I Did It!: Ceramic Coasters

This is such a cheapskate gift! I had so much fun working on these.  I think I enjoyed it so much because I felt successful at every step.  I found a picture on pinterest, a tutorial so simple that the instructions were entirely within the caption of the picture.  I can't wait to have another reason to make some custom ceramic coasters!

I used (and where I bought it):

8 (4x4) ceramic tiles (Lowe's)

Clear spray paint (Lowe's)

E6000 adhesive (Hobby Lobby)

Scrapbook paper (Hobby Lobby)

Felt (Hobby Lobby)

Mod Podge (Hobby Lobby)

Foam brushes (Hobby Lobby)

1. Cut the scrapbook paper into 4x4 squares.

2. Use Mod Podge to adhere the squares of paper to the tiles.

3. Use Mod Podge to "paint" the papered tiles.  Do several coats (I did 4.) and allow to dry between coats.

4. Spray tiles with clear spray paint.  Do several coats (I did 2.) and allow to dry between coats.

5. Cut 4x4 squares of felt.

6. Use the E6000 adhesive to adhere the felt to the back of the tile.  Allow to dry up to 24 hours before using.

Ta-Da! So incredibly easy.  I spent less than 2 hours, excluding time to dry between coats, to make this birthday present. 



I Did It: Lasagna Soup

What a yummy soup! I freely admit to being a soup addict.  When I was pregnant with my son, now 5, soup was my only real craving.  Well, that and chili, which some might consider a soup anyway.  I sort of never got over that craving.  I love to eat soup, I love to make soup.  I find it supremely comforting.  If you ever hear from me that we are having soup for dinner, there is at least a 50% chance that something is bothering me or that I'm sick.  (About half the time I make soup, though, I make it just 'cuz I love it, not because I'm having some trial or another.)

I found this recipe for Lasagna Soup on Pinterest, and just couldn't stop thinking about it.  It's super simple to make.  I have made this soup a couple of times now, and have found ways to tweak it for my non-cheese-eating little ones.  Here's the recipe I follow, in its original form.

Lasagna Soup

from www.afarmgirldabbles.com

2 tsp. olive oil

1 1/2 lb. Italian sausage

3 c. chopped onions

4 garlic cloves

2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2 T. tomato paste

28 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

6 c. chicken stock

8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta

1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil

salt/pepper to taste

for the cheesy gooey goodness:

8 oz. ricotta cheese

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1/4 t. salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 c. shredded mozzarella

(Here's what I realized as I was shamelessly copying the ingredients from the other blog onto mine: I don't follow recipes very well any more.  It used to be that I would only ever make food by studiously following the recipe.  Like, obsessively.  I guess I've reached the point that I am confident enough in my kitchen to make substitutions.  Example: I haven't used 1 1/2 lbs. of Italian sausage to make anything.  Ever.  I use 1/2 lb. to make this recipe.   Maybe that's just the cheapskate in me.  I almost never have fresh basil in my house, so I use the dried stuff almost exclusively.  Chicken stock? Nah, I'll just use water and mix in a couple of beef boullion cubes. I don't remember the last time I had tomato paste.  Or fire-roasted diced tomatoes.  I just used a couple of jars of my own homemade spaghetti sauce, and I liked it just fine. I'm keeping the recipe in its original form here, though, to give respect to the person who came up with it.  Who obviously would be horrified in my kitchen.)

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy gooey goodness. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy gooey goodness in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

The recipe says this serves 8.  I think it's an easy recipe to stretch.  Just add more water and more boullion cubes. :)  If you know you want leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add it to the individual bowls.  That way you won't have soggy, mushy pasta in your leftovers.  You'll have to boil up some fresh pasta to have with your leftovers, but that will be 10 minutes well spent.  You really wouldn't want soggy, mushy pasta in your soup.  Don't ask me how I know this.

I served this with awesome breadsticks that I can't take any credit for at all, since I got the recipe from yet another food blog.  But that's a blog post for another day.



I Did It: Breadsticks

I Did It: Lemon Crinkle Cookies

These cookies came together so easily! I got the recipe from Pinterest last night or this morning, and now I have cookies cooling on my stove!  The flavor is quite mild, but that's my own fault.  My lemons have been with me for a while, so they are soft and wouldn't zest.  Since I couldn't include the 2 tsp. lemon zest, I increased the lemon juice, hoping to keep the lemon flavor strong.  It didn't work; the lemon flavor is very, very faint.  They cookies are nicely sweet, though, thanks to the powdered sugar coating.  Another thing I didn't do was to line the cookie sheets with parchment.  I ran out, so I just used cooking spray.  I'm finding that the cookies are sticking to the pan a bit. 

