Wedding No. 2 and Yummy Soup!

I am gearing up for another big wedding weekend!  My very dear friend, Christa Keim, is getting married this weekend and I am one of two matrons of honor!  What fun!  Christa, with all her talents in fine arts, has put together a dinner theater style wedding.   We are in for a fun and original wedding ceremony and I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Yesterday I stayed at home to get my laundry done and my house under control.  Today and the rest of the weekend are devoted to helping Christa out however I can.

One of my responsibilities for today is to take lunch to everyone working at setting up the church.  I made a huge batch of  my favorite soup:

Italian Vegetable Soup:

1 lb.  ground beef

1 cup diced onion

1 cup sliced celery

1 cup sliced carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can (16 oz.) tomatoes

1 can (16 oz. ) tomato sauce

1 can (16 ox.) red kidneys beans, undrained

2 cups water

5 tsp. beef bouillon granules

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. salt, optional

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup macaroni

Brown Beef and drain.  Add the next 14 ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.  Add cabbage, beans and macaroni, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer until vegetables are tender.  Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.  Serves about 12.

My notes:  I use whole wheat pasta, I leave out the garlic and sometimes I leave out the green beans.  The recipe card says that one serving is 152 calories and 4 gm fat, if anyone is interested in that.

Who wouldn’t want to dig into a steaming hot bowl of this on a crisp fall evening?