Colder weather =?

Ok so for me colder weather (And for us in GA colder is anything below 90 haha) equals SOUP! Granted I will make a pot of soup anytime of the year but to thoroughly enjoy it you MUST have chilly weather, wool soaks, cozy sweater and a fire in the fireplace... oh well maybe not the later three but you need the chilly weather to understand the healing powers of soup!

So here is my basic rules for soup;;;

1) the longer it sits and "stews" the better

2) pair it with some form of startchy goodness, grilled cheese, crackers, bread etc

3) MAKE A TON, then freeze it in individual baggies so you have it for a quick dinner/lunch or whenever you come down with a cold!

So this is a recipe for my very basic vegetable beef soup. Great for entertaining! Awesome in a bread bowl that can soak up the yummy "broth"  and of course good for the eating... and it freezes well for up to 6 months! Oh and best of all.. CHEAP~ super cheap.. about $15 will serve 8-10 people!

Ingredients :: (just a tid bit.. this is literally whatever you have in your freezer...)

1lb ish of hamburger

1 onion

1 lb of potatoes (any kind will do)

1 bag of mixed veggies (a tip on this later to get more bang for your buck!)

1 can beef broth

2 cans tomato sauce

1 bay leaf

1 can diced tomatoes (fire roasted, reg whichever you have)

water

possibly some tomato soup or salsa (more on that later  :)))))

First things first.. gather your ingredients and start opening some cans!

Brown your meat however you desire (draining the grease of course).. i do mine in a pampered chef microwave cooker thing! Works GREAT! contact your local pampered chef rep to order one!!!!!!

While meat is browning start pouring in your cans of things into a large pot!

tomato sauces & tomatoes

 veggies

beef broth

Now for a quick onion dicing tutorial! Now for anyone who has read this blog before knows I would MUCH rather use my little handy dandy dicer because I will tear up simply at the thought of hand dicing an onion. This recipe sort of calls for a little "chunkier" diced onion then my miniprocessor can spit out so I am forced to face my enemy

So first cut the ends and half the onion.. peel the "layers" off the outside...

lay flat on your cutting board

cut "horizontal" almost to the end without cutting that last little bit all the way

turn onion and dice the other way.. till you get to the end your didn't slice.. then just slice that up too!

it is fairly easy this way but you can do it however you are comfortable.. (sorry for the rough explanation... it is hard to "tell" someone how to do it.. and much easier to show them.. video blog sometime maybe??)

Moving on.. throw that onion into the pot...

Now clean and peel the potatoes (yet again I like to leave some peels on)

Chop into bite size pieces

throw those in the pot too :)

then throw the browned (drained) meat in.

Throw in a good sized bay leaf (or two small like me)

Add some water to bring the level up.. this will mix in a evaporate over the cooking process

Definitely add a good palmful of both salt and better! This can turn a little bland so spice it up a bit!

Now this is where you can jazz it up however you like. My mother loves to add a jar of salsa (which I would have done had I had any on hand!).. it gives it a little something different..

You can try whatever you can think of.. this afterall is just a simple base recipe..

Now you want to simmer this on medium low for about 3-4 hours (or in your crock pot for 6-8)

My favorite way to serve it is with grilled cheese.. which my husband HATES (I know super weird) so I also serve it with some nice crusty bread or saltines! If you have a great bakery near you grab a few bread bowls (or from panera or atlanta bread company).

Enjoy :))

Ps Pot roast to come tomorrow :)))) It is my "famous" super easy NO FAULT recipe! I swear!!!! It is cooking away in my crock pot as we speak and smelling up my house with its yumminess!