I love using my slow cooker and probably use it 3 times a week to make various lunch and dinner recipes. During the weekends I like to use it to make desserts. One of my favorite things to make in my slow cooker happens to be a good old-fashioned vegetable soup but instead of using a beef roast, I use ground beef and I add a little pasta to it to make it hearty.
This veggie soup is delicious and you can really tailor it to suit your own taste buds. Sometimes when I have fresh cabbage available from our garden, I will shred some of that up and toss into the mixture while it is cooking. In addition, it freezes really well for future meals. Enjoy!
1 lb. lean ground beef, browned, grease drained
1 large bag frozen, thawed mixed vegetables
6 cups V-8 tomato juice
4 cups cooked, drained pasta shells
1/4 cup diced green peppers
1/4 cup diced sweet onion
2 beef bouillon cubes, dissolved in 1 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped red tomatoes
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet along with the diced onions and green peppers. Drain grease and dump into the bottom of your slow cooker. Add in the thawed mixed vegetables, V-8 tomato juice, cooked & drained pasta shells, beef broth, chopped tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt and ground black pepper. If needed you can add additional tomato juice, water or beef broth to your liking.
Cover and cook on the high setting for 1 hour. Reduce heat and simmer on the low setting for 3-4 hours. If you are not ready to eat, turn the heat down to just the "warm" setting until serving time.
