As I have mentioned before, I love making meals with enough leftovers for the next day. I figure that if I am going through the trouble and mess of cooking something, I may as well make a lot of it, especially with having a three month old and not as much time to cook. I often double my baking recipes and if I am making a meal I usually make enough for our family to have twice. I have made many soups and usually stick to my Mixed Bean Garden Vegetable Soup recipe, but I wanted to try something a little different this time around, a minestrone soup. With a little bit of Italian spices, garlic and some whole wheat macaroni, this soup turned out to be a perfect Italian minestrone.

Italian Minestrone Soup

We all enjoy soup with homemade bread warm from the oven, especially during the colder months. This is a nice hearty soup made with vegetables, whole wheat macaroni and red kidney beans. The addition of Italian spices gives it a little extra flavor and makes for a little different soup experience.

Makes one large pot of soup, feeds my family of four for two meals. Make half the recipe if you need less soup.

Ingredients

• 8 cups water
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 5 ribs celery, diced
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into coins
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1 (796ml) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (156ml) can tomato paste
• 3 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 2 round tablespoons of vegetable bouillon powder
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 (540ml) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat macaroni

Directions

Bring the 8 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Add the onion, celery, carrots and frozen green beans and boil for 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, pressed garlic, spices, salt and pepper and return to a boil. Finally, add the beans and the macaroni and boil for an additional 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the noodles are cooked and the vegetables have softened. Serve with homemade bread and margarine.