Mmmm . . . Mmmm . . . Minestrone

I'd rather be stitchin' than in the kitchen. -Unknown

But since the people who live in my house routinely insist they are hungry {like three times a day, every day}, I find myself in the kitchen kind of a lot. We have lots of picky eaters at our house. The Little Bugs have a problem with anything that doesn't taste like pepperoni pizza. But we can't cater to them all the time. So we eat other things. I'm kind of picky too, though. Mainly I have a problem with anything that doesn't taste good. Vegetables, for the most part, fall into that category. So, I like to find ways to cleverly disguise them as something that does not taste like a vegetable. Mr. Bug, who is not a picky eater, tries to convince me that vegetables are good for you. I'm not sure if I believe it. But just in case, I try to eat them at least once a week.

Minestrone

8 cups water*
3 tablespoons beef bouillon crystals {or 9 bouillon cubes}
or for dairy-free, use 6 – 14.5 oz. cans of beef broth instead of water and bouillon
1 {28 oz.} can crushed tomatoes in puree
1 {15 oz.} can kidney beans
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon onion salt
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon pepper
Pinch of sugar
½ cup butter or butter substitute
½ head cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped
3 red potatoes, scrubbed & diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup broken egg noodles
Parmesan cheese

• In an 8-quart stock pot, combine water, bouillon, tomatoes, kidney beans, Italian seasoning, garli salt, onion salt, basil, thyme, petter and sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat; simmer.
• Melt butter in a 10" skillet. Add cabbage, carrots, onion and mushrooms and sauté until the vegetables are soft.
• Meanwhile, add potatoes, celery, zucchini, squash and broccoli to the ingredients simmering in the stock pot. When the vegetables in the skillet are ready, add them to the vegetables and broth in the stock pot.
• Add broken noodles and simmer until the noodles are cooked, about 30 minutes. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 12

Notes:
• This goes great with a slice of {100% whole wheat} bread and {real} butter and some watermelon chunks {check out this awesome tutorial that makes quick work of cutting up a watermelon}.
• This makes a HUGE pot of soup. Since we have a small family, I divide it into thirds and freeze two parts of it for later. If you are going to freeze this, leave out the potatoes and noodles {they don't freeze well} and divide it before you simmer the soup. Add the potatoes and noodles to the part you did not freeze {and will be eating for dinner} and then simmer. Do the same for the soup you froze, after you've defrosted it and plan to serve it.