My Take on Paula Deen's Slow-Cooker Macaroni and Cheese!

This is basically Paula Deen's recipe, but I did change a few things around...

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (I like to use corkscrews or shells, and I use closer to 2 1/2 c.)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Small container sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Boil the macaroni in a large pot in plenty of water until tender, drain. Reduce heat to low/med. low, combine all other ingredients in the pot, mix well. Add the noodles and let simmer for a while (maybe 1-2 hrs?). Even better the next day!!

We're having this tonight with grilled porkchops, spinach, and grilled corn on the cob...yippee!!

Tortelini Soup--From Joanna

Joanna gave me this recipe today, and I made it for dinner tonight! Its very yummy...and very easy!
2 small packages of cheese tortelini
Hot Italian sausage
2 cans chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can RoTel tomatoes
Seasoning (basil, oregano, salt, pepper)
Boil the tortelini, brown the sausage, combine with the broth, tomatoes and seasoning.

Of course, I can't follow directions very well, so here's what I did: I boiled 1 'family size' pack of cheese tortelini; browned the sausage (removed from the casing...blech), removed the sausage from the pan and drained off the fat, then put it back on the heat and deglazed the pan with a little bit of the chicken broth (I used 1 box of broth instead of 2 cans) and the can of diced tomatoes. I let that mixture simmer for a few minutes, then put it in a large pot with the rest of the chicken broth, the tortelini, the sausage, and a can of diced tomatoes with basil and oregano. The sausage was already spicy enough for my taste, so I didn't want to add the RoTel! I let the soup simmer for a few minutes, then served with crusty bread. YUM!