Italian Tortellini Beef Soup

It has been rather chilly here in Northern Utah this week! As the Halloween Holiday winds down for tonight, I thought I would share a low fat soup recipe that I made for my little family this evening. I have really over indulged over the past month by eating way too much Halloween candy and desserts, so I thought it would be nice to feed my family of four a nice pot of Italian Soup. It is one of those soups that you don't have to feel gulity about eating. It is jammed packed with vegetables, bite sized Tortellini pasta and ground beef. I don't do a lot of cooking with ground beef any more because I prefer ground turkey for more healthy reasons. Most of the time I can't even tell the difference by substituting ground turkey in the place of ground beef. I did use ground beef tonight and it was a nice change. In this recipe I think you could use either ground turkey or beef. I found this recipe on another food lover's blog but I have tailored it for my family. This makes a huge pot of soup, so it is one that can be served at a dinner party or you can freeze individual portions for another lunch or dinner. I love meals that freeze!

I served this soup with a slice of Honey Wheat Bread. Hope this soup warms your soul and hopefully gets us all back on track after indulging in all those yummy Halloween Treats!

Happy Halloween!

Italian Tortellini Beef Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. of Ground Beef or Ground Turkey

1 1/2 t. minced garlic

1 onion, chopped (I used 1/2 c. dehydrated onions from my food storage)

salt and pepper

2 -14.5 cans of Italian Stewed Tomatoes

1- 14.5 can of diced tomatoes with chilies

1- 8 ounce can of tomato sauce

1- 6 oz. can of tomato paste

8 c. water

8 t. beef boulion

1 green pepper, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 c. carrots, you can use frozen or fresh

1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen green beans, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 can Kidney Beans, drained

1 c. zucchini, chopped into bite sized pieces

salt and pepper

1 pkg. of Italian Dressing Mix

1 can tomato soup

1-20 oz. package of frozen tortellini

Directions:

Brown ground beef, garlic, and onion in a skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.Place canned tomatoes into a blender and blend until smooth around 30-40 seconds. Next, place meat mixture, blended tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients into a pot. Hold off on adding the tomato soup or frozen tortellini (you will add these last two ingredients at the end of cooking process. Bring meat and tomato mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add tomato soup and tortellini to your pot of soup. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the tortellini is cooked. Enjoy!