Veggie Beef Soup: Cheater recipe (includes frozen/canned ingredients)

I love cooking with fresh ingredients, and I try to make at least 3-4 meals a week in which all of the major ingredients are fresh. That said, sometimes it's been a hard day, and I just don't feel up to dicing a pound of tomatoes. For other recipes, certain ingredients aren't in season at the same time. For soups, stews and sauces, canned or frozen ingredients can be an acceptable (but not ideal) substitute for the real thing. I wouldn't want to serve that kind of cooking to a guest, but my family and I still enjoy eating it.

one pound ground chuck
two pounds red potatoes
one yellow onion
one can diced tomatoes
one pound frozen mixed vegetables
two cups tomato juice
two cups water
one half-teaspoon salt

I like to cook this in a Lodge 5-quart dutch oven, since you can brown the ground chuck right in the bottom and not dirty up another pan, but if you don't have a dutch oven, use a medium skillet and any stewing pot or saucepan 5 quarts or larger.

Peel and dice the potatoes and dice the onion. Brown and drain the ground chuck, stirring in the diced onion. Place the meat and onions into the pot (unless you're using a dutch oven - yay easy cleanup!) and add the diced potatoes, canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, tomato juice, water and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Let it simmer, uncovered, for an hour or two, stirring every fifteen minutes or so. When the potatoes are soft, it's done.

Yes, we cheated by using canned tomatoes and frozen vegetables, but we still managed to make a large pot of hearty soup that really hits the spot on a chilly day!
All that goes in the big soup pot, on medium-low, for an hour or two (or in the crock pot on low all day), stirring occasionally. Good eats!