Day 20: Minestrone Soup

Today I did a slow cooker recipe and I really love when I use my slow cooker because it is so nice to not have to rush at the end of the day to prepare dinner. Also, the house ends up smelling really good for most of the day! I should also mention that today I ran 2.5 miles and then I did 30 minutes of exercising! Boy was that a workout for me. I could hardly move after that and I have a feeling that tomorrow I am really going to be feeling it :( It feels great to be working out though!

Here is what went in my belly today:

Breakfast:
Kale, cheese, tomato, and an avocado omelet with an egg and egg whites
Homemade bread with butter
Tea

Lunch:
Leftover enchiladas
1/2 apple

Dinner:
Minestrone Soup (see recipe below)
Homemade Lithuanian Rye bread
Steamed broccoli

Snacks:
Almonds
Dried Cherries
Schoolbook cookies
Mini ice-cream cone (these things are delicious and addicting. I just wish they were bigger with the same amount of calories!)

Recipe: Minestrone Soup


This recipe is a slow cooker recipe and it comes from the book Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly. This is my first time trying out this recipe and it actually turned out very tasty and the Big Bubs devoured it! I varied the recipe a little and I'll note that below.

Ingredients:
4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
4 cups low-sodium tomato juice
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, chopped (I used celery from my garden!)
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 medium sized zucchini, chopped (this is not in the original recipe)
1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
28-oz can low-sodium diced tomatoes (the one I found at TJ's wasn't low sodium)
1 1/2 cups uncooked rotini pasta (I didn't use rotini because I had elbow noodles & used those instead, which increased the calorie count some).
1 tbsp parmesan cheese, per serving to be sprinkled on top

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients, except pasta, in the slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on low 7-8 hours.

3. Add pasta.

4. Cover. Cook on high 15-20 minutes. Serve with a tablespoon of parmesan on each serving.

Nutritional Information:
My version / Cookbook's (does not include the parmesan cheese)
Serving Size: 12 (a little over 1 cup each)
Calories: 138 / 70
Carbs: 22 / 13
Fat: 2 / 0
Protein: 7 / 5