Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

 

Busy? I don’t know about you, but this autumn has been a very busy one for us so far. After The Picky Eater’s week in the hospital, my days are full of writing deadlines, afternoons teaching my preschoolers, and evenings helping my love with his work. Plus doctor’s appointments, dietary changes, and keeping track of medicine schedules…whew! Before I know it, 24 hours has passed and a new day begins.

Thank goodness for slow cookers! It's so nice to just put ingredients into the pot, turn it on, and have dinner ready a few hours later. With the cooler weather, mine has been churning out a lot of soups and chili, and I plan to find other creative ways to turn out a meal with this slow cooking wonder.

One of our favorite recipes is this Vegetable Beef Soup. I make it with low-sodium broth (something I’ve always used) and without added salt for my sweetheart…and he likes it!!!  

This soup will be a regular meal to warm our autumn evenings and winter days.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

1 to 1 1/2 pounds stew meat, depending on how “beefy” you want the soup
1 can (14.5 ounces) petite diced tomatoes
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) low-sodium beef broth
1 cup low sodium tomato juice, or more, to taste
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 large potatoes, diced
6 to 12 ounces frozen vegetables, depending on how “veggie” you want the soup
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker. Turn on low and cook for approximately 8 hours, or until the beef is fall-apart tender. If you like crispier vegetables, only add half of the frozen vegetables at the beginning, and then add the remainder 1 hour before serving. Also, just before serving, remove the bay leaf and the garlic clove. If there is a lot of fat from the beef on top of the soup, just skim it off before serving.