Jen's Hamburger Vegetable Crockpot Soup

Yes, these are baby carrots, not sliced. I used what I had. ;-)

I am always on the lookout for easy, economical, and family friendly recipes for my crockpot. My crockpot is my best friend in the kitchen these days. It is a necessity, as far as I am concerned. In my searches, I came across several recipes for soup that used ground beef. Since we always have that on hand, seemed like a good place to start. I combined a bunch of recipes, picking and choosing the ingredients that I knew would work well together and that my family wouldn't turn their nose up at. I think I succeeded.
In fact, it is popular with lots of moms that I know! ;-) You see, I am part of the creative activities team for my MOPS group and we recently made 120 meals worth of this soup as our opening day activity. Put out all of the ingredients and the ladies assembled them to take home and make for their own families. I got a lot of positive feedback! What a relief it was, for sure. Sometimes I question my taste buds... Hahaha. But, rest assured, this is a keeper. I thought I would share the recipe with you too since it is finally starting to cool down and Fall is in the air. So incredibly happy about that! Hope you give this one a shot and enjoy!

Jen's Hamburger Vegetable Crockpot Soup
serves 6-8

2 cups of ground beef, browned and drained
1 cup (or 1 can) diced tomatoes
1 small (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 cup (or 1 can) corn
1 cup peeled, sliced, carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 can kidney beans
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. beef (or chicken) bouillon powder
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
6 cups water
1 cup dried pasta (wagon wheel or rotini works best, but any bite sized shape will do)
Parmesan cheese, for topping when serving (optional)

Add all ingredients, except dried pasta and Parmesan, to a 4-5 quart crockpot. Cook on high 4-6 hours. Stir in dried pasta and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Top servings with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Alternatively, you may cook in a large pot on the stovetop for 1 1/2 hours, add pasta and continue to cook until noodles are done, about 15 minutes. Serve with bread or crackers and a salad. Enjoy!