Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

This post is sponsored by Sister Schubert's.  Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup accompanied by Sister Schubert's Parker House Style Rolls is a hearty, comforting, and easy-to-prepare meal that will warm you right up on a chilly winter day.

This time of year can get a little crazy and hectic, don't you think?  I shop year round for Christmas gifts, but as much as I try to make my lists and check them twice, I still find myself scrambling during the last few weeks before Christmas to finish up holiday shopping for my family.

No matter how busy I get during the holiday season, one thing I can't slack on is making sure dinner is on the table every night for my husband and kids.  Even when I have a million and two things to do, we still have to eat!

On those busy winter days when holiday shopping, cookie baking, gift wrapping, and tree trimming are filling my plate to the brim, the last thing I want to do is slave over a hot stove making dinner. A little melodramatic, I know, but sometimes it feels that way during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season! It's on those hectic days when my crock pot is my best friend.

Recipes like this Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup are a perfect dinner solution when I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. I can do the prep in the morning when I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, then let the crock pot do all the work. All I have to do when dinnertime rolls around is pop some Sister Schubert's rolls in the oven and, voila, I have a hearty, satisfying, comforting meal for my family.

I like to keep Sister Schubert's Dinner Rolls on hand in the freezer because they perfectly round out any meal and they're so easy to prepare. I can serve them with soup like this after a busy day of holiday shopping or serve them with Christmas dinner. As the holidays grow closer and closer, sometimes I have to step back and remember that the best part about the holidays isn't just what's on the table. It's about who's around it. And in that respect, I am truly blessed.

We sat around the dinner table and enjoyed this simple soup with Sister Schubert's Parker House Style Rolls and went around the table and talked about our favorite part of our day like we always do. The air outside was crisp, the tree lights were twinkling and my heart (and belly!) were full.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

   

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 stalks celery including leafy tops, sliced
• 4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 small head cabbage, shredded
• 3 cups vegetables of your choice (I used a combination of yellow squash, corn and green beans)
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain off the grease.  Add the ground beef and the rest of the ingredients to your slow cooker and gently stir.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for four hours.  Remove the bay leaves before serving.  Serve with Sister Schubert's Rolls.

Notes

• You can sub a can of  diced tomatoes with green chilies in place of regular diced tomatoes.  I think the chilies give this soup the perfect little kick.
• This makes a big ol' batch of soup.  Be sure to use a large oval crock pot for it all to fit!  Leftovers can be frozen.
• This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sister Schubert's Taste of Home Holiday Campaign. The opinions and text are all mine.