a pinch of sugar: souper bowl

In honor of the Super Bowl, my dad having pneumonia, and Aubrey having a sore throat, I decided to make soup!

I opened my trusty recipe box to see what goodies I could find!

I ended up deciding on this one!

From the kitchen of Steve, aka my dad!

This is a great soup recipe! Souper hearty and yummy! Tons of yummy veggies, but the soup has so much flavor that the vegetables don't really taste like vegetables! This is a great way to sneak some veggies by veggie haters! (like my husband!!)

The original recipe calls for beans, but the beans require a few extra steps that I didn't have time for! (rinse and soak for 2-3 hours!) To get started on the recipe (without the beans) Fill a large soup pot about 1/2 full of water, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, season salt, cumin, paprika, a little dash of cayenne pepper, and my favorite secret ingredient, a pinch of sugar! After all a little sugar never hurt anyone!

Start heating the water while you slice and quarter a pound of smoked sausage, and one small sweet onion. Add these to the water and cook on high for 30 minutes!

As the sweet aroma of that concoction fills your kitchen, you can start to chop and peel the other veggies! You want to add these in the order of how long they need to cook. Carrots, celery, green beans, and bell peppers. For amounts of each, half a small bag of baby carrots, little over half a pound of green beans, two bell peppers (I like to use yellow and orange, for more color!) You will also need two cans of diced tomatoes, I like to use diced because of the flavor that comes with them, and the juice which you need to flavor the broth!

I don't know about you, but I think that chopping and peeling is so relaxing!

I just love the yellow and orange peppers on my red ikea cutting board! It looks like fire, and they definitely add a nice flavor to the soup!

After you add those veggies to your soup, you may want to add a little water depending on how much broth you are working with! The veggies will soak up some of the water so beware of that!

You can let that yummy goodness simmer and fill your house with good smells for 1-3 hours depending on how much time you have till meal time! Be sure and taste the broth periodically and add seasonings as needed! Those veggies do soak up a good bit of flavor!!