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

from http://www.sweetpeaskitchen.com/

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar, mixing for about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

To the mixture in the stand mixer, add the egg, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Beat until combined. 

Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl.  Roll heaping tablespoons-ful in the sugar before placing them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes, turning the cookie sheet halfway through.

Cool for just a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

 

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.



Estimated Cost Breakdown:

Flour - $.05

Baking soda - $.02 

Baking powder - $.02

Salt - $0 (still using the big container of pink himalayan sea salt I got as a gift)

butter - $.99 

sugar - $.29

lemon juice and zest - $.50

vanilla - $.03

powdered sugar - $.16

Total cost for the batch: $2.06

Coming later today: Two more "I Did It" posts - breadsticks and lasagna soup



I Did It: Pizza Snowballs

Thank you, pinterest! The recipe I found was almost embarrassingly easy, and I had all the ingredients to put them together in my pantry/freezer. Lunch was almost a no-brained!

The recipe called for refrigerator biscuits, which I did not have. I put together my favorite biscuit recipe instead, and the kiddos got to help with the pastry cutter. I did use sausage instead of pepperoni, as the recipe suggest, because that's what I had. They ended up being quite messy, and they didn't come together quite like the recipe shows. I ended up just dumping the cooked sausage into the biscuit dough, balling up wads of the mixture to put in the muffin tin, then sprinkling some cheese on the top.

The result? Big winner with my husband and myself, not so much with the kids. I served them with homemade spaghetti sauce dipping.

Today's Frugal Meal: Calderetta

I Did It: Homemade Butter

I wish I had taken a picture of the little bit of butter the kids and I made! This makes a great and rewarding activity to do with the kiddos anytime.  I'll keep this in mind for those rainy days when things get a little squirrely around here.

I tried this recipe, on a much smaller scale, when I had a bit of heavy cream that had been hanging around in my fridge for a while.  I figured it was use it or lose it time, so why not give it a go? The kids and I enjoyed the shaking (and shaking and shaking and shaking), and the butter was actually quite good.  We sampled it the night we made it, then I used the rest in a batch of biscuites or scones or something.

Homemade Butter

from http://www.tigressinapickle.com/

organic cream (not ultra-pasteurized) (I used non-organic, and I have no idea about the pasteurization level!)

sea salt

quart or half gallon mason jars (I used a rubbermaid container, since I had just a tiny bit of cream.)

1. Leave the cream at room temperature for a few hours until it's fully warmed to room temperature.

2. Pour room temperature cream into jar.  Important: The jar should be double the size of the amount of cream you are using.  If you are shaking a pint of cream, you need a quart jar.

3. Make sure the cap the screwed on very tight (or the plastic lid is snapped tightly).  Shake it really really really well.  Take turns with each of the kids. You'll feel the progress soon.

4. Keep right on shaking until no more butter will form. (There will be a thin white liquid as well.)

5. Separate the liquid from the butter.

6. Place butter in a bowl and run very cold water over it.  Press and squeeze to get as much of the buttermilk out as you can.  Keep going until the water is clear.

7.  You can add salt if you want.

8. Pack in refrigerator or freezer proof containers.  I just kept the same rubbermaid I had used to make the butter.

9. You should be able to keep the butter, if frozen, for up to a year.

I Did It: Pao de Queijo

I already blogged about these rolls here (and the picture is actually better in the other post), but I made these this morning during a carb-crave.  I just wanted to say how easy these are!  I love that I don't have to wait for hours for a yeast bread to rise and I don't have to make the mess of biscuit or scone dough in order to get my carbs.  So easy, so fast, so flavorful. 

Check out my original post for the run-down on directions and cost.  See http://www.ourbestbites.com/ for the original recipe I used as well as for a plethora of other must-try's.

I Did It: Copy Cat Chili's Salsa



Don't you just love the salsa at Chili's? I do! I could make (and have made) a meal just from their chips and salsa.  Back when it was just $1.69 and $1.99.  Chips and salsa is still the cheapest appetizer on the menu, but the price just keeps going up.  I stumbled upon this recipe for a copy cat Chili's salsa on pinterest.  I browsed the blog it came from, and I was intrigued by more yummy-sounding recipes.  I've added several to my favorites, which is where I store all my new meal ideas for later use. 

I love this recipe because you buzz everything in a food processor until it's not very chunky at all - just the way I like it.  I suppose that, if you like a chunkier salsa, you could buzz it a little less and make it the consistency you like.

