Tortellini Chowder

Today Farley's ferrier came to the barn to trim his hooves. After he left I headed to Ken and Lisa's new house to check to see if they started the exterior paint color - they had but they were just beginning so I headed home.
At home I decided to change and wash our bedsheets so I threw them the in the washer and then decided to lay down for a few minutes . . this was around 10:30 in the morning. The next thing I knew it was now 12 noon - I had fallen asleep. I couldn't believe it - I hardly ever take a nap. I guess my body needed it. I then received a call from Lisa - she wanted to know how the house looked. I jumped in the car and headed over there -much to my surprise the exterior painting of the house was almost all finished. The paint colors she chose looked wonderful.

I then went back home and had some lunch and continued to work on things here at home. The kids came home from school and asked if a bunch of the neighbor kids could come over and play hockey rollerblade. I told them sure. I wanted to take a picture of all of them playing but I forgot. An hour or so later Lisa and the kids swung by to pick me up - we went back over to her new house to check a few things out that they worked on on the inside. We came home - she nursed Ava and then they headed home. I then headed right to the kitchen to begin dinner. As I was pulling the ingredients out for dinner one of the neighborhood kids knocked at my front door. Her little brother had fallen while rollerblading and hit his head. I ran out to the backyard to see Braxton down in the grass. I ran over to him and found him crying. He had hit his head on the concrete . . none of the kids were wearing helmets including mine- (new rule for rollerblading . . . YOU MUST WEAR A HELMET! ) I sat him up and then put him in the car so I could drive him home. Thank goodness he was ok . . just a little shaken up.

Tonight I tried another new recipe. I found this recipe in one of my many cookbooks that I have.

Tortellini Chowder:
4 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups thick n chunky mild salsa
approx 18 ounces of refrigerated tortellini
dash salt
1 pound of frozen vegetable (corn, broccoli and red pepper- I found Bird's Eye makes this combo)
1 small can of evaporated milk.
parsley or cilantro for garnish

Combine broth and salsa. Bring to a boil, then reduce reat and simmer 3 minutes. Stir in tortellini and vegetables. Cook over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until tortellini and vegetable are tender. Stir in milk and salt. Cook 1 -2 minutes or just until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. DO NOT LET IT BOIL. Serve, garnish with parsley or cilantro.

I know from this picture it doesn't look that appetizing but it was really good and this picture does not do it justice. :-) Once again my kids surprised me and LOVED it. They even asked for seconds . . . so don't go by the looks of this picture . . it was good :-)
After dinner the kids had their bathes, finished homework and did some reading. Lisa called me for something and then reminded us that American Idol was on a again tonight . . .We put Sierra to bed and then we all headed down to the familyroom to watch our show. Which is where I am now . . the first hour is over and we are on hour two. For some reason I have a slight headache so I am going to try to go to bed early.