Thankful for Soup Season?

Thanksgiving is in TWO DAYS. Wtf? It was Labor Day weekend, like, yesterday. It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving Eve Eve. Sure, it's busy at work with Thanksgiving orders, and it's cold November raining outside (not literally), but without a long holiday weekend, it's still surreal. I didn't take Friday off so I'm pretty jealous that Brent is heading into a nice long weekend and I'll be working Friday like a chump.

Brent and I celebrated our seven year anniversary last week (another indicator that time is fuh-lying). Was it just seven years ago that I was eating PB&J's with my bridesmaids while the videographer recorded every last second in an 8 hour video we'll never actually watch? Was it just eleven years ago that Brent and I spent our first Thanksgiving together in New Hampshire and I endeared myself to his crazy uncles - uncles I'll be seeing Thursday who will be every bit as nuts as that first meeting?

Side (topical) rant: when did everyone start hating on turkey? I get it, it's certainly no one's first choice, but now all of a sudden anyone you talk to is like, I don't like turkey, Thanksgiving food sucks, blah blah blah. I'm all for a Thanksgiving change-up, but I'm so over the trend where hating on things becomes the norm. Fall is ripe for the haters: everyone rags on pumpkin spice, Thanksgiving and Christmas music, but these are a few of my favorite things (appropriately timed, of course). The tendency to hate on popular things and dampen the collective holiday spirit has gone too far. It's Thanksgiving and I'm going to eat my weight in dry turkey, damn it!

Even though the recipe I'm sharing today isn't traditional Thanksgiving, it's perfect for fall. I always want to love soup season, mainly b/c I love the alliteration, but soup isn't my fave, TBH. It never fills me up and it makes me pee even more often. This soup, though, is a winner. It's packed with meat and pasta, so you're not hungry immediately after eating three bowls. It also makes even better leftovers and is a cinch to throw together in the slow cooker. You won't be worrying about the turkey shortage  for Thursday when you're slurping up seconds of this.

Slow Cooker Chorizo and Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

1lb chorizo
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced (or two handfuls of baby carrots, diced)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon rosemary 
1 bag of spinach

1 8-10 oz bag of cheese tortellini 

Salt and pepper to taste
24oz water (or as much soup as you'd like)

Instructions:
-Sauté garlic and onions and brown chorizo (you can skip this step, but it adds a lot of flavor)

-Add chorizo, garlic, onions, carrots and herbs to the slow cooker. Sprinkle on salt and pepper and add water.

-Cook 6-8 hours on low.

-Half an hour before eating, boil water and cook tortellini. Add the spinach and tortellini and stir until the spinach is wilted.

-Taste and season if needed. Turn off slow cooker and let cool unless you want to burn the shit out of your mouth.