Over the weekend, I picked up a jumbo-giant can of diced tomatoes at Sam's Club for somewhere in the $2-$3 range, so I made 8 pints of this yummy salsa for basically what I would pay for one appetizer at the restaurant!

I tweaked about half of the ingredients in the following recipe.  I put my own comments in purple in the hope that you wouldn't be confused between the recipe and my comments.

Copy Cat Chili's Salsa

from http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/

2 cans (14.5 oz each) whole tomatoes, drained (I used the jumbo can of diced tomatoes and kept the liquid)

1 small (4 oz.) can diced or whole jalapenos (not pickled) -- about 4 or 5 jalapenos (I used the type of jalapenos that are sliced long-ways.  I used about 4 or 5 SLICES, not 4 or 5 jalapenos.  We like things fairly mild here.  The salsa I made has just a tiny tiny hint of heat.)

1/4 c. yellow onion, cut into quarters (You can also used dried minced onion.) (I used yellow onion and onion powder.)

1 tsp. garlic salt (I used garlic powder.)

1/2 to 1 tsp. salt (depending on how much you prefer) (I probably used less than 1/2 tsp.)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. lime juice (I might have used more.  I just juiced about 1/2 a lime into each batch I made.)

Place all of the ingredients together into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Serve with tortilla chips.

What Has Happened to Me?

I don't know what has happened, but I have become very bad at posting blog updates.  I haven't been couponing like I should, so I don't have any super-savings-stories to share.  I've been so out of the drug store game that I actually let an ECB expire a couple of weeks ago.  What's wrong with me? I guess my adventures in becoming a cheapskate have served their purpose, and the blogging has lost its magic for me.  I have so much going on in my life that it doesn't make sense anymore to try to blog just about couponing.  A friend suggested that I start a cooking blog, and I guess I might use this blog for that purpose now.  I am still into saving money, to the point that I can figure the approximate, if not exact, cost of the recipes I make.  I've done that quite a bit here, in posts I call Today's Cheapskate Meal.  I think I just may focus, here on wannabe cheapskate, on that part of my life more than on others.  I'll be posting every time I try a new recipe, and I may backtrack a little to share some new favorites and flops.

Back In The Drug Store Game!

Today's Frugal Dinner: Baked Potato Soup

Beautiful Bacon.  Sizzling away, 8 slices of bacon comprise the first step of this lovely soup.  Yes, I only have 7 slices in the pan.  I only had 7 slices left in the pack and wasn't willing to thaw the package in the freezer just for one slice.  (Plus I like to think that using 7 slices instead of 8 is somewhat cheapskate-y of me.)

While the bacon sizzles (and 4 or 5 potatoes cook in the microwave for 12 minutes), melt the butter in a large stock pot (I used my big Rachael Ray pot.) then add garlic.  Mix in the flour.  Then SLOWLY add  milk, whisking to help eliminate lumps.  Next, add in some chicken stock and KEEP WHISKING.  You want the soup to be super smooth.  This is the most labor-intensive step of this soup.  Good news, though: once this step is done, your soup is almost done.  When the soup is nicely smooth and thickening, the potatoes should be finished and ready to move on to the next step.

Cut open the potatoes and scoop the insides into the soup.  (I LOVE that I don't have to peel the potatoes for this soup.) Mash the potatoes a bit with a wooden spoon.  Stir in some cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, and some of that yummy bacon.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with more sour cream, green onions, cheddar, and bacon.  Or, if you are like my kids and have hang-ups about most of those items, just bacon.  (That reminds me, don't tell my Dianna that there is cheese in here.  She won't touch it if she knows, and she currently thinks I make "famous" potato soup.  I'd like to keep up the delusion that I'm a good cook.  And don't tell Jarod either, because he currently has a thing about "cooked" cheese.  If it's melty, he doesn't like it, apparently.  If we could just keep this between us, that would be great.  Thanks a heap.)

This recipe is amazing, and the girls at http://www.ourbestbites.com/ has certainly helped to make it not-so-bad-for-you.  I love their lower-fat twist to the soup.  I must admit that I used 2% milk not skim and I used full-fat sour cream instead of low-fat, because that's how I roll. (Really, I needed to buy a big container of sour cream to help make several recipes and the only big container was the regular version.)

Potato Bacon Soup

from http://www.ourbestbites.com/

8 slices of bacon, divided

4 or 5 potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 c. flour

4 1/2 c. milk

1 14 oz. can of chicken broth

2 c. grated cheddar (I used sharp.), divided

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 c. sour cream, divided

1/2 c. chopped green onions, divided

Cook 8 slices of bacon.  Crumble and set aside.

