Creole Vegetable Beef Soup

Creole Vegetable Beef Soup    

 Ingredients

 1 quart water

 1 pound lean beef stew meat, cubed (1-inch)

 1 (28 ounces) can diced tomatoes undrained or fresh tomatoes 

 1 (14 1/2 ounces) can stewed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes

 1 1/ 2 cups chopped onions

 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

 1/4 cup chopped Celery stalk

 3 cloves garlic, minced

 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

 1 bay leaf

 1/ 3 cup uncooked converted long-grain rice

 1 1/2 cups whole kernel corn, sliced fresh or frozen

 1 1/2 cups frozen okra (Thawed) or fresh

 Salt and pepper to taste

 Hot pepper sauce to taste

 You can also add carrots and potatoes to this recipe       

 Directions  

1. Combine all ingredients, except rice, corn, okra, salt, and pepper, 

in 6- quart slow cooker; cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, 

adding rice during last 2 hours and corn and okra during last 30 minutes. 

Discard bay leaf; season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce.