Sunshine on a Rainy Day (Vegetable Soup)

This is what I saw when I looked out my window yesterday morning. I don't know if it's the rain or the "after Christmas Lull," but I am so BLAH right now. I did make some homemade vegetable soup for dinner. That would be my number 1 comfort food. When I was little, my grandmother would always cook me a birthday dinner and my request was always vegetable soup with macaroni. I vaguely remember going to the restaurant, "Campbells" as a child with my grandmother and their vegetable soup had macaroni in it. I don't make it with macaroni now, but a lot of my food memories start with vegetable soup. Here is the recipe I used last night. It changes often, depending on what I am in the mood for:

Vegetable Soup

3-4 lb roast

1 carton (26 oz) beef stock

2 lg cans diced tomatoes
1 carton Chicken Broth
some salt and pepper
corn, green beans, onion, potatoes, baby lima beans, carrots, celery (just add the vegetables you like)
1 can V8 juice

First, I cut up my roast into big chunks. Then I put it in a large Ziploc bag and put some flour and a little salt in it. Then I shake it to make sure each chunk is covered with flour. I then put some olive oil in the big pot I am making my soup in and let it get real hot. Add the roast in a single layer in the bottom of the pot.


The roast will start browning very fast. Let it sit for a minute or two then turn the pieces so you are browning each chunk on all sides. This doesn't take long and the bottom of the pot will get almost burnt looking. Don't worry, that's the good stuff. After the beef is browned, not cooked all the way, add the beef stock and a little water, so you are covering the beef. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the drippings. Cover your pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, making sure you stir it a couple of times.


The next step is to add the tomatoes and the chicken broth. After your meat starts to become tender, start adding the vegetables. The ones that need the most cooking time need to go in first, like the potatoes, onions, carrots and celery. If you want to add macaroni, you need to add that just about 30 minutes before you serve the soup.



I love soup nights. It doesn't really take that long to cook and it is so worth the extra effort of chopping up all those vegetables. Usually, the kids love my vegetable soup.


Here's a picture of Sophie and Reed waiting on dinner to be ready:
And yes, Sophie did come strait home from school and put on her princess dress up clothes, tiara and all. And you don't realize it from this picture, but Reed isn't wearing any pants. Since we are working on potty training, he is all about taking his clothes off. I am really lucky I caught him with a shirt on.
I am telling the truth when I say my kids eat my vegetable soup. Here's Bo enjoying a bowl:
He thought I was crazy, taking a picture of him while he ate! Thank goodness Bo went back to school today. He was sick on Monday and Tuesday. I still don't think he feels great, but he was well enough to go to school.