Crockpot Pasta Fagioli Soup

This is one of those wonderful fix it and forget it type crock pot meals that are so important to me in my cooking arsenal.  It is a knock off of a soup from the Olive Garden that my family has always loved, and I am pretty sure you will love it too.  I usually prep everything for this the night before, so that in the morning all I have to do is place it all in the crock pot and walk out the door. After a 10 hour day at work, and temps in the -20’s, coming home to this is close to heaven!

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1 onion,  chopped

6 carrots shredded 

1 (28 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained (I like the italian flavored can)

1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed

1 (16 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed

3 (10 ounce) cans beef stock

3 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons basil

2 teaspoons pepper

a few good shakes of hot sauce (I use Tapatio)

1 (20 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

8 ounces  of a small shaped pasta, cooked but still slightly firm

1. Cook the ground beef, drain, and put in crock pot will all ingredients except the pasta.

2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Before serving add your cooked pasta.

I should add that I keep the pasta separate from my soup, and only add it individually to each portion. When you freeze or refrigerate the leftovers, the pasta gets mushy and the soup gets really thick.  I just take it to work every day in two separate containers, and then add the pasta after I warm the soup. This makes a huge pot of soup(7-8 servings), and it come out to 6 P+ on the new Weight Watchers plan.

Today I am grateful for the tulips and daffodils showing up at the grocery stores. It must mean that Spring is just around the corner, right?

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Menu Monday

Back to our normal Monday scheduling, okay. Michael was out-of-town last week,  so there was lots of cold cereal and left overs. Easy week, and almost no dishes. Kind of nice for a change!

Mon: Chicken with balsamic onions, roasted potatoes, and green onions.

Tue: Pasta Fagioli, green salad, and grilled cheese

Wed: Chicken Alfredo ( seriously light version that has great reviews) broccoli

Th: Chicken Pot Pie and green salad

Fri: BBQ chicken sandwich and fruit

Today I am thankful for the close proximity of 4 grocery stores.  When we lived in LA even though there were multiple stores within 5 miles it always took a whole lot longer that it should to get to them, and there was never any parking. Now it is so easy to run to the store for milk, just another reason I LOVE living here in Colorado!

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Menu Monday

Another Monday, another menu. Last week went great, made what was planned every night and had a great meal on the table with minimal stress!

Mon: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup w/ grilled cheese

Tue: Turkey Breast in the Crockpot w/ carrots and potatoes

Wed: Crockpot Lasagna w/ leftover soup for the tomato sauce, green salad

Th: Turkey and Dumplings w/ green beans

Fri: Meatloaf, brown rice, and green salad

Gratitude thought for the day: “I am grateful for the snow falling outside. It is so peaceful and beautiful, I am so enjoying sitting here in front of the fireplace watching in fall. It is always one of those moments where I think God is telling us to slow down and enjoy this moment. There are always fewer people out and about, kind of like the world was put on pause. I’d be really grateful if we got a snow day out of it tomorrow!

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Beef Stew Recipe

In keeping with my resolution of living with intention this year, that must also carry over to my body. I am doing Weight Watchers because I had excellent success with it before and need the motivation and accountability again to get back to a healthy lifestyle.  The following recipe is delicious and filling for very few points. When put it in the crock pot in the morning, you have an excellent dinner ready for you when you walk in the door later that night.

Beef Stew

1 carton of Beef broth ( I always go with the low sodium kind)

1 large can of crushed tomatoes (about 3 cups)

4 red potatoes chopped

6 carrots chopped

1 onion diced

1 1/4 pounds of london broil trimmed of all visible fat

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp rosemary, 1 bay leaf, a few glugs of Worcestershire sauce

1. Cut up your london broil and throw it in a large ziplock with your flour. Shake it around evenly coating the meat, then pour it into a skillet with 1 TB of olive oil. Sear on all sides over medium high hear, this should just take about 5 minutes and will lock in the jucies.

2. Pour all ingredients into crock pot on low heat for 4-6 hours. If you do not have a crock pot stove top will work just fine, just be sure to cook long and slow, this will ensure your meat gets nice and tender. Enjoy!

Divide into 8 servings, 4 PointsPlus per serving

Daily Gratitude thought: I am grateful for my kitchen in my Colorado house, that is about 4 times bigger than the one I had in California. When I start to complain about my lack of a pantry or storage in this kitchen , I just need to remember where I came from and what God has blessed me with here. So much more room, and a counter so that I could finally get my lovely kitchen aid mixer Ginger (yes, I did name her Ginger, we spend a lot of time together!)

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Menu Monday

Planning a menu every weekend is my number one successful way to get a good healthy dinner on the table every night with minimal stress.  I plan a minimum of 5 meals, and I always have enough staples in my freezer/pantry for a couple of basic ones as well. I write a list and do all of my shopping on Saturday or Sunday, and then try to do most of my prep over the weekend as well.  This way, when I get home from work or the gym, everything I need for the night is already thawed out and/or chopped and ready to go.  It eliminates a lot of stress when I get home late, and it also saves a lot of money at the grocery store. When I menu plan I write a list for only the items I need for the week, there is no need to stray from it because everything is already planned out. This really cuts out on a lot of extra unnecessary stuff in the cart. So without further explanation, here is this weeks menu.

