Hamburger Soup

First of all, I will introduce you to the main cast of characters:



Potatoes, rutabaga, cabbage, peas, onion, canned tomatoes,  green beans, celery & mushrooms. I only had this sorry can of mushrooms left and none of those wonderful fresh Baby Bellas... sigh. Oh yeah. And there's hamburger too. It just wasn't all that photogenic. And I also added in the rest of the Pepperoni that Rosie and I didn't eat while it was waiting to go into the soup. Reece laughed at me when I accused her of being as bad as me! LOL

So you chop and diced and pour and mince and stick everything in a big huge pot. And then you add a few spices...

Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Red Pepper flakes, Garlic powder, Onion powder, Mrs. Dash of course, Parsley, Italian Seasoning & Black pepper.

Here's the recipe...

1 1/2 lbs. hamburger browned with 1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 medium-large onion minced

2 1/2 C. diced potatoes

1 C. minced cabbage

2 C. rutabaga

1/2 C. minced celery
1 pt. green beans
1 qt. diced tomatoes
1 C. peas
1 can mushrooms -put them in the blender if you're serving this to mushroom haters-
About 1/2 of an 8 oz. bag of pepperoni, cut in to 1/4s
About a tablespoon of minced garlic
2 1/2 tsp. salt less or more... depending on your love of salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp EACH -depending on how spicy you like stuff- of:
 thyme, black pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, cumin, sage, garlic powder, onion powder, Mrs. Dash & dried parsley

3 beef bouillon cubes
Water

Dump everything in a big pot over medium high heat until it starts boiling. Keep adding water and seasonings as needed until it's perfect, then cook on medium heat until all the veggies are tender.
*If you and all of your household can eat carrots you can reduce the rutabaga to 1 C. and add 1 1/2 C. sliced carrots. And if you have half a bag of broccoli taking up time & space in your freezer you can use that too. :)

This stuff is even better as leftovers because the flavors get to meld and get all lovey dovey with each other and stuff. It would also be great served with some wonderful crusty Panera bread... you can find some of their recipes here.