{ my husband is amazing }

he just is always challenging himself in so many ways! Well the past few weeks he has been studying for a big test. It was yesterday and he passed - in 1.5 hours! Crazy.. i was supposed to be a 4 hour test! He was so excited when he called. I decided to stop work a tad early and get a celebration wine and try a new recipe for him. So when he came home, the dinner was set, the wine was chilled and we just enjoyed the evening!

I wanted to share the recipe with you!
I started with just a simple salad with blue cheese crumbles, small onion and dried cherries, topped with a chardonnay vinaigrette.












Then i put this recipe to work! It was so good.


Garden Pesto Tortellini
1 package of refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
12-15 spears of asparagus, washed and cut into 1" pieces
2 big handfuls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced and reconstituted in water (soak for 10 min.)
* I had some roasted red peppers, so i substituted with those
1 cup fresh basil pesto (buy pre-made or click here for recipe to make your own)
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chicken, torn into bite-sized pieces (optional ~ for vegetarians)

In a large pot of boiling water, cook tortellini according to package instructions. When they have about 3 minutes left to boil, throw the asparagus, spinach, and tomatoes into the water with the tortellini. Drain and return to pot. Add the pesto and the chicken, tossing to coat.













We don't eat a lot of pasta and when we do, it is usually wheat, so this was a nice change for us. It was great and a small portion was so filling!