Wash the potatoes well, then poke them several times with a fork.  Microwave for 12 minutes, or until cooked through. (12 minutes is perfect in my microwave.)

In a large pot, melt the butter, then add the garlic.  Cook for several minutes, then add the flour, stirring well to combine.

Stir in the milk slowly, whisking constantly to make smooth.  Add the chicken broth and whisk until completely smooth.

Once the soup is smooth and beginning to thicken, turn the heat down.  Cut open the potatoes and use a spoon to scoop out the innards.  Use a wooden spoon to smash the potatoes a good bit. Add 1 1/2 c. cheese, 3/4 c. sour cream, 1/4 c. green onions, and 4 slices of crumbled bacon. 

That's it! The soup is ready to serve! Garnish with more cheese, sour cream, bacon, and green onions.

Let's talk price:
bacon - purchased at Sam's for $13.48 for 3 1/2 lbs. - $2.25
4-5 potatoes - purchased at Sam's for $3.98 for 10 lbs. - $1
2-3 cloves of garlic - purchased at Sam's for $4.72 for 48 oz. - $.10
1/2 c. flour - purchased at Sam's for $7.28 for 25 lbs. - $.05
4 1/2 c. milk - purchased at Sam's for $3.89 for 1 gal. - $1.09
14 oz. chicken broth - purchased at Publix on BOGO sale $2.59 for 2 (32 oz.) boxes - $.65
2 c. grated cheddar - purchased at Sam's for $3.98 for 2 lb. - $1.00
salt - $0.00
pepper - $.02 est.
1 1/2 c. sour cream - purchased at Publix for $2.59 for 24 oz. - $.86
green onions - purchased at Publix for $.60 for a bunch - $.08
Bread from the Publix bakery, because I just couldn't resist - $2.99
Tortilla chips - leftovers from lunch at Red Robin
Total cost for this meal: $10.09
We have enough leftovers to have a little snack tomorrow afternoon.  Or when up at 2:00 am with a hungry baby.  Plus there's enough bread for another 2 or 3 soup meals.

Tonight's Frugal Dinner - Talani's Famous Ham

This ham that Talani makes with leftovers is so ridiculously delicious that we gobbled it up before we could take a picture of it.  It may not be "famous" to the world, but we like it so much that it's definitely famous around our house. It's NOT a healthy meal, necessarily, but we like it anyway. 

Talani combines chopped up leftover spiral sliced ham (from Christmas dinner this time) with spicy brown mustard, brown sugar, and butter.  It just cooks until it's heated through and the sugar isn't grainy anymore.  Sometimes it's really saucy; tonight it was not.  Sometimes it's really sticky; tonight it was not.  It was wonderful.  We ate it with rice.  I had seconds.  And I don't regret it.  At all.

Talani's Famous Ham and Rice

about 2 c. leftover spiral-sliced glazed ham, chopped $3 (We bought our ham at $1.99/lb., and I'm estimating that we ate 1 1/2 lb.)

1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar $.05

3 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard $.23

2 Tbsp. butter $.16

2 c. rice $.25

Combine rice and 4 c. water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Rice will be done in approximately 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine ham, sugar, mustard, and butter.  Simmer and sizzle until heated through and the sugar isn't grainy anymore.

Total cost: $3.69

Today's Cheapskate DESSERT: Lime Meltaways

Oh my, I LOVE baking.  I can't believe it's taken me 34 years to figure out what a great hobby it is.  I always dreaded the clean up, I guess, and that kept me from trying too many things.  I have grasped the fact that clean up is part of the process, and that the process is captivating.  I get more relaxation from baking, I think, than even a nap.  (And I've always loved naps.) 
I've followed http://www.closetcooking.com/ on twitter for quite some time, enjoying the recipes, but feeling like they were out of my league.  I recently read the recipe for dark chocolate shortbread with fleur de sel, and I was intrigued.  I browsed his Kevin's blog a little bit and came across the recipe for lime meltaways.  WELL, if there's anything I'd like to snack on more than chocolate chunk cookies, it's lime cookies.  I have a special affinity for just about anything citrus.

I did make a couple of tweaks, but nothing major.  At least I hope it doesn't turn out to be major.  I'm only about half way done with the recipe as I type this portion of this post.

Lime Meltaways

1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature ($.94)

1/3 c. powdered sugar ($.12)

zest of 2 limes ($.67)

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (I used almond just because, and I was just shy of a tablespoon.) ($.21)

1 3/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour ($.30)

2 Tbsp. corn starch ($.05)

1/4 tsp. salt ($.00)

3/4 c. powdered sugar ($.27)

Total for the batch: $2.56

My batch made 3 dozen cookies.

