Brrrrrrr - "Freakin' Amazing Soup"

Today.... another freakin' blizzard.

I'm really getting sick of Winter... but it is only February, so I have a while to go before I don't see Snow for a few months.... WHY oh WHY could my ancestors have moved somewhere warmer?!?

ANYWAY
Since it has been so FREAKIN cold, I've been cooking a lot of soup/stew, etc. Warm food, since we both work outside for a lot of the day.
This is the soup I made this weekend, which was "freakin' amazing" according to the Boyfriend. (so that's what I'm calling it)

"Freakin' Amazing Soup"

3 carrots, sliced pretty thin
1 Zucchini, sliced and quartered
4 tomatoes, cut up however you want to cut them up for soup... Don't discard the tomato guts inside.. they help make the broth
1 Bell Pepper - cut up however you want to cut them up for soup... You can also use more, I only used 1, since that is all I had left in the Fridge
6 cloves garlic -minced (more or less, depending on how much you like garlic)
Small Meatballs - mine were about half an inch in diameter... (and how ever many you want in your soup... none for veggie version, or more for carnivorous version... mine was pretty carnivorous)
Celery- cut up in large pieces (but spoon-sized).. about 3-4 stalks
Frozen Peas - about 1/3 bag
Beef Broth (or whatever kind you want... I went with Beef, since I had beef meatballs)
Lots of Water
Spices to taste
Olive Oil

Put a "glug" of Olive Oil in LARGE soup pot... heat up and then add in minced garlic. Cook til fragrant. About 1-2 minutes.
Add in the chopped Carrot, and about 1-2 cups of water - and some beef broth ( I used the powdered Knorr Beef Bouillon stuff, so i just mixed it in with the water i was adding). Let it boil and the carrot cook for a few minutes... Add more water and the Zucchini... more boiling and then slowly drop the temperature, so the soup stays at a Simmer.
Add in Tomato, bell Pepper, Celery and more water/beef broth and Simmer some more.
Veggies should be starting to soften up a little by this point, so add in peas and the meatballs, and more water/broth if needed. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Once the flavours start to all mix together, check the taste, and then add seasoning to suit your own tastes. I personally stuck to a little Italian seasoning, and Cayenne Pepper, and basic salt and pepper. Make sure you let the soup simmer for at least an hour, and Longer if possible, so it has time to really mix together. AND it is much better the next day too!

It makes for a really good Lunch at work... By the way, the Wind Chill outside today was -37 degrees Celsius. So I was really happy to have nice warm soup for Lunch.


I'm a horrible person and didn't take any pictures... except this one, from my cell phone, of my lunch at work (the post to follow will be for the Cheese Men)

Stay warm out there!