This has got to be one of my favorite soups.  It doesn't get any easier to make either.

Slow Cooker Minestrone
Recipe sumbitted by Jamaila Brinkley on Tasty Kitchen

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound sweet Italian Sausage
6 whole carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 whole large onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz) white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoons dried sage
2 whole bay leaves, dried
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked ditalini pasta

Heat oil in a pan and brown the sausage.  Add cooked sausage and all other ingredients except pasta in the slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Approximately 30 minutes before you plan to serve, cook and add the pasta.  Cover and cook for another 20-30 minutes. 

*I omitted the oil and used regular sausage.


Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 Tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 whole cold large egg
1 cup finely shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 Tablespoon of milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and using hand mixer on low speed, mix until butter is the size of peas.  Combine the buttermilk and egg in a bowl and beat with a fork.  With the mixer still on low, add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until moistened.  Fold in cheese into the dough.  Flouring your hands round out the dough in balls, then patty them into bisquits.  On a pan lines with tin-foil and lightly sprayed with non-stick spray, lay the bisquits out with room between them.  Brush the tops of the bisquits with the egg wash and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the bisquits are cooked through.  Serve hot or warm.