Have a bowl of soup

Soup's on
I just had to share this lovely and delicious soup. This pot of soup has my last quart of home-canned tomatoes in it, so this is a sad day.

Weather
Cold weather makes me want soup and other nice warm meals. I made spaghetti on Friday and still have lots in the refrigerator. Someone said the temperature was 70 degrees today. I don't know why I am starving for warm, tomato-ey food.

My recipe
Many times I make this soup without meat. Today, I used
1/2 lb ground round
frozen, diced  onions, 1/4 cup ?
tiny piece of Bell pepper
1/2 cup frozen, diced celery
1/2 lb carrots
1 potato, diced
can of green beans
qt home canned tomatoes
can of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup brown rice
1 cup shredded cabbage from bag with carrots
1 sprinkle of ground savory (usually, dried summer savory)
bay leaf

Usually, I also add:
3/4 cup frozen corn
3/4 cup frozen lima beans


Chop and cook the ground round
Put onions in pot when meat is almost done, saute onions with the meat
Add:
1 can water
1 or 2qts of tomatoes (or equivalent to about 1.5 or 2 qts of store-bought, canned tomatoes)
carrots
potatoes
celery
bell pepper

Cook until carrots almost done
Add:
corn
beans, lima and green

When carrots and potatoes are done, add:
rice
cabbage

Cook just long enough to get the rice done. Discard the bay leaf before eating or storing.

If there is anything you don't like that I use, leave it out. Today, this is different from any I have made because I don't have the corn and lima beans. Add what you like. There are so few potatoes and so little rice that the calories will not foil your plans for eating. If you use canned corn and limas, adding the whole can will really fill the pot in a hurry.

When I use cans of vegetables, I drain the liquid and put in the pot to cook carrots and potatoes. I add the other contents of the can to the pot later.

I had just added the cabbage when I took the picture, so it was all floating. If I don't have cabbage, I leave it out. Since it cooked for such a short time, the cabbage still has texture, not at all unpleasant.

Cabbage cooks so quickly that I don't put it in at the beginning. The tomatoes are done, so I try not to add them early. Today, I did because I needed the juice to cook the carrots and potatoes. When I finish my bowl of soup, I will dip the remainder into quart jars to store in the refrigerator. I am having company Wednesday, so I will make a pan of cornbread to go with the soup. I will spice up some peaches in a skillet and make a stove top pie in a tiny iron skillet.

Your turn
If you are in areas where the snow is relentlessly piling up, I am sure you are preparing warm foods. Share with us what you crave, if you please. If you are making soup, post your recipe link here. It's okay. I just finished a bowl of soup. Now, I need a nap, but it is 10 pm, so maybe it is too late for a nap. Is soup on at your house?