Italian Beef, Vegetable, & Bean Soup

Ingredients:


3/4 pound ground sirloin
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced (should be about same amount as onion)
2 stalks celery, diced (should be about same amount as onion)
32 oz beef broth
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can kidney beans, undrained
1 15 oz can white beans (great Northern), undrained
about 1/2 pkg of baby spinach
about 1/2 of a 28 oz jar marinara sauce
approx 2 tsp Italian seasoning

cooked soup pasta of your choice (small shells, ditalini, etc) - start with about 1 cup uncooked pasta



Directions:


1. Cook ground beef in large pot (you can use same pot you'll cook the soup in), breaking up

2. When no longer pink, remove meat from pan, and drain all but about 1 Tbl of the drippings

3. Add onions, carrot, celery, and salt and pepper, and cook until beginning to soften

4. Add broth and all other ingredients, except pasta to pot

5. Cook until vegetables are softened to your liking, probably about 1 hour. (you can also add everything to the crock pot at this point, and let it cook until you are ready to eat).

6. Add the cooked pasta right before serving.



Warning - this makes a lot. We froze half for another night!