Sam's (and Sarah's) Slow Cooker Minestrone

Ah! The sweet, sweet taste of the end of the semester is upon us. Which means I have time to start posting again! This semester has been filled with a lot of setbacks and new situations, so I can't say I am sad to see it come to an end. God has taught me so much these past few months, but it has definitely been an exhausting road. Two days and two finals left to go, and I will be a free woman!
I am hoping next semester's class load will be easier so I will be able to post still once classes begin, but I don't want to be too hopeful!
My sister came for a visit this past week-end, which was wonderful. After seven hours of studying in the library on Saturday, her visit was much needed. She was judging a gymnastics meet in Waco on Saturday afternoon, so since she was already this far east, she thought she would pay me a visit and I am glad she did! Saturday evening we went to Downtown Bryan and ate at the Village Cafe. We were pretty much the only ones there, the food was delicious, and the conversation was great, so I would say dinner was definitely a success! The Village supports local agriculture and even cooks with produce from our very own Howdy Farm. You know how we are with local produce, so it was a great experience. After dinner, we went for a late night run around campus and then went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients to make Minestrone on Sunday...

4 cups vegetable broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 stalks chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 chopped zucchinni, diced
2 crook-neck yellow squash, diced
1 can kidney beans (we forgot to buy some, but we thought they would have made a great addition!)
1.5 cups small pasta shells
1 tablespoon fresh basil
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Italian Seasoning
pepper to taste

The beautiful thing about crockpots is you just throw everything in and six hours later, voila!

Seriously, throw everything but the shells in the pot and cook on low for about 6 hours--we were a little impatient, so I don't think we left it on that long. When there is about 20 minutes left, throw the shells in and cook until they are soft.

Perfect dish for finals week, because an entire crockpot of soup will last me until I got home for Christmas next week!