Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef stew meat
• 1 onion
• 3 celery ribs
• 10 baby carrots (or a couple regular carrots)
• 2 potatoes (peeled if you like)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (I use salt-free)
• 3 1/2 cups beef broth (or 2 14-oz cans)
• 2 small bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or any cooking oil)
• 4 cups water
• 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

Directions:

• Cut meat into small, bite-size (1/2") pieces.
• In a large pot or dutch oven, saute meat in 1 T oil on medium-high heat until all sides are brown.
• Set aside on a plate.
• Chop celery, onion, potatoes, and carrots into bite-size pieces.
• Saute celery and onion in remaining 1 T oil until onion is golden (about 10 minutes).
• Add browned beef, water, broth, tomatoes with juices, carrots, potatoes, corn, bay leaves and garlic.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until beef is almost tender, about an hour.
• Add peas and hot sauce to soup.
• Cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 30 minutes longer.
• Serve and season with freshly ground black pepper, hot sauce, or crumbled saltines, if desired.