Christmas was kind of a bummer.   A lot of us got sick.  Even Princess Anne had to skip the royal dinner at Sandringham because she had a cold.  I spent the day in jammies, thankful that my husband didn’t catch whatever  was wrong with me.  Allergic rhinitis? Flu? Cold?  I don’t know and don’t care now, because I’m feeling normal today. Thankfully, I had the fixin’s for a fancy dinner of filet mignon and twice baked potatoes on hand, so we weren’t cheated of a special holiday meal.  But now, I’m hungry  for Healthy Veggie Soup.

Growing up in the forties, my mom always made  a kettle  of  vegetable soup on cold winter days. She started  with a beef soup bone.   They don’t sell those in supermarkets anymore, and that’s a shame.  Because by simmering  it all day, you were guaranteed some super nutritious bone broth to cure whatever ailed you. Next,  she added  a jar of tomatoes canned last summer,  and sliced some carrots.  Maybe some  celery and onions.

That kettle might sit on the stove and simmer all day. Later, she would add other canned veggies like green beans, corn, and fresh  potatoes.  Just before serving, she removed the bone and scraped the beef into the soup.  There was always  home baked bread to go along with the soup.  And  plenty left for seconds.  That’s just one of the economical, filling, delicious  meals that warmed our tummies and kept us healthy.

In this week  after Christmas, I’m hungry for healthy beef veggie soup like my mother made.  However, I’m forced to come up with my own recipe, since I don’t can in the summer, and I’m unable to  buy a soup bone anywhere close by.

I’ll start with stew meat,  bottled v8 juice. a box of beef bone broth, and water.  You can add more water during the cooking process if you think the soup  is getting cooked down too much. .   Later, when it’s about an hour from dinner time, I’ll add  carrots,  potato chunks,  and perhaps some  cut up cabbage.  Green beans and corn are also  optional, so I haven’t put them in the recipe .  Some store bought French bread will round out the meal.

I don’t strictly follow  a recipe, but this may  give you some guidelines.

Vegetable Beef Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 T olive oi

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped onion

½ pound  beef stew meat

3 cups v8Juice

2  cups beef bone broth

1 cup water

1 bay leaf

1 carrot, scrapped and chopped

2 potatoes peeled and diced

1 cup of chopped Cabbage leaves(optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Saute the celery and onions in olive oil  until translucent.  Add the beef stew meat and  sear a few minutes until brown. Stir in the V 8 juice, bone broth,  water and bay leaf. .  Simmer for 2 hours.  Add the carrots and potatoes;  simmer another half an hour until all are tender.  About 10 minutes before you turn off the heat, , add the cabbage leaves. Remove the bay leaf.  Makes 2 or 3 servings, depending on your appetite.

Store any left over in the frig.  By now, the flavors have blended overnight and the soup tastes even better the next day.

Have a happy, healthy new year!