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This post was last published in November, 2015. It is still one of my favorite soups that can be made with lean ground beef and all the veggies in your fridge (specifically zucchini, green beans and carrots). Although we are still experiencing 90+ degree weather in Florida, I crave this light, yet hearty, soup all the time. It’s perfect for light lunches and dinners – it’s nice to make ahead so that you have something to quickly reheat when you are short on time.

Click here to PIN this Italian Vegetable Beef Soup recipe!

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Are you all turkey’ed out or what? I know I am. I had a few good leftover turkey recipes swirling in my head over the weekend (my daughter wanted me to make a turkey pasta salad, mmm), but honestly, I just didn’t get around to any creative leftover creations. We had a lot of turkey paninis and just straight up Thanksgiving plate reruns. It’s all good.

Moving on from turkey…I’m bringing up this Italian Vegetable Beef recipe from the archives. I originally posted this recipe back in December of 2009. Crazy how long ago that was! I remember I made this soup to take to my daughter’s preschool teacher who had just had surgery. When she got back to school, she told me her and her daughters loved the soup so much and wanted more. Yea, a compliment like that pretty much always makes my day. 🙂 Since then, I have made this soup quite a few times. It’s a great change from my typical chicken based soups, the lean beef (or bison) makes it a little extra hearty but still easy on the calories.

I’m sure most of you will agree that a bowl of good homemade soup is total comfort.  Soup has a way of warming up the body while nourishing it with so many health benefits at the same time.  I’m more of a broth base soup person, so I’m not really referring to the heavier creamy soups…not that those are bad, but they just don’t make me feel the same as a soup filled with lots of herbs and vegetables in broth.

Whenever I find that I have lots of vegetables in the veggie drawer that need to be used up, I usually make soup.  This particular day I had a nice variety of veggies….zucchini, squash, carrots and green beans. 

Add some dried herbs, lean ground beef and chicken broth and you’ve got Italian Vegetable Beef Soup.

Healthy Italian Vegetable Soup

1. In large stock pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and add zucchini, squash, carrots, garlic and onions. Cook for about 8 minutes until vegetables start to soften.
2. Add seasonings, tomatoes and chicken broth to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
3. Add green beans and cooked ground beef.
4. Simmer soup for about 20 minutes.
5. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with Parmesan cheese and cooked pasta if you like.

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Italian Vegetable Beef Soup

• Author: Aggies Kitchen
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Soup
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Italian

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Break out the vegetables for this light and savory Italian Vegetable Beef Soup recipe. It’s loaded with great vegetables like zucchini, squash and carrots. Healthy (and easy) comfort food!

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Ingredients

• 2 tb olive oil
• 2 zucchinis, quarter chopped
• 2 squash, quarter chopped
• 2–3 carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1–2 cups green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• good pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 32oz can of Italian diced tomatoes, with juices
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 – 1.25  lb lean ground beef or bison, cooked and crumbled
• Parmesan cheese, optional

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Instructions

1. In large stock pot, heat 2 tb olive oil and add zucchini, squash, carrots, garlic and onions. Cook for about 8 minutes until starting to soften. Add seasonings, tomatoes and chicken broth to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Add green beans and cooked ground beef. Simmer soup for about 20 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with Parmesan cheese and cooked pasta if you like.

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Notes

Note:  amounts of vegetables can be varied.  Use what you have on hand.

Healthy Soup Recipes

Soup is one of my go to meals when I’m trying to trim some pounds or just generally feel healthier. Some soups I tend to make often are  Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Kale Soup with Sweet Potatoes, Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup, Italian Tomato and Lentil Soup and Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup. I’m ready to try this Beef Taco Quinoa Soup and Fall Vegetable Quinoa Soup!

Follow Aggie’s Kitchen’s board Soup, Stew and Chili Recipes on Pinterest.

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Years ago, I discovered this Green Bean Salad with Feta recipe in a Southern Living magazine and made it pretty much every time there was a family get together or pot luck. I was obsessed with it and it became my signature recipe (at least in my mind). I love green beans, more so in a salad form than any other way. Especially in the summertime.

