Quick and Easy Veggie Soup

Fall is a time for chillies and soups. The warm soup just hits the spot as the nights come sooner and the temps get a little lower. The past 2 days have been CRAZY: Trying to get 3 vehicles repaired with fresh tires, having one kid out of school and bored all week, not to mention the age old question... What's for dinner?!? So needless to say, I didn't feel much like cooking today and fell back on one of my favorite home-made meals: Veggie soup. I don't know if I read the original recipe somewhere else or just made it up myself, but it's different each time. Here's my little secret:

V8 Juice!

That's it! That's how I make my homemade soup. Okay fine, there's a little more to it than that, but that's the base. Here's what I made tonight:

64oz of V8 
1 Cup of frozen Corn 
16 oz package of Baby Carrots
1 Cup fresh Green Beans
3 medium Golden Potatoes
2 cloves of Garlic
1/4 Cup diced Onion

Snap the beans, cut the potatoes, and mince the garlic. Add everything to a large pot, cook on med-high heat till the carrots and potatoes are as tender as you like. Stir often.

Pretty easy!! And of course every time I make it, it's a little different depending on the available ingredients and who's eating. Here's a few variations:

• Use a different V8. There's everything from low sodium to spicy V8 available.
• Add meat. Ground beef is excellent! You can also use ground turkey, shredded pork or even some lamb.
• Add or remove some vegetables. Some of our families other favorites includes broccoli, lima beans, cauliflower, and peas. The options are virtually endless! I try not to add any more tomatoes, since the V8 is so 'tomato-y'
• Use a slow-cooker. If you don't want to think about dinner till dinner time start this in the slow cooker about 6-10 hours (depending on cooker, temp and how tender you like your veggies) before you plan on serving.
• If you're really adventurous you can play with seasonings. I do suggest starting with the low sodium V8 if you want to try this.

 A pot of soup with some Ritz crackers = YUM!!