Soup's On...

Hey y'all, today I am going to switch gears away from the sweets. Today's entry is dedicated to Estelle, Maggie's 2nd grade teacher. She wrote me on Monday asking me to please make the recipes healthier, bless her heart she didn't grow up here. Wait until I tell her how vegetables really should be cooked. So today's recipe is for a soup that I made recently for the teacher's luncheon at Maggie's school. Maybe Estelle was just trying to make me feel good, but she asked for this recipe.

I do have to give proper recognition to the person who first gave this recipe to me, Rose Lane. Growing up I spent as much time at my house as I did at Rose Lane's. When I got married she passed this recipe along to me, and I can honestly say it is one of our favorites during the cold months. Try switching up some of the veggies in it. I usually just add whatever is already in the fridge.

When I make this, I make it in my Crock Pot. Let me stop here and tell you about one of the best inventions EVER for the Crock Pot....Slow Cooker Liners by Reynolds. You simply put one of these bad boys in your pot before turning it on, throw your ingredients in, stir, put the lid on and walk away. I know you are dying to know why these are so fab, so here it is....after you eat your delish meal all you have to do is pull the liner out and throw it away! Hello y'all less time scrubbing the pot means more time on Facebook!

So here is the pot-full of love recipe....enjoy! xoxox

Quick Minestrone

Saute the following in a little oil:
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed basil leaves

Put the following into Crock Pot:
2 cans Bean with Bacon soup
3 soup cans of water
1 can beef broth
1 16oz can tomatoes (undrained)
1 cup cabbage, cut in long thin strips
1 cup cubed zucchini
1 chopped carrot

Stir the above together until smooth and add in the sauteed onions, celery, garlic and basil.

Cook on low for 8 hours. 30 minutes before you want to serve, add in 1/2-3/4 cup small pasta, like Orzo.

Please note with the addition of pasta to this, the soup thickens up. Obviously the more pasta you add the thicker the soup. Additionally, the last time I made this, I started it at 11pm the night before I needed it, and just cooked it on low all night. The house smelled fabulous when I got up the next morning and the soup was done. I felt like my day was off to a great start!

Hope y'all enjoy this, hurry and make it before the weather gets to warm! xoxox