Hamburger Soup

Saturday was one of those awful early Spring days where the prior week had been gorgeous outside and the kids were running around all week outdoors and playing with all the toys that had been locked up in the garage all winter long...and then in the blink of an eye Saturday was cold and rainy and we were all locked up inside again. The kids sat at the window, asking to go out and ride their bikes and all I could think of was curling up in a blanket and hiding until the sun came out again. That's the thing about kids though, they are immune to the temperature outside. Whether it is 100 degrees or -10 degrees, they don't care! All they care about is being able to exert all that energy they build up in their sleep.
So at lunch time I pulled myself from the comfort of my blanket to make some comfort in a bowl! Hamburger soup I think is basically spaghetti in a bowl. With spaghetti being my favorite food...I sneak into our weekly menu any way I can.

Hamburger Soup

1 tbls olive oil
1 whole medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 whole carrots, thinly sliced
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbls dried basil
1 tbls dried parsley
1 tbls dried oregano
2 quarts canned tomatoes
1 tbls beef bouillon
2-4 cups water, depending on how thin you'd like it
2 cups small noodles

heat oil in large stock pot. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Sauté for a few minutes until veggies are tender-crisp and then add the ground beef. Begin to brown beef and then add salt, pepper, basil, parsley, and oregano. Cook until beef is brown and then add stewed tomatoes, beef broth and water.
Bring to boil and let cook for 5-10 minutes over medium heat. Skim grease from top and let cook another 5 minutes.
Add noodles.
Let cook until noodles are tender. Serve with warm bread.