Pasta e Fagioli Soup

It has been raining off and on for about a week here in Waco and frankly, I'm sick of it! We don't really have a fall season here in central Texas, but the weather is so nice and cool and usually very sunny. I miss that weather. If I can't have the beautiful foliage that Tennessee in the fall offers, I should at least get to enjoy the sun! What really stinks is that our back yard turns into a pool when it rains constantly, so we have to keep part of the yard blocked off so the dogs don't drag in all kinds of mud. What I am getting at is that even though this weather is stinky, it's perfect weather to make soup! I love, love, love this soup. It's so hearty and delicious. This recipe came from crockpot365.blogspot.com aka the Crockpot Lady's website and it's a crockpot version of Olive Garden's soup. So if you're having a rainy cold weather week drag out your crockpot and make this soup!


--1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
--1/2 large red onion, chopped
--1 cup carrots, chopped
--2 celery stalks, sliced
--2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
--1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
--4 cups beef broth (check label for gluten!)
--1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
--2 tsp oregano
--1 T tabasco sauce
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time

The Directions.


Brown the meat and drain well. Let it cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

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.

(P.S. I copied the ingredient list and directions from the website!)

Because there's not enough pictures of my dogs on this blog

Stephanie took this picture of Roxy while she was visiting. I think she looks a little like Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda. By the way, if you haven't seen that movie, you need to. It changed my life. (J/K)

Crockett is getting so big! He's still smaller than Roxy and I think he's about done growing. His dad was small and I kind of hope he stays this way!

Frequently we fing Roxy "hiding" under the beds or bedskirts. Sometime just her face or nose is covered up.

I bought these adorable (and cheap!) Halloween t-shirts for the dogs at Target. This is Crockett reaction every time I put it on him. He mopes around as if he's being punished.

I took this picture when I first bought the shirts before Crockett could get depressed about it. Roxy actually really likes hers.

Rebecca and Stephanie come to visit!

The week of September 11th my two best friends of all time came to visit me! Stephanie drove from Jackson, Tennessee to Tulsa, Oklahoma to pick Rebecca up and then they drove down to Waco. We had such a good time eating, hanging out, playing the Wii, and traveling to San Antonio and Schlitterbahn.

Rebecca hanging her head in defeat.

Steph and I got pretty competitive while playing Harry Potter.

I kicked both of their butts in Mario Kart.

At the Alamo! It rained the whole way to San Antonio and the whole day there. We couldn't even take the Riverboat ride since it was shut down due to the weather.

I had to take a picture of Crockett Street.

This was above the Mexican restaurant we ate lunch at. The food was sooooo good and I love their salsa!

We finally made it to Schlitterbahn! That was after Erik met us in Round Rock because somehow I put our tickets in the trash at my house. I am no longer in charge of tickets!

On the tram between the sections of the park.

Rebecca and Steph I'm so glad you guys came to see me! I wish the weather (and my attitude) had been more pleasant, but next year will be even better!