I decided to turn my beloved Green Bean Salad into this Lemony Green Bean Pasta Salad, making it more of a meal. I don’t know about you, but I appreciate pasta salads during the summer because it means not having to really cook if you aren’t in the mood for anything too heavy. This green bean pasta salad is simple but filled with so much flavor. It includes veggies, walnuts, feta and whole wheat pasta so it is filling and substantial in the best way possible. I made the switch to whole wheat pasta over 10 years ago and it’s all my family eats now, but feel free to use your favorite type of pasta.

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This recipe is a favorite and perfect for SPRING! I love using pesto that I pick up from Costco (find it in the refrigerated section) and goat cheese from there as well. Right now I’m finding asparagus at the grocery store which is what reminded me of this pasta the other day. It’s such a great, meatless meal so if you are avoiding meat on Fridays during Lent then this is one to try!

Originally posted in March, 2015.

Here’s another “nailed it!” recipe for you. When I say I nailed it, it means everyone at my dinner table happily ate and enjoyed every bite of this Spring Vegetable Pasta with Pesto. I’m considering starting a category of it’s own for these types of recipes.

My kids surprise me often when it comes to food. If I were to put asparagus on their plate as a side dish I am pretty certain there would be a conversation about whether or not they want to eat it, though I’m pretty sure my daughter would at least try it. I was taking my chances by putting it in this pasta dish, and it worked. I know that red bell peppers aren’t their favorite by any means so they would be picked out (and that’s totally ok – more for me 😉 ) but I was pleasantly surprised when no one mentioned anything about the asparagus.

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Click here to pin this Linguine with Spring Vegetables recipe!

Hello March! It’s so hard to believe we are already in March, Lent officially started yesterday and Spring is around the corner. Here in Florida we have been consistently in the low to mid 80s so we are moving right along into the next season…I’m not ready to be hot again honestly. I’m hoping it chills out around here for a while longer. I love being outside and Spring is my absolute favorite time of the year.

If you observe Lent, then you know that Fridays are set aside for meatless meals, or meals with fish (this post has some great Fish for Fridays recipe ideas). Today, I am sharing an oldie but goodie simple pasta recipe I make often but posted many years ago alongside this Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub from Ellie Krieger. That salmon dish was one of the first salmon recipes I started making for my family and they all love it.

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February Feels

If there is something that I’m learning about myself over time is that I am a creature of habit and routine. Routine brings me comfort and a sense of balance I guess you can say, as well as sanity. During seasons of transition, like a new school year or after a holiday, I don’t feel “right” until I’ve established some sort of schedule aka routine aka positive habits. (It is all relative in my book.)

January felt a bit like a season of change for me. Our holiday break lingered, we went through some family surgeries and recovery, and it was the start of new year in general. In all honestly, I was feeling a bit of a funk. My work at home schedule has been all over the place for a couple of months now, as well as my gym schedule. Let’s just say, I do not function well with “all over the place”. So here’s to February and reestablishing routines, ok?

How am I reestablishing routines?

Scheduled Time To Exercise

Well, to start, I’m getting myself back in the gym at 5am. I started early morning workouts 2 years ago and I have to say, they have been life changing for me. Over the last 6 months I’ve found myself waking up later and later and not getting myself to the gym in the mornings (telling myself I’ll work out later). As painful as it is to hear my alarm go off at 4:15am, the feeling of satisfaction and well being I have when I’m driving home before sunrise is like no other. I need that feeling bottled up as a reminder for those mornings when I just want to snooze.

Time Management

Other ways I’m working on my positive habits and routine is regularly writing and checking my calendar /planner, putting together loose meal plans, making sure I’m getting enough sleep (as well as self care in general), decluttering a few times a week and practicing yoga once a week. These are all actions that put me in a better place and help me become a better mom/wife/person in general.

Meal Planning

Meal planning has never been my strong suit, but I try to write out 3 or 4 healthy dinner ideas before I go grocery shopping after looking at what our schedule is for the week. What I’ve found that I do well with is having several go-to “recipes” that I know I can pull together without a ton of effort each week with our regular pantry, refrigerator and freezer items. These include a variety of healthy crockpot meals, sheet pan dinners and skillet meals.

For the most part most of these recipes can easily handle a seasonal produce swap so they are more like a formula to follow, and one that works because I already know (most) of my family will like what I’m making for dinner.

