Meat/Meatless Vegetable Soup

This is one of my (and now my family's) all-time favorite recipes.  It's a really simple, hearty soup that my mom used to make.  It's called Autumn Soup and I always can't wait for fall to come around so I can make it.  I've tried it many different ways to make this recipe meatless.  Generally, just omitting the meat in a recipe doesn't work, but for this one, I think it's just as good.  The trick is using a good bouillon base.  My recipe says this makes 2 large servings, but I'd say it's really more like 4.  Evan says he thinks it tastes even better the next day, and I agree.

Autumn Soup

1/2 lb ground beef (obviously omit this if you're doing a vegetarian version OR you can use a meat substitute.  I've made it with and without the meat substitute.  I'm not a huge fan of fake meat so I prefer it just with the veggies.)
1/2 C chopped onions (I increased this amount in the vegetarian version)
2 C hot water
3/4 C diced celery
3/4 C diced potatoes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
pinch of basil
3 whole tomatoes diced or 1 16 oz can diced tomatoes. (I didn't drain them when I made the vegetarian version)
1 beef bouillon cube (or 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base)

Small cans of vegetables-corn, peas, limas, green beans, black beans, pinto beans- whatever you like.  If you double the recipe like I always do (what else are you going to do with that other half a pound of ground beef?!) use a large (16 oz) can. When I made my veggie version I just used the 16 oz cans and even threw in some frozen veggies that I had in the freezer.

Brown meat and/or onion in soup pot.  Drain and add the remaining ingredients.  Put in a crock pot to simmer all day or simmer on the stove for several hours. (At least 2).

This is great with fresh bread or garlic bread.  I made my beer bread with it the other day.

1 1/2 C EACH of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 12 oz can or bottle of beer (not Evan's good stuff or he gets mad you "wasted" it)

Mix it all together and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Eat warm.