Cream together butter and sugar.

Add lime zest and juice, vanilla (or almond) extract and beat well.

In a large bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, and salt.

Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Roll out the dough into a 1 1/4 inch log.

Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (I used the freezer for 30 minutes.)

Slice the dough into 1/4 inch pieces and place on a baking sheet 1 inch apart.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Let cook on a wire rack for 4 minutes.

Dredge in powdered sugar to coat.

Lime Meltaways in the cut-into-slices phase.

**UPDATE: The cookies are done, and they are different than I expected.  They are drier than I thought.  I was expecting really buttery meltiness, not crumbly meltiness.  They taste good - tart and sweet at the same time.  I'm somewhat disappointed to be honest.  I wonder if the lack of vanilla extract was my mistake?  I had thought I'd also try making the dark chocolate shortbread cookies linked above, but now I'm not sure I want to.   Oh, well.  Really, I like them.  I do.  But I'm afraid no one else will.  And I think they might be messy with their crumbli-ness.

The first pan of Lime Meltaways as a finished product. 

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Tortellini Sausage Soup

Okay, so a food photographer I am not.  This is 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage cooking up as the first step to creating this amazing soup.  (Can I just say that, as I type this, the soup is about halfway finished, and my house already smells amazing.  I can't wait for lunch.)

Some other ingredients I needed: parsley, basil, tomato puree, minced garlic, oregano, apple cider vinegar, beef broth, carrots (mine are matchsticks), zucchini (I bought several on sale, grated them up, and froze them in individual sized bags just for this purpose.), diced onion.  On the left side, you can see a tiny corner of a cookie sheet.  That cookie sheet is filled with breadsticks from an http://www.ourbestbites.com/ recipe, and they go great with this soup.  On the right hand side, you can see my laptop with this recipe.  I wonder how many times I'll make this soup before I'll have it memorized.  I've made it at least a dozen times and I'd still be lost after the brown-the-sausage-and-add-onions-and-garlic phase.

Before I go any further, I need to give props to Kate and Sara at http://www.ourbestbites.com/.  Seriously, I don't know what my family did for food before I stumbled upon this blog in the spring.  About half of what I make comes from this blog!  I wait anxiously for each new post, and I'm constantly adding their recipes to my "try these tasty eats" folder on my favorites.

I rarely vary from a recipes ingredients or steps, because I'm terrified of messing things up.  I can say, though, that I make several tweeks to this soup and haven't had disastrous results.

Tortellini Sausage Soup

3 links Italian sausage (I use 1/2 lb. bulk sausage) $1.50

4 cloves minced garlic ($.12)

1 onion, diced (I use 1/2 an onion because I don't care for a lot of onion, and I get to make the call since I'm the one cooking!) $.25

1/2 c. water (I usually use double this, since I like to make the soup really stretch.) $0

2 cans chicken broth (I use beef.) $1.29 (BOGO)

1/2 c. apple cider (I use 1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar.) $.10

1 16 oz. can diced tomato

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I use a 29 oz. can of tomato puree.  I don't like chunks of tomato.  Again, I get to make that kind of substitution cuz I'm the one cooking, and usually no one is the wiser.)  $1.89

1 c. sliced carrots ($.30)

1 tsp. dried basil ($.03)

1 tsp. dried oregano ($.03)

2 medium zucchini, grated (I use only about 1/2 of a zucchini.) $.50

8-10 oz. package frozen tortellini ($3.59)

2 Tbsp. dried parsley ($.18)

Total: $9.78.  That seems like a lot of money for one soup meal!  But it's oh-so-filling; I usually have leftovers for another meal or late night snack.  Plus, it's still MUCH cheaper than going out for a soup lunch at Olive Garden or Panera Bread.  I serve this with sprinkles of parmesan cheese and fresh breadsticks, which brings the total closer to $12 for the meal.  I'm okay with that, really.

Brown the sausage.  Drain fat if necessary. (I've never had enough to worry about draining.)

Add the onions and garlic, and cook just for a few minutes.

Add water, broth, cider or vinegar, tomatoes, carrots, basil, and oregano.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add zucchini and parsley.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add tortellini.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.

(I usually divide my soup into two parts before adding the pasta.  The grownups like tortellini, but the kids don't care for the cheese.  I take a portion of the soup, put it in another pot, and add some kind of fun little pasta shape (today it's wheels), and cook for 7 minutes. That way, they get what they like, and it's more tortellini for me!)