Hearty Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

With the crispy leaves of Fall blowing away into a distant memory and Old Man Winter preparing to chill our bones…it is not too soon to start thinking of some hot and hearty vegetable soup to warm the soul.

This recipe is incredibly delicious and easy to make…I’m even thinking that Mikey would like it too! I have already inhaled 4-5 bowls in the last 24 hours (oink, oink I know)…but no need for guilt with all the vitamins and minerals in each serving!

What You Need:

-1 pot roast, cooked and shredded (optional, if you just want a veggie soup)

-6 whole peeled carrots, sliced

-8-10 medium size potatoes, peeled and quartered

-1 Cup frozen corn

-Diced tomato (I used one that was frozen from our garden without the skin and already diced up)

-Beef Bouillion Flavoring

-1 pound of fresh whole green beans, quartered

-1 Cup Cabbage, shredded

-1 Zucchini, sliced

-1 Cup cooked Wild Rice Blend

***The great thing with vegetable soup is that really, you can even use whatever vegetables you have on hand!

Step 1. In a large stock pot, combine all of the vegetables and bouillion flavoring (follow directions on the amount of bouillion to use according to how much water you used) in enough water that they are covered and there will be enough for a good amount of broth.

Step 2. Bring stock pot of water and vegetables to a boil, then continue boiling over medium heat and cover with a tight fitting lid.

Step 3. Once the vegetables are soft, use a large spoon to scoop out aprox. 2C of vegetables and broth to puree. (This is a great way to sneak in some vegetables that your children may not otherwise eat. I actually boiled the zucchini in a separate pan to make sure that there were no traces in the stock pot…blending them right into the broth! No one even knew….shhhh)!

(mua, ha, ha, ha)

Step 4. Put mixture of extra vegetables in a blender and puree.

looks sorta gross huh?

Step 5. Pour the puree mix back into the stock pot to thicken the broth and add in the cooked and shredded beef and rice blend. Allow your soup to simmer for several hours, savoring the aroma that fills your home….and this is what you should end up with!

Step 6. Serve and enjoy!

I truly love to drink Pina Coladas cook up some good soups in the winter. I find that it really relaxes me as all the chopping and dicing can be quite meditative. Just take your stress out on those poor innocent little carrots (awwww) and see how great you feel! (Or poor yourself a BIG glass of wine. What? That helps too).

My mom always made soup every Sunday growing up and this is a tradition that my sister and I both have continued with our family’s! Including your kids in this can be a great learning experience by having them help with age appropriate duties such as dicing, peeling or for our little ones – I chop and let them throw it all in the pot! It’s fun and it not only teaches them some kitchen basics….but it also helps them to appreciate the work that goes into meal preparation! It’s pretty fun