Soup! Soup!

Wow! Two posts in one day. Crazy right! LOL!

Well I thought I would let you in on another fabulous recipe that I'm trying today for the first time... Pasta Fagioli Soup. With one kid sick today and another looking like shes about to get sick and a husband who is trying to lose weight, what the heck do you make for dinner? Soup!

Can I just say, I love soup! There is nothing more comforting on a cold day or when your not feeling well than a hearty bowl of soup. I grew up eating mostly Progresso soup out of the can. Now nothing against soup out of a can but it just doesn't stretch that far. To feed a family of four you need a couple of cans of soup at least. When you make your own soup, you can have leftovers for days that just keep tasting better and better everyday. Though I don't think that this soup, like my Chicken Tortilla Soup will last very long. It smells great and I so can't wait to taste it.

You know me, I never make a recipe without making some alterations first. I used what I had on hand. Improvisation can be a fantastic thing!

Here is my version of Pasta Fagioli Soup! (Total Cost: about $3.00)

3/4 C browned ground beef (this is more ground beef from my stash that I mentioned the other day), $0.59
1/4 medium onion chopped, negligible
3 cloves of garlic chopped, negligible
1/2 C carrots chopped, probably about $0.10 (I bought a 2lb bag on sale for $1.00)
1 15oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes (sniff sniff, my last can!), $0.98
1 15oz can white kidney beans or cannelini beans, $0.50 purchased on sale
3 pkts beef bouillon(Sodium Free Herbox variety), $0.48
3 C water, negligible
2 C homemade marinara sauce, FREE!!! (How can this be free? Well I factored the cost into a dinner from another night. And this is what was leftover. Nice huh!)
1/2 T Texas Pete, negligible (I purchased a Costco sized bottle at the commissary for about $1.50)
1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt, negligible
1/4 tsp pepper, negligible
1/4 C dry pasta (I used Barilla Picollini Penne), $0.13 (purchased on sale for $1.00/box. 1/4 C is about 1/8 of a box)

Add your browned ground beef to the crockpot.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and garlic. Add it to the crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans (didn't rinse my beans...bad Kristi!), and add them. Add the whole can of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef bouillon and water. Add the salt, pepper, and Texas Pete. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.

Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.

Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you have it.

I'm going to serve this tonight with some homemade yeast rolls. Yum!

Warning: Do not try the yeast roll recipe. You will find yourself addicted to it. It makes a ton of rolls and can be used in many ways. I used it to make pizza dough the other day. Do not make rolls and eat them with strawberry jam and butter. Do not make them into bread sticks and brush with melted butter and garlic powder. Do not use as hamburger buns. I beg you! These are not good with your morning coffee.

ENJOY!