Sun: Fish Tacos from Cooking Light with black beans

Mon: Beef Stew in the crock pot w/ whole wheat rolls and green salad ( I have pre-cut all the veggies for this and already seared the meat, so in the morning all I have to do is throw it all in the crock pot)

Tue: Grilled Shrimp Fajitas w/ a roasted corn and black bean salad ( all these veggies are also already cut up and in a ziplock in the fridge, and on Tuesday morning I will put the shrimp in marinade so they just have to be grilled when I get home)

Wed: Michael’s 31st birthday, he is undecided what he wants

Th: Oven ‘Fried’ Chicken w/ mashed potatoes and green beans

Fri: General Tso’s Chicken over brown rice and stir fried veggies

Sat: Pork Tenderloin w/ an apple ginger and brown sugar sauce over brown rice

I will post some of these recipes after I make them if they are any good. Lots of new ones this week!

Daily thought of gratitude: I am so very thankful for my husband Michael, cliché maybe, but so very true. Even at my worst, the man still loves me, and that is saying a lot!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Kenny G’s Christmas album is filling my house with the music of the season, and I am going all out in the kitchen.  Following is what we will be enjoying with friends later this afternoon, I hope that you are blessed with great friends and good food today as well!

Appetizer- Baked Brie w/ Apple Compote served with Champagne

Salad- Roasted Kabocha Squash over fresh greens w/ sherry vinaigrette

Dinner- Freshly brined turkey, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole with a pecan and brown sugar crust, green bean casserole, creamed spinach with parsnips, homemade honey yeast rolls, cranberry walnut bread, and a blackberry cranberry sauce served with a Pinot Noir

Dessert- Apple Tart Tatin served with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and coffee

It is going to be amazing!

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Thanksgiving eats

Here are a couple of links for some recipes that I am looking at sharing at my Thanksgiving table. What do you think, have you tried any of the following?

This recipe for baked brie sounds divine. Creamy brie in puffed pastry with a lovely apple compote. There are some interesting exchanges in the comments about the need to cut off the brie’s rind. I am in the camp that it must be cut off, I HATE it. Even after baking, I think it must be removed. Annie says it is unnecessary, but in my house it is a necessity.

These cheese and herb rolls sounds amazing, and I can just imagine how delish a turkey sandwich will be on one of these later that night or the next day.  Annie also serves them with these cute little flavored butters, which just elevates the whole thing!

This apple tarte tatin will be appearing. I think that I may do a trial run of it this weekend since it is a bit of an intimidating process.

A batch of these honey yeast rolls with also appear at my table. I think I may actually make them this weekend since we have company and soup is on the menu. They will freeze well until Thanksgiving (if they make it until then).

A couple of ideas I am flirting around with for the holidays, whatever I trial run this weekend or next I will report back so that you can add them to your menu as well.

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Menu Monday

Ooops, it seems that I may have let this slide a little bit, but never fear it is back. Michael and I have both been out-of-town quite a lot lately, so there has not been a lot of normalcy in our evenings. Luckily things should be returning to normal now, so this post will be appearing every Monday.

Monday: Chicken Soft Tacos w/green salad

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Burgers w/ mac and cheese (Chicken will be done in the slow cooker, so it is ready when we get home!)

Wednesday: Bacon, onion, and swiss quiche w/ green salad, rolls, and fresh fruit.

Thursday: Hamburgers w/ roasted sweet potatoes

Friday: CU Buffs basketball game

Saturday: CU Buffs Football game Pasta Fajioli in the crock pot for dinner

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Menu Monday

Better a day late then not at all, right?

Monday: Steaks on the BBQ, ceasar salad, and twice baked potatoes

Tuesday: French Onion Soup w/ Gruyere and Sharp Cheddar Grilled Cheese

Wednesday:  Pesto Tortellini w/ chicken and grape tomatoes, green salad

Thursday: Garlic Chicken Stir fry over brown rice

Friday: We will be in Boulder for the Stampede, will grab something downtown

Saturday: Football game!! Go CU!

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Menu Monday

I menu plan every Sunday based on sales at local stores, fresh produce, and what I have in my fridge and freezer. Menu planning helps the evenings go so much more smoothly, and there is never that last-minute what is for dinner panic. This way the night before I get out whatever meat needs to thaw overnight, I will prep whatever I can before hand as well, so that I can get dinner on the table as quick as I can when I walk in the door after work.

Mon: Cooking Light’s Baked Potato Soup, caesar salad, and biscuits

Tue: Sloppy Joes on whole wheat buns and baked acorn squash. M and I have never had Sloppy Joes, so we thought we should give them a try. I am not sure how they will go over, will report back next week.

Wed: Shrimp Enchiladas w/ creamy green sauce, black beans, and green salad.

Th: Chicken Gyros w/ greek salad

Fri: Chicken Pot Pie, green beans, and biscuits

Sat: BBQ Steaks w/ bleu cheese and balsamic vinegar reduction , baked potatoes, and green salad

I will also be baking a loaf of banana bread and pumpkin bread for snacks/lunches throughout the week

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