Minestrone Soup and Sickness

I've got a cold (nothing a little mucinex and ny quil won't cure)...today it seems to be going away.  Yesterday, though, I felt pretty run down and exhausted.  I pretty much made a late breakfast (we just warmed up the left over puffy pancakes), went grocery shopping, made minestrone soup, and then resumed "the position" on the couch for the remainder of the day and night.

Over the last two weeks of my Christmas/New Years break from school, I've spent a majority of the time in the kitchen cooking.
Tres Leches Cake
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Peanut Brittle
Mile High Enchilada Pie
Ground Beef Enchiladas
Overnight French Toast
Meatballs and cream sauce
Dinner rolls
Puff Pastries
Puffy Pancakes
Greek Salad
Hungarian Goulash
Ham and Bean Soup
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Chicken Pot Pie
Challah
Creme Brulee
Steak Marinade
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but that's all that comes to mind.

Last night, I threw in the towel.  I dragged myself off of the couch around 5:00 after I had woken up from an hour nap (it was glorious...until I was woken up by my HH) and into the kitchen I went.  I think it's the first time in a while that I've walked into the kitchen dreading doing anything.  I leaned over my cook books and then wearily, I looked at my HH and said, "I can't do it tonight.  Can we just have pizza?" and my wish was granted.  Steve put the pizza in the oven and I dragged my tired self back to the couch.

So today my post will be about the minestrone soup I made.  I love minestrone soup.  It's so flavorful and chalk full of veggies, it's hard not to enjoy eating this soup.  Of course, my HH helped me cut up all the veggies, so that made some time go by faster.  It takes about an hour and a half to two hours to fully prepare this soup, but the time spent is well worth it.  I hope you enjoy it like we did.  This is going to be a great soup to eat at lunch this week.

Minestrone Soup

2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5 cups beef broth
2 cups chopped tomatoes or 1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
2 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
1 cup fresh sliced carrots
2 tsp dried basil or Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
1 cup cut fresh green beans
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup uncooked pasta- your choice  (I used something I already had in our pantry)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a soup pot (large), saute the onion, celery, parsley, and garlic in oil until tender.  Stir in the broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, cabbage, carrots, basil, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for an hour.

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside.  Stir into soup, along with the zucchini, beans, and pasta.  Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables and pasta are tender.  Top each serving with parmesan cheese.

All the veggies...

 All the canned beans, sauces, broth, and pasta

 Onion, garlic, and celery in the oil

 Steve chopping the veggies for me.

 Adding in the cabbage

 The rest of the stuff-beans, zucchini....

 Simmering in the pot

 Cooking the meat...

 All of it added in...waiting on the veggies and pasta to soften

 Ready to eat!

 MMM...parmesan cheese!

I had this with a helping of my challah bread.  It was a wonderful lunch, which was just what I needed to replenish my poor tired body.

Happy cooking!

What makes you feel better when you're feeling sick and run down?