Soup is one of our favorite dishes all year round. It can be as varied as you like. A pinch of this, a splash of that.... You can use up your leftovers from the fridge or freezer or cook it from scratch.When we make soup, we usually make a rather large batch so we can freeze the leftovers.

1 1/2 Tbs. Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

56 Ounces Whole Tomatoes, canned

29 Ounces Tomato Sauce, canned

24 Ounces Beef Broth

32 Ounces Pinto Beans with liquid

1 1/2 Lbs. Ground Chuck, browned and drained

1 Bay leaf

2 Tbs. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 Cup Onion, Minced

2 Cups Celery, sliced

2 Cups Carrots, sliced

2 1/2 Cups Cabbage, shredded

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Heat Olive Oil in a large stock pot - at least 8 quarts.

2 Lightly saute minced garlic.

3 Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, pinto beans, ground chuck, bay leaf, crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.

4 Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

5 Add onion, celery and carrots.

6 Simmer for 1/2 hour.

7 Add cabbage.

8 Simmer for 1/2 hour.

Servings: 27

Cooking Tips

I know this sounds like a large amount of soup, but this freezes extremely well. You will want to keep a lot of this on hand. You can cut the preparation time down by using a food processor with a slicing blade. Resist the temptation to just throw everything in at once. You can do that, but you will be missing out on the wonderful textures that this method produces.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1 serving

Percent daily values based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

The following ingredients were not linked to the ingredient database and were not included in the nutrition information:

Salt and Pepper to taste

Amount Per Serving

Calories 145.88

Calories From Fat (43%) 62.61

% Daily Value

Total Fat 7.04g 11%

Saturated Fat 1.30g 6%

Cholesterol 7.61mg 3%

Sodium 412.93mg 17%

Potassium 465.38mg 13%

Carbohydrates 15.12g 5%

Dietary Fiber 4.49g 18%

Sugar 3.65g

Sugar Alcohols 0.00g

Net Carbohydrates 10.63g

Protein 6.89g 14%

MyPoints 2.7

Sometimes, it's hard to have enough variety in your meals and having this in the freezer can bring a welcome change of pace, especially when you're in a hurry.

By the way, I have been racking my brain to come up with a better name for this soup. Vegetable And Beef Soup is actually a little boring. If you guys can offer any suggestions after trying the recipe, I would greatly appreciate it. I know it needs to be descriptive, but I would like it not to be so boring, lol.