Jan 24 2009
Crockpot Beef Vegetable Soup
This is one of those really good meals on a cold winter’s day. The cinnamon stick? It was in a jar between my computer and the crockpot. It kept saying, pick me, pick me.
A lesson I learned from an Aussie friend. “Sure why not”.
The Stuff
1 lb. of stewing beef cut into small pieces
8 cups of water
3 tbsp. of instant chicken stock
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ cup uncooked rice
2 carrots
2 broccoli stems
15-20 green beans cut into tiny pieces
½ cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp. steak spices
2 tbsp. Italian spices
1 small can of tomato paste
1 small cinnamon stick (the”secret” ingredient)
What To Do
Cut up the vegetables and stewing beef into bite size pieces. Put all the stuff into the crockpot and cook on high for 8 hours. You may need to add water. I added 2 cups after about 6 hours. Use the boiling water trick for the tomato paste in Tex-Italian Chicken Soup.
Don’t waste your time fishing for the cinnamon stick. When you ladle it into separate containers for freezing it will show up. It’s that flat little rectangular thing that looks a lot like a piece of shoe leather. It just seems to add a little bit of sweetness and adds to the aroma of the food. It is quite subtle if you don’t use too much. I used a stick about an inch and one half long (3-4 cm?).
