As soon as the Fall season rolls around, I get the urge to make a good pot of soup. I love soup! I love having a container of homemade soup in the fridge in case one of my guys or a friend drops in for lunch, and it makes an ideal light supper, along with a tasty piece of bread.

Though I do like making soup from scratch, sometimes the thought and time involved in all the chopping of vegetables is just not appealing....or maybe I'm just feeling lazy :/. I was craving a hearty vegetable soup and decided to dig through a recipe file box I have with recipes from newspaper and magazine clippings...I know, old school for sure! I was so happy when I came across this recipe from a Southern Living magazine. Whenever we travel to visit our dear friends in North Carolina, I pick up a Southern Living magazine at the airport...love this magazine! Anyway, the recipe appealed to me because it had a few shortcuts and very little chopping...smile. It's a recipe that you can quickly throw together by just keeping a few key ingredients on hand in your pantry and freezer....perfect for those days when you need to get something on the table fast!

The important thing about soup is that it is seasoned well. This recipe allows you to add a little or a lot of heat by adding ROTEL diced tomatoes with mild, moderate, or hot chilies...take your pick. I made the soup with mild chilies and it was delicious. My son who loves spice actually added some Sriracha sauce for even more heat.

Spicy Beef Vegetable Soup

1 lb ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce with mushrooms and peppers

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

2 cups water

1 cup sliced celery

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 (10 ounce) can ROTEL Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies

1 (12 to 16 ounce) package mixed frozen vegetables

Cook the hamburger, onion, and garlic in a large Dutch oven pan over medium heat, stirring until the meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain.

Add spaghetti sauce and next 6 ingredients. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer, stirring often. When celery is cooked, stir in tomatoes and mixed vegetables, return to boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with toasted bread. Yield is 12 cups.

See how easy this is to make! The only chopping is the onion (which I keep a bag of chopped onion in the freezer to save time) and the celery! Just keep some hamburger and mixed frozen vegetables in your freezer, and a jar of spaghetti sauce, can of beef broth, and can of ROTEL diced tomatoes in your pantry and you can throw this together quickly!

For all you local folks, I love to keep Haggen's Crostini on hand at all times. Their crostini is delicious with soup and makes a tasty appetizer with mozzarella cheese, tomato, and basil, or Costco's Artichoke Parmesan dip...another favorite of mine.