Minestrone

This is what I used to make my first ever pot of minestrone soup.  Next time I will not use 1 1/2 cups of pasta.  By the time the pasta had fully cooked and the soup sat in the pot, it had absorbed too much of the liquid.  I like the broth on soups so I added an additional 2 cups of water plus 2 tsp. of chicken bouillon granules.

This makes 4 quarts.

MINESTRONE

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 small carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, sliced

1 can kidney beans

1 can great northern beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can green beans

4 T. tomato puree

¾ cup frozen peas

2 cups fresh baby spinach

Dried parsley

Garlic powder

½ tsp. fennel seeds

1 ½ cups penne regate pasta

2 cups water

3 tsp. chicken bouillon powder

Sweat onion, celery, and carrots until almost done.  Add undrained beans and remaining ingredients except pasta.  Simmer until spinach and peas are tender.

Add pasta and cook until pasta is desired consistency.

***Pasta can be cooked separately and added to soup.  You can store the soup and add pasta as you need to use.  That way the broth won't be totally absorbed into the pasta.

Ranch Chicken Mac and Cheese

I found this recipe on the macaroni and cheese box.  It's really good!  I chopped a large Roma tomato and left out the green onions since I don't care for them.

To me, boxed mac and cheese is kind of dry.  The Shur-fine brand is the best I've ever used.  It's much less expensive than Kraft and creamier.  The addition of the Hidden Valley dressing makes it even more creamy.

Since I keep all the ingredients to make this on hand, it's going in my recipe folder.  I believe you could substitute canned diced tomatoes if you drained them well.

Super quick to make!  The recipe "makes 2 servings".  I would say it makes 3-4 generous servings because it's rich and filling too.

RANCH CHICKEN MAC

1 (7.24 oz) package macaroni and cheese dinner
1 (10 oz) can chicken, drained
2 T. Ranch salad dressing
½ cup chopped tomato
3 T. sliced green onion

Prepare macaroni and cheese according to package.
Add chicken, salad dressing, tomato and onion.
Stir gently until warmed through.