Homemade Vegetable Soup

This is a soup recipe that has evolved over the years. It is made primarily for my hubby who is known affectionately as "sweetman". He eats this at least once a day. He does not care for sandwiches but loves soup for his "light" meal of the day.

Now I want to address this recipe especially to my 8 grandchildren, 7 boys and 1 sweet girl. Most of them are on their own and doing most of their cooking. There will be days or weeks when the cash is a little low. You will find soup to be a great meal during those times. And who knows, someday Pa-Pa may have to visit you and you can make this for him.

Rule #1--Boys, pay attention--wash the top of those cans before you open them.

Rule #2--Open cans, drain juice in can and then rinse vegetable in can with water. It gets all of that "canned" and preservatives taste out that was used in the canning process.

Rule #3--Cook slowly

Rule #4--Those leftover vegetables and small pieces of meat you had from earlier meals, put into a plastic bag and freeze. You can use them in this soup.

You will need the following:

2 cans of mixed vegetables

1 can of small lima beans

1 small can of green peas (or if you love peas, buy a larger size)

1 can black eyed peas

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can chicken broth (or beef broth if you prefer)

1 can crushed or diced tomatoes. (This is optional as some people (like Pa-Pa) do not care for tomatoes.

1 teaspoon sugar

Any leftover vegetable or meats, cut small

In crockpot or large boiler, place all of the above ingredients. Add enough water to cover all of the ingredients. If you like lots of liquid in your soup, add a little more water.

Add the following.

1 bay leaf (And don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving soup into bowls. One bayleaf in the throat is not a good thing!)

1 tablespoon of minced onions (Don't tell Pa-Pa. He thinks he doesn't like onions. Little does he know!)

1 teaspoon celery salt. (If you have fresh celery in house you can chop up one stalk and add to mixture.

Salt and pepper to taste.

If cooking in crockpot, cook on slow 4-6 hours. If cooking on top of stove, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook about two hours.

Serve and enjoy.