Mom's Easy Beefy Vegetable Soup

By Nanci

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 3 cans Veg-All mixed vegetables, including liquid
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Cook ground beef and onions together until no longer pink. Drain off fat. Combine vegetables, tomato sauce, broth, and seasonings in large pot. Add meat/onion mixture. Bring to boil over medium high heat. Boil 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve. While soup is boiling, stir orzo into a separate pan of boiling water and cook 5 minutes. Drain, then add orzo to soup mixture cooking for at least 5 minutes before serving.

This soup is also great in the crockpot, simmering on low all day. Cook and add the orzo at least 15 minutes before serving.

Turkey Split Pea Soup w/Barley

By Becca

Super easy and tasty!

Ingredients:

• 4-6 cups Turkey broth (see recipe on blog, or use store bought; chicken broth will work too)
  
• 3-4 handfuls of split peas
• 1/2-1 cup barley
  
• about 1/2 teaspoon of crushed garlic, or dash of garlic powder
• dark turkey meat

Directions:

Simmer ingredients in Crockpot until peas dissolve. (I put it together before bed and let it simmer all night and it turned out great!)

Turkey Broth

By Jon and Becca

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey carcass
• 1 onion, carrot, and/or celery stalk, chopped coarsely*
• salt and pepper to taste (a couple dashes works fine)
  

Directions:

Boil carcass in enough water to cover with vegetables and salt and pepper for two hours. Skim fat as it cools. (Jon used a turkey baster to suck up the fat from the top).

*We didn't have a carrot or celery, but it still turned out great and delicious!