Zesty Minestrone and Italian Rolls

I tried a new recipe tonight that I got from kraftfoods.com. It turned out good and it was really filling. I was surprised some of my kids ate it since it was so colorful. They usually only go for the monochromatic meals.

Then I made Italian rolls to go with it. I have been making these a long time. They don't always turn out pretty for me but they are so yummy. I make the dough in my breadmaker.

Here are the recipes:

Zesty Minestrone

1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

1 cup chopped onions (about 1 medium)

3/4 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)

3/4 cup chopped carrots (about 2)

1 can diced tomatoes (14 1/2 oz.), undrained

2 cans red kidney beans (19 oz.), drained, rinsed

2 cans vegetable broth (14 oz.)

2 1/2 cups water

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

2 cups small shell macaroni, uncooked

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese

1. HEAT dressing in a large nonsitck skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions, celery and carrots; cook 2 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Spoon into slow cooker. Add tomatoes, beans, broth, water and Italian seasoning; stir. Cover with lid

2. COOK on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours.

3. STIR in macaroni; cook 15-20 minutes or until macaroni is tender. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

Jazz it up: For extra flavor stir i8 crisply cooked slices of bacon into the soup just before serving.

Note: I changed the recipe a little from the original to make a larger pot of soup.

Quick Italian Rolls

1/2 cup water, warm

1 cup milk, warm

1 egg

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. italian seasoning

1/2 cup parmesan

4 cups bread flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat and 3 cups better for bread white flour)

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

Dump all ingredients into the bread maker in the order given and let it run on dough setting. When done melt some extra butter or margarine. Divide dough into 4 then into 4 again. Dip each roll into butter then in some additional grated parmesan cheese. Place in well greased 13 x 9 pan. Cover-put in warm oven for 10 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-18 minutes. Yummy!

Update on the sick people:

I took Ballerina back to the doctor. He apologized for my bad experience with the on call Dr. He listened to her lungs and said she does have Bronchitis so we started anitbiotics. He told me that I need to make sure all messages go directly to him or to his nurse not the triage nurse. He said he will always make time for my family even if his schedule is full. I loooove my Dr. My DH won't be jealous because I have said that so many times. He likes our Dr. too.

Em is very sick too, Dr. listened to her lungs and she sounds fine. She still has a coming and going fever and her eyes and nose look like little waterfalls. She keeps telling me she isn't sick. I tell her she sounds like her Dad.

DH stayed home from work today and slept on the couch. He has to be really really sick to miss work. He also missed his church meetings and a work meeting tonight. If he stays home tomorrow he will miss several important things. We'll see how he does because he still has a fever. I feel bad for him.

We've been watching a lot of TV while everyone has been sick. It will be a hard habit to break.