Bean with Bacon soup!

If there was ever one soup I was very sure I wouldn't like, that'd be Bean with bacon. That belief persisted right up to my fifties when, one day, my dad made up a batch. I was astonished at how good and filling this soup was!

Wham, bam! Thank you ma'am, vegetable beef soup!

Getting the urge to make soup sweeps over me at random intervals and times. But making vegetable beef soup can be time consuming. So, here's a quick soup that comes together quicker than a cheap hooker's legs when she discovers I'm broke! What did he just say?

To set the stage, I often like to use a small crock pot that holds about 8 cups of soup (2 quarts). That's enough soup to last one person for about four meals or half that for two people. I then like to grab a few fresh veggies while also using three cans of assorted veggies. Note that left over amounts go into storage containers to be used as side for other meals. Note: the slow cook pictured at tight is a Crock-Pot brand 2 quart model that sell for about $15 and which has received rave reviews! And, while I have a couple of other larger deals I could use, I like this one the best!

Ingredients:

200 g stew meat cut into small pieces (~1 cup)

16 oz can petite diced tomatoes (1 cup)

½ small Russet potato, peeled and cubed (½ cup)

2 stalks of celery, sliced (½ cup)

1 beef bouillon cube

½ cup red cabbage

¼ cup white onion, rough cut

¼ cup peas

¼ cup whole corn

¼ cup green beans

Dash of Cayenne pepper (optional)

Hey! Listen up! None of the amounts stated above are set in concrete. I generally just eyeball everything as it gets thrown into the pot. If I'm missing something, I smile and then move on. The beef gets a quick sear in a hot frying pan before it is unceremoniously dumped in with everything else! If there is some space left at the top, I add in some water. There! You're done! If you are practiced, like I am, this whole deal goes together in under ten minutes. Cover the slow cooker, set it on high and just walk away for four hours. Then, before too long, you've got yourself one awesome soup!

Critique: Bean with Bacon soup!

Many years ago, when I was younger and even dumber than I am today, my father introduced me to a can of Campbell's Bean with Bacon soup, something I never would have tried myself. Today, it has become one of the very few enduring foods that I really enjoy from time to time.

Today, I cannot afford to buy the name brand product. I have to resort to purchasing a can of Best Choice at $1.29 for an eleven ounce can. Even that's a bit expensive in this Obama economy and so I only enjoy it once or so a month.

Preparation is as easy as it could get; just dump the contest into a small pot, add a can full of water, stir and heat to boiling. Your done and ready to enjoy a unique taste sensation! Each ½ cup serving contain 140 calories and no one I know eats just a cup – the average total servings are 2.5 1/2 cup servings, so I always eat about half or 190 grams at a sitting. This would equate to about 200 calories and that's OK with me. The only down side is the sodium which comes in at an astronomical 980 mg per serving. [That's 41% of a healthy person's recommended daily intake of salt from just this one product]!

On a scale of 10, I gave this a solid 8 and would highly recommend that everyone give it a try!