Vegetable Beef Soup

I have been playing around with Vegetable Beef Soup for a few years now and this is the first batch that I didn't find a single thing wrong with.  I should say up front that I believe Vegetable Beef Soup should have noodles in it.  I never knew there were two camps of vegetable beef soup folks--Noodles vs. No Noodles (Matt is in the no noodle camp).   Anyhow, this takes a few hours of simmering but very little hands-on work.



Ingredients:

1 pound of beef tips (I buy the huge packs at Costco and split them out in to freezer bags)
3 tablespoons of Gravy Master
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups of sodium free beef broth
2 cups of regular beef broth
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 can diced Italian tomatoes
1 package frozen vegetable soup mix (I buy mine at Publix)
1 can reduced sodium green beans
1 can field peas
1/2 onion diced (I cheated and used frozen diced onions)
2 cans of no salt added tomato sauce (Kroger brand)
1 tablespoon dried mustard
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
2 Tablespoons Mrs. Dash Table Blend
1 tablespoon Louisiana's Hot Sauce
1 cup dry pasta


Directions:

1.  I cooked this in my 6 quart dutch oven, starting out in the oven and eventually moving over to the stove.  This could just as easily be done in the crock pot.

2.  Put beef tips, Gravy Master, flour, beef broth, diced tomatoes, and garlic in the dutch oven.  Stir well and cook in the oven at 250 degrees for four hours.

3.  Remove to the stove and add the remaining ingredients except the pasta.  Simmer on low for 2 hours.

4.  Bring back to a boil and add the dry pasta (I used elbow maccaroni).  The starch from the pasta will thicken up the soup.  If the soup gets too thick add more broth.