Day 10: "Rainbow Soup"

I first made this Vegetable Soup a couple of months ago.
We are eating more vegetarian dishes and making tons of green smoothies for better health.  The older children have been less than enthusiastic, while the younger children like a lot of what we have been eating, but not all. Todd and I both thought this vegetable soup was so simple and yet really good!  Todd's immediate response, though, when the children were asking what was for dinner as they saw me getting the crockpot out, was "You should find a more appealing name for this so the kids won't write it off without even trying it."  So, I decided to name it "Rainbow Soup," since it is so colorful.  The children really did receive it better than if I had just said, "vegetable soup!"  This is very easy to make, and is filling enough with some nice wheat rolls on the side.  An added bonus is that I have enough leftovers from one 6-quart pot full of this to freeze for another dinner!  I'm aiming to have a full month's-plus worth of meals in the freezer by the end of December!

Here is the recipe from Fix it and Forget it Recipes for Entertaining.  I always cook for at least 5 hours, even though this says 4.  We like the carrots to be well-cooked.

Aunt Thelma's Homemade Soup
Makes 10-12 servings
7 cups water
4 chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1-lb. pckg. frozen peas
1-lb. pckg. frozen corn
1-lb. pckg. frozen lima beans
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. dill seed
28-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup diced raw potatoes
1 cup chopped onions
2-3 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

1. Combine all ingredients except cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Simmer on high 4 hours, or until vegetables are tender.
3. Thirty minutes before end of cooking time, mix cornstarch and cold water together until smooth.  Remove 1 cup broth from cooker and mix with cornstarch-water.  When smooth, stir into soup.  Cover and continue cooking another half hour.
4. A loaf of fresh Italian bread goes well with a hot bowl of this soup.