Titus 2sday - Vegetable Soup

Today I am linking up over at the Time Warp WifeI've never participated here before, but I've been a fan of hers on Facebook for al little while and have long been aware of the "Titus 2sdays" series - I just never put two and two together. Basically, this is just where women/wives/mothers/etc. encourage each other, give inspiration, share their thoughts, etc. Head on over and check her out -- you won't be sorry!

I am sharing my vegetable soup....recipe? If you can call it that?

I vividly remember standing in my generic base housing kitchen, 20 years old, across the pond in England, calling random family members long-dstiance until one answered and gave me the recipe for vegetable soup. The lucky person was my cousin Tammy, who makes the best potato salad I've ever eaten (Tammy, if you're reading, heyyyyyy!) . Between her & my mom, we got this SUPER easy and cheap recipe down and it has been a HUGE hit with my husband since day 1. Like, he request it for birthday suppers kind of good. That is something 'round here, ya'll.

You are going to be stunned at how easy and cheap it is. For real.

Because we all know I don't like complicated things.

Excuse the sugar can & vitamins/meds in the background. I live in a real house, with real people, who make real messes, and I can't go around making everything look perfect for pictures. Sorry - just keeping it real around here!

The cast:

- vegetable mix

- diced potatoes (can use real or canned)

- green beans

- peas

- tomato sauce

- tomato paste (only need small can)

- onion

- seasonings - I used garlic salt, pepper, paprika, thyme and parsley

- 1 lb. ground beef or turkey

This is so interchangeable. You can use fresh, canned, or frozen - your choice. I used canned because, hey - we're on a budget - and this particular day, I needed it to be FAST and SIMPLE.
It's also doubled or tripled very easily.

I added a little bit of olive oil to the pan to saute the onion in. If you have carrots and celery - they are a great addition. You'd add them in at this point to saute. And garlic. Mmmmm, garlic.

 Excuse the bottom of the pan - it IS clean. It's just been well loved over many years.

Right now is when you can for sure change it up according to your preference. I like to halfway brown my ground meat, then boil it the rest of the way in water. The reason for doing this is a) by boiling the meat, you give the "sauce" lots of good flavor that you would miss otherwise (in my opinion) - and b) if you JUST boil the meat, it's kind of clumpy. And we don't do clumps around here. *shudder*

Once your meat is 100% done....are you ready for this? It's kinda hard. 

But don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. ;)

Okay - you just dump all the cans in.

Whew. I know that's a toughie, but you'll get it.

And here's the finished product!

This is hands down my favorite meal in the cooler weather - and sometimes in the "hot as Haides" weather, too. You can easily make it vegetarian, with no meat, or you can make it healthier by using ground turkey -which I usually do, but this was for my husbands birthday supper and I wanted to 'treat" him. It's great to do in the summer because you can use fresh veggies from your garden or the farmer's market.

Hope ya'll enjoyed - have a GREAT Tuesday!