Hearty Alphabet Soup

Since our son is finally getting into eating soup, I wanted to find another recipe for a good and easy one.  This seemed like it might do the trick.  Not only does it get cooked in the crockpot, eliminating slaving over the stove, but it's very few ingredients.  Two of them are chunks of beef and alphabet pasta.  I figured that might be a hit.  This is another recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It, Our Best Slow Cooker Recipes 2010.

Hearty Alphabet Soup

1/2 lb beef stew meat or round steak, cubed
14 1/2-oz can stewed tomatoes
8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1.25-oz envelope dry onion soup mix
10-oz package frozen vegetables, partially thawed
1/2 cup uncooked alphabet noodles

1.  Combine meat, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and soup mix in slow cooked.

2.  Cover and cook on high 1 hour and then on low 4 to 6 hours.  Turn heat to high.

3.  Stir in vegetables and noodles.  Add more water if mixture is too dry and thick.

4.  Cover and cook on high 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

The Verdict:  I wasn't mad about it, but my husband and son liked it a lot.

Honestly, I should have added more water and less pasta.  But I was trying to make it more stew-like.  Don't try that trick; instead, it feels grainy in your mouth.  Yuck.  Other than my own faux pas, the soup was fine.  I don't think that it was rockets and fireworks, but I suppose not every meal needs to be.  Especially when it's alphabet soup.  I can't ever recall anyone going on and on enthusiastically about a bowl of alphabet soup they ate the other day, do you?

My son thought it was pretty great.  And suprisingly, the little guy who hates green stuff was so absorbed in eating meat and spotting letters, he didn't comment at all about vegetables.  I did pick out large and obvious green beans for his serving; otherwise, he happily ate bites with corn, carrots and peas. 

I served it with whole wheat toast.  A bread on the side is a must with this dish.