Vegetable and Bean Soup

I have never met someone who loves soup more than Jason. The year before we were married and he was living with some friend in Oshkosh, WI, he would bring soup for lunch every single day. While I enjoy soup, I usually only like to have one bowl a week. Since we have been married, we have stopped buy canned soup (unless it is the low-sodium version and is on sale for $1 per can). Instead, once the first chill of fall comes I start up the crock pot and begin making batch after batch of soup and chili. One crock pot usually makes 4 large yogurt containers worth of soup (we eat a lot of yogurt, so we save the containers). I will keep two in the refrigerator and two in the freezer for later. Soup is fool-proof and works well with pretty much any items we have on hand. I try to always use fresh ingredients, but this is not always possible, so I usually keep extra cans of diced tomatoes, beans, and frozen vegetables on hand. If you use dry beans, be sure to soak them overnight before using them. This well help get some of the gas out and prepare them for cooking. Since the weather finally seems to be turning around (55F and sunny today!) I decided it was a good day for one last batch of soup. Soup can really be anything you want, so if you don't have or like some of these ingredients, feel free to substitute something else.

Vegetable and Bean Soup

Makes about 1 gallon of soup

Ingredients

• 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes (I used an onion and green pepper seasoning and garlic, oregano and basil seasoning)
• 2 cans of water (use the tomato cans)
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas
• 1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed well 
• 1 can of great northern beans, drained and rinsed well 
• 2 tsp garlic
• 1/2 tsp pepper
•  1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Directions

Place all of the ingredients in a 4-5 quart crock pot. Stir well. Cover and cook on the LOW setting for 5 hours. If you use dry beans, you may need to cook it longer.