Frickin' Fabulous Friday Soup

I decided that's what I am calling it, since it was Friday and I was in a good mood and the soup was fabulous. What can I say, I am not that good with names (Lord, help my children). Things have been pretty stressful, personal family stuff with my brother is happening and its heartbreaking, but Friday was a day of accomplishment and I felt a little lighter inside. So...I was all for celebrating with some tasty goodness. I miss my mom's 15 bean soup, however, being in a winging it mode I didn't HAVE the 15 bean soup, so I did what I could to simulate. Mom also always put sausage in hers but I only had ground beef....I know this is sounding less and less like her recipe right? But it was the inspiration. And it is a nummy soup! So, here you go, Ma, I think you'll like this one too! (BTW I used a crockpot)

Frickin' Fabulous Friday Soup
Dump the following into a crockpot:

• 1/3 Bottle of Red Wine
• 1 can Beef Broth
• 1 can Kidney Beans
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 can White Northern Beans
• 1 can Stewed Tomatoes
• 3 Celery sticks, chopped
• 2 cups baby Carrots
• 1 chopped Ortega Chili
• 1/4 c. chopped, fresh Cilantro
• 3 shakes of Fennel Seed
• 3 shakes of Cumin Seed
• 2 shakes of Chopped Bay Leaf
• 1 shake Coriander
• 3 shakes of Sea Salt

Take 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef and brown in a pan with dried garlic and dried onion, drain the fat, and add to the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on High for 4-6 hours or Low for 8-10.  

*I added some Franks Red Hot to my bowl, to taste, and that made it just perfect rounding out the flavors of the broth very nicely.

(This has enough protein in it with all the beans you could probably have it stand alone in a vegetarian version too, just change the broth, nix the beef, and maybe add some garbonzos or something....I dunno, my sister-in-law is better at that sort of thing, you can ask her over at So Many Veggies So Little Time. I'm just a noob.)