The Best Beefy Vegetable Soup

I did a lot of experimenting to come up with a Vegetable beef soup that I really like. Most seem very bland to me or loaded with tomato sauce. This has a little kick to it, but I would never call it "hot" and spicy. Just a mild something extra that you don't usually taste in regular versions of this soup. I prefer to make this in the crockpot. It freezes beautifully. Don't add potatoes until you plan to eat it (microwave, chop, and add), especially if you plan to freeze this dish. I have found that potatoes get mushy in frozen soups.

• Ready In: 16 hrs 15 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2  lbs beef round steak, fat removed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and browned
• 1  small onion, minced finely
• 2 (12 ounce) cans  of spicy  V8 vegetable juice
• 2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  minced garlic
• 1⁄3 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3⁄4 teaspoon oregano
• 3⁄4 teaspoon thyme
• 2  teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2  bay leaves
• 2 (16 ounce) packages  frozen birds eye  mixed vegetables

Directions

1. Add the first 2 ingredients to the crockpot.Also add 1 can of v-8 spicy and 1 can beef both. (Save the remaining cans for the next step.) Cook on low overnight for approximately 8-9 hours. The meat should be fork tender by morning.
2. The next morning, add the rest of the ingredients to the crockpot including the remaining can of v-8 spicy and beef broth. Cook on low til dinnertime, appoximately 8-10 hours.
3. I will set this up to cook before I go to work and when I get home at around 5, it's ready. Add microwaved and chopped potatoes to each bowl if you want a heartier soup.
4. Remove bay leaves before serving.