Minestrone Soup

Lately, I've been craving a delicious bowl of Minestone Soup. But, I'm picky about my minestrone. It can't be too spicy, must have meat in it (I know, I'm weird), not too many beans, and the list goes on.

I've been looking recently for a recipe online that suits my needs. I finally found one on Skinnytaste, one of my FAV blogs (look it up, you'll love it).

The best part about this recipe? It uses my favorite kitchen appliance.

My crock pot.

Sorry, KitchenAid mixer.

The fact that I can throw this together in the morning and I come home to a house that smells like an Italian villa makes my heart sing. I DID change a couple small things in the recipe, but overall, it was wonderful to begin with.

Rinse and drain a can of white beans (I used cannellini). If you're not too fond of beans, puree them with a cup of chicken broth in a blender.

Chop up carrots, celery, onion, and garlic cloves.

Brown a pound of beef and drain.

In the crock pot, combine the beef, broth, diced tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

Add 1/2 cup of Worchestershire sauce and 1 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.

Add in a rosemary sprig, 2 tbsp of basil, a chunk of a parmesan rind, and a couple of bay leaves.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.

Your house will smell amazing.

Promise.  :)

10 minutes before serving, cook 2 cups of pasta according to directions, drain, add to soup.

Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top with parmesan cheese when served.

Enjoy!

The one thing about this soup...it make A LOT. Soooo, next time, I think I shall half the recipe. Cuz, I must emphasize, it makes a TON of soup!

Minestrone Soup

(adapted from Skinnytaste blog)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb ground beef

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed

3 cups fat free chicken broth

1 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used garlic seasoned)

1/2 cup Worchestershire sauce

1 oz chunk of Parmesan cheese rind

1 rosemary sprig

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp fresh basil

1 1/2 tbsp oregano

1/4 cup parsley (sounds like a lot, it's okay, I promise)

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of pasta, macaroni elbows or ditalini (al dente)

extra parmesan cheese to top

Rinse and drain a can of white beans (I used cannellini). If you're not too fond of beans, puree them with a cup of chicken broth in a blender.

 Chop up carrots, celery, onion, and garlic cloves.

Brown the beef and drain.

In the crock pot, combine the beef, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

 Add Worchestershire sauce and tomato sauce.

 Add in a rosemary sprig, basil, parmesan rind, and bay leaves.

 Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.

 10 minutes before serving, cook pasta according to directions, drain, add to soup.

Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top with parmesan cheese when served.

Enjoy!

Oh Christmas tree, ohhhhh Christmas tree....

Matt and I had a "Whoville-ish" moment while picking out a tree for my parents, one thing led to another, and suddenly we are putting up our first Christmas tree in the living room!

I love it!

It's a little half-pint tree, as our space is very limited.

But it's perfect, and cute!

I went to Target the next day and picked up some ornaments; I had sooooo much fun decorating!! Aaaand, needless to say, I may have gone a lil' overboard on the lights....eee!

Journey to the tree..... :-)

Lil' bright, maybe??

Ahhh, the perfect tree!

This was our perfect tree (the one in front)....

Matt's mom gave this to me a few years ago, and I was so excited to be able to hang it up this year! I love my little ballerina, she spins when you pull a string and the ornament sings different Nutcracker songs.

Back up people.

Watch out for the pros....we womenfolk stayed out of this, let them handle that one.

The thing you need to understand about my family...putting up a tree is no small task. It takes precision, perserverance, and lots and LOTS of time.

Yeah.

("Tradition!!!!")

My dad has always been a little bit "over-the-top" with the stringing of lights. He must, and I do mean MUST, go in and out of E-VER-Y branch. No joke.

Fire hazard? Yes.

Takes a freakin' week to do? Hoooly hell, YES.

Beautiful though??? YES!

My favorite job was to unravel all of the lights (ya know, only about 550 strands) for him as he put them up. He's become more efficient as the years passed, buuuuuut it's still a two person job if it's going to get done anytime soon....

When we got home, I immediately HAD to decorate the tree, nevermind that it was almost midnight...well, okay it wasn't midnight when we got home, but since we had to tear the house apart to make room, ahem, it got late very fast. 

There may or may not have been a bookcase that was broken in the process of arranging this tree....erm, yah.  Chevy Chase ain't got nothin' on us.

But, it all came together in the end (not to toot my own horn but...toot!!). I think the tree is sooo pretty!

This is me having fun with camera settings...thank you, Pinterest, thank you.

And thank YOU to Target for our cute ornaments!

And Hallmark....

More camera setting experimentation... :-)

For a Good Cause

Primary Children's Medical Center is one of the best children's hospitals in the county. They have cutting-edge technology and since it's part of the University of Utah Medical & Research community, they are constantly updating on procedures and equipment. Both my brother and I were treated many times at that hospital, and the doctors and staff are wonderful to work with. They make sure that the environment is as "home-y" and comfortable for the kids as possible.

Seeing as how large the medical facililty is, they do many fundraisers each year to raise money for research, new equip, etc. One of the longest traditions and one of the biggest money producers is the Festival of Trees. My family has attended this every year, and this December was no exception.

People in the community decorate and donate Christmas trees to the festival (sometimes there are lots of presents included). Then, they auction off all the trees and put them on display for four days. That's where my family comes in. We get to go see all of the beautiful trees! They have groups (singing, dancing, school groups) come and perform in the expo so you have carols playing constantly. They also have a section of donated wreaths, small trees, playhouses, and my personal favorite, gingerbread houses! Oh, and did I mention they sell the most wonderful and delicious scones you've ever had????  ;)

This year, I made sure to take my camera and get lots of pictures of the trees. It was so hard to choose a favorite, they were all wonderful and so creative!

P.S. I apologize for the length of this post, I promise, 85% of it is just pictures. :)

(Click on an image to see a slideshow)

A very "beary" Christmas!

There's always a U of U tree. Love. Go Utes!

"...Wherever there is fun, there's Always Coca-Coooola!"

Who doesn't love a motorcycle tire tree??

My dad was all over this one.

Christmas in Paris! I think next year, the French should do this to the real one. Yup.

Some of the trees have pictures and stories attached of people/children who have either been treated at PCMC or have somehow been affiliated with the hospital.  And some have been decorated in memory of a specific person. I loved this one.

This one was very creative, "Season's Treetings."

Okay, I said I couldn't choose a favorite. I did. 

This was the winner this year. "'Up' on the Housetop."

Uhhh, can ya tell it was my favorite? I only took about 75 pictures of it....yeah, the people behind us looooved me.

This one was one of those where I have to just walk away, or I'll cry. This one was called "He's Finished His Race." It was in memory of a little boy named Logan.

A Minnie Mouse tree

And I love this one. It was donated for a soldier and his family. Makes me thankful that mine's home for good.

A SnOoPy tree! Eeee!

And we HAD to go through the gingerbread village!

First stop, the Weasley's Burrow from Harry Potter.

"Tangled," anyone?? This was one of my favorites (again, please note the number of pictures...). I loved how the prince was actually suspended.

Beehive pride! Go Utah!

Tee hee, I started laughing when I saw this one. Love it! Shout out to the East coast!

Aaaaaand, dun dun dun DUN! The finale. This same organization does a couple every year, and they are works of ART. Last year, it was an amusement park, and this year, the Capitol and Madagascar.
A-MAZING!

All edible, can you believe it?!?!

Took a time-out for some family pics. :)