Crock-Pot Creamy Vegetable Soup

This is a great meal for a cold day that you don't want to have to spend all day cooking. What better way to end a cold day than with a warm bowl of soup, and it's healthy too!

This recipe makes about 10 cups of soup, and takes 8-10 hours to cook, so you'll have plenty of time to go out and do something while it cooks. Just saute a few ingredients, and then combine everything in the crock pot to cook. I made some homemade bread in my bread machine, so we had nice hot bread with our soup, and it was delicious!

Crock-Pot Creamy Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

4 medium potatoes, cubed

1 cup green beans

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup broccoli florets

14.5 oz can Kidney beans

2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 cups chicken broth

8 oz pkg. cream cheese

Steps:

1. Saute garlic and onion in olive oil over medium heat. Add celery and bell pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes, then place in crock pot.

2. Add the rest of the vegetables, beans, and spices to the crock pot.

3. Pour the chicken broth over the other ingredients in the crock pot and lay the cream cheese on top.

4. Cook on high for 2 hours, then turn down to low for 6-8 hours. Stir to mix cream cheese before serving.