Slow Cooker Vegetable Minestrone

I'm not a soup person, but I actually really enjoyed this one. Doug wasn't a fan, but Tyler liked it as well. It hid my vegetables and had great flavor. Plus, who doesn't love the hands-off nature of a crock pot recipe? I tend to be leery of crock pot meat recipes because they have not turned out well for me in the past. The meat is usually dry or flavorless. No meat to worry about here, and very little prep work. Great for a cold winter day (too bad we don't have those here in Fresno).

You can see the plastic liner in my crock pot. New thing I learned about while couponing. Reynolds makes crock pot liners! They are like mini trash bags for your crock pot (I know no one wants to think about eating out of a trash bag, but stick with me). You put the liner in the basin, dump all your ingredients in and then when you are done eating, gather the corners of the bag and toss it. No more scrubbing the pot! You're welcome Reynolds, for the free advertising, but I will seriously be using these in the future. They are near the zip top bags and foil and such at the store.

• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 4 cups tomato juice
• 1 Tbsp dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 oz)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 28 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked pasta (4.5 oz)

In a 4 to 5 qt slow cooker, mix all ingredients except pasta and cheese. Cover, cook on low 7 to 8 hours.

Stir in pasta and increase heat setting to high. Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Serves 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours

Recipe from Betty Crocker