and brush the outside of the pumpkin with remaining oil. Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours, or until tender (do NOT over bake!). Serve the stew from the pumpkin, scraping out some of the pumpkin meat with each serving.

Yes...it takes a ridiculously long time, but how fabulous would this be for Halloween or Thanksgiving?? You could easily make the stew the day before while you're at work, and then pop it in the over the day you're planning to eat it.

Now I want to hear from all of you. Is Whip it Up Wednesday a tradition I should continue? I also want to know if you get a chance to make/try the recipes! Happy Autumn!