Easy Dinners for Homeschool Families - Italian Soup

I've decided to run a new series, dear friends! And here it is...

"Easy Dinners for Homeschool Families"

As a homeschooler, my days are FULL. And by "full," I mean that I hit the ground running and just go from morning till bedtime. Oftentimes, when it comes to making dinner, I'm exhausted and ready to stop for a break, not dive into another huge, messy project.

Thus, this series!

This is going to be a very low-tech series. It won't be regular, it won't be scheduled, and it won't have fancy pictures or step-by-step instructions. For that, you're on your own. I'm just going to post either the link or the typed recipe of any dinner dish I find that works well for a busy homeschool family (interpretation = it's easy to make!).

Our first dinner dish - Italian Soup! Enjoy!

Italian Soup

1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed if present
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
One 14 ½-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
½ tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
½ tsp. dried basil, crushed
¼ tsp. dried thyme, crushed
2 14-oz cans chicken broth, or equivalent of homemade

Saute sausage, onion, and garlic until sausage is brown. Combine with all other ingredients in crockpot.

LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours.

If you want to add pasta: Add another can of chicken broth to the mix. At the very end turn to HIGH, add ½ cup dry orzo or broken cappellini pasta, and cook for 20 minutes.

Recommended topping: Parmesan cheese.

Good optional ingredients: Cooked green beans, some sort of green (kale or spinach), or cooked white beans.

My changes: I doubled the carrot and celery, and would add still more next time.