Here are 10 dinner recipes I make over and over for my family – these are healthy dinner recipes that taste good and are my “old reliables” I like to call them – I’d love to hear about yours!

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You all know by now, I like my greens. Spinach, kale, chard…I’ll take it all. Especially this time of year when I find myself googling ‘how to boost immune systems in children’, when I already know the answer. In case you weren’t sure, greens definitely play a part in the good nutrition part of boosting immune systems – and apparently we need all the help we can get lately.

The struggle is real when it comes to including as many greens as possible into my family’s diet. I like to use spinach leaves in place of lettuce in salad and try to include it in pasta or soup as much as possible (see this Pesto Pasta with Turkey and Kale and Chicken Gnocchi Soup). This meatless pasta dish made with whole wheat pasta, greens and Bush’s Great Northern Beans is another way to get some good nutrition on the table – and quick! With beans, pasta and canned crushed tomatoes being pantry staples, this is such a great base pasta recipe to add any fresh vegetable too.

Swiss chard with beans sauteed in tomato sauce are the perfect pairing and a great way to introduce a new leafy green and include beans to your diet.

If your family needs some meat to balance out the meal, add some roasted or grilled Italian chicken or turkey sausage to each dish. With or without the sausage, this is the kind of meal that is exactly what I need when I’m craving something hearty and healthy.

Swiss Chard with White Beans in Tomato Sauce over Pasta

Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bunch swiss chard, shredded
• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup of water (added to crushed tomato can to pick up remnant flavor)
• 1 15 oz can of Bush's Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
• a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• red hot pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/2 box of whole wheat pasta

Directions:

1. Prepare pasta according to directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, in a large saute pan, heat olive oil and begin to saute onion and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook onions until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add chard to pan and saute until soft and wilted, about 8-10 minutes. Add can of tomato sauce with additional water to pan. Stir and bring to a simmer. Add can of white beans to sauce and cook for about 2-3 more minutes until sauce is slightly thick and flavors have come together.
3. Drain pasta and drizzle with a little olive oil. Serve sauce over pasta with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

So hearty and healthy, I love the combinations of greens, tomato sauce and beans in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it too! Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen, inspired from Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine

This recipe was created in partnership with Bush’s Beans. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Aggie’s Kitchen.

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Like this healthy pesto pasta with turkey recipe? Pin it here!

I love connecting with other moms in the same “season” as me. With having 2 kids ages 12 and 9 along with a toddler age 3, I sometimes feel like I’m straddling in between two different worlds off motherhood. If you have kids in the older elementary school/middle school age that are active in sports and other activities, then you probably understand what I mean when I say weeknights have become quite the juggling act between homework, dinnertime and practices. I absolutely love that my kids are involved in sports and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.

I find that most moms sitting at their kids’ practices usually have dinner on their mind and it always comes up in conversation. We are all trying to figure out how to get everyone fed in the easiest, healthiest way possible and get to where we need to go. That is the reality we are in and I have a feeling this season will fly by, just like the others have (until I have to do it all over again with the little guy!).

 

A photo posted by Aggie Goodman (@aggieskitchen) on Oct 27, 2016 at 2:02pm PDT

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Click here to pin these healthy recipes using canned tuna for later!

If you didn’t already notice, I’m a big fan of tuna. It’s one of my favorite ingredients to use when I’m looking for a protein packed lunch. Mashed with avocado or combined with celery, mayo and a little Greek yogurt for a more traditional – but lightened up – tuna salad, I like to eat tuna for lunch at least once a week.

Today I’m featuring 21 Healthy Recipes Using Canned Tuna from other bloggers as well as some of my very own personal favorites. Since I know that canned tuna is a pantry staple for most households, I hope you’ll find some ideas and inspiration to try something new!

If you see a recipe you’d like to try, let me know in the comments…or please share one of your own.

Have a great week!

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For the most part, my family has been eating whole grain pasta for as long as I can remember (which translates since having kids, lol). I got hooked on whole grains right after my son was born when I was trying to lose baby weight while following South Beach Diet. South Beach really got me in a healthier frame of mind when it came to eating well, always making sure to include whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies and lean proteins into my daily diet. Eating this way eventually just became my lifestyle.

Lucky for my family, since I do most of the cooking, it’s their lifestyle too. 🙂

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