Spicy Soup



1 pound ground beef

4 medium carrots -- scraped and cubed

4 cups potatoes -- peeled and cubed

1 small onion -- chopped

3 8 oz cans tomato sauce

4 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

1/2 - 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce



I use 5 carrots. It normally takes 7 medium sized potatoes to make 4

cups.



CROCKPOT: Put hamburger in crock and place in microwave and cook on

full power for about 4 minutes. Take crock out and mash up hamburger

with potato masher (the old fashioned kind, not the newer round kind);

put back in microwave and nuke for another 4 minutes, take out and

repeat mashing process; return to microwave for another 2 minutes. I

used hamburger that was 90% lean so there was really no fat to drain

off. Put crock into the crockpot. Add carrots and potatoes. Put

some of the water from the 4 cups in the blender and put the onion in

there and chop it up; pour into crockpot. Pour in tomato sauce; use

some of the remaining 4 cups of water to rinse out the cans and pour

into soup. Add salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce (I used 1 teaspoon

of Louisiana Hot Sauce). Stir well. Turn crockpot on high and cook

for about 3 hours on high. Reduce setting to low and cook for another

5 hours. Stir the soup often. IT IS WONDERFUL WITH CORNBREAD AND A

GLASS OF MILK.



TOP OF STOVE: In a Dutch oven or large kettle, brown ground beef.

Drain. Add potatoes, carrots, onion and tomato sauce. Stir in water,

salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and

simmer for 1 hour (Barbara said she let it cook for more than 1 hour)

or until the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened.



YIELD: 6-8 servings -- 2 quarts