The perfect veggie soup

For any of y'all that know me, you know that my specialty is take out, not cooking.  But I found out that the foods I live on (namely canned soup and frozen Lean Cuisines) are anything but good for me and filled with preservatives.  When I found this out, I called my dear, sweet grandma Jean last week and asked her how to make her delish beef veggie soup.  Fall is approaching and I wanted a healthy alternative to the canned stuff, minus all those preservatives.  I wanted to be able to make a big pot of soup and freeze some for lunches and dinners the following week.  In case any of y'all are interested, here's Grandma Jean's yummy veggie soup recipe.  It's too good to not share (and also probably identical or similar to your grandma's soup recipes)...

Grandma Jean's Beef Veggie Soup

1 large pack frozen veggies (peas, carrots, green beans, corn variety)
1 can diced tomatoes (I used Rotel-mild with green chilies, really gave it a nice kick and flavor)
1 small can tomato paste
Small red potatoes, diced and unpeeled (I like the skins)
1 chopped onion
A few stalks of chopped celery
1 pack of stew beef cubes, cut up smaller than how they come in the package
5-6 cups veggie stock (and water to add as soup cooks down-I used 2 of those boxed veggie stocks)
Dittalini noodles (optional, but I like noodles in my soup)
Salt and pepper

I'm trying to remember if that's all of it... basically, it's a "throw whatever you want into the pot and let it cook" soup.  I browned the meat first, then added the chopped onion to let it mesh with the beef.  Cook that down until the onions are transparent.  Then add the stock and scrape the bottom of the stockpot to get all that yummy goodness unstuck from the bottom.  Add in the rest of the ingredients (tomato paste, diced tomatoes, frozen veggies, potatoes, celery) and bring to a boil.  Do not add noodles yet!  Once this comes to a boil, lower the temp to medium-ish (so it simmers) and let it cook for 4-5 hours.  The longer it sits the better it tastes.  I added in the noodles with about an hour left of cooking time.  They were perfectly aldente.  Throw some salt and pepper in there and it's good to go.

I froze three big bowls to have for lunch and dinner this week.  I think I might start making this on a weekly basis so I have something healthy and yummy to eat during the week.

Happy Soup Season!