Vegetable Soup (not vegetarian)

One of my favorite things about the cold months of the year is eating soups and stew.  When we lived in the Charleston area of South Carolina, it never got really cold, so it always seemed strange to be eating soup or stew when it was 65 degrees out.  Now that we are in Utah, I look forward to the cold weather so I can eat soup that will warm me up.

I had surgery last year and a nice woman brought us a big pot full of vegetable soup.  By the time I recuperated and finished working full time, the weather was warmer and I didn't think of the soup again until this past fall.  I searched the Internet for the "perfect" vegetable soup.  I ended up taking some portions from several different recipes.  This is the one I came up with.  The good thing about vegetable soup is that you can put in pretty much any vegetable that you have on hand.  This recipe probably makes about 20 bowlfuls. 

Tips:
1.Sometimes you may have to add more liquid if it has been sitting a few days because the liquid soaks into the pasta.
2. If you don't want to eat that much soup over a week, you may half the recipe.  Follow the directions for step one.  Reserve half the broth and freeze it for the next time you would like to make the soup, or for another recipe that calls for broth.

Ingredients:
water/broth
soup bones (mine were pork)
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
12-15 quartered small red potatoes
two cups cut up carrots
one onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
1/2 lb green beans, cut into bite size pieces
1 small head broccoli, cut into small pieces
1/2 small bag frozen corn
1 box wheat penne pasta
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Italian spices to taste

Directions:
1. Use a large soup pot to make this soup.  Mine is a 14 quart stockpot.  Fill the stockpot up halfway with water or broth (vegetable or chicken).  Add soup bones and cook on low for 5 hours.  Remove the bones and set aside.

2. Add all your vegetables to the pot.  Remove meat from the bones and add to soup. Boil over med-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer on low until potatoes are done (about 30-40 minutes).  Add pasta a cook according to box directions over med-high heat.  Add spices to your liking.