Meatball Soup

We are cutting back on processed foods and trying to save a little money along the way. Meatball soup is hearty, delicious and makes a huge batch of soup. Perfect for freezing for a future meals, packing lunch and busy families.
Meatball Soup
2 pounds of meatballs that are bite sized and baked in the oven at 400ºF for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool down while you prepare the rest of the soup.
In a LARGE stock pot, with a lid, turn on the stove to medium heat and add:
2 Tablespoons oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
**Let the onions cook for 3-5 minutes
Add:
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
**stir and cook an additional 5-10 minutes to help soften the vegetables
Add:
two cloves minced garlic or 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
28 ounces tomato sauce
28 ounces diced tomatoes
6 ounces tomato paste
12 cups beef broth
3 bay leaves (remove before serving)
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons dried parsley or 4 Tablespoon fresh parsley
**Optional: 2 Tablespoons Better than Bouillon beef (this is a bit salty so do not add extra salt at this time)
Add the meatballs to the stockpot
**Bring to a low boil, then drop the heat to medium-low and cook the soup for 30 minutes or more to cook the potatoes and carrots
**Taste and adjust seasoning (add more if needed to your personal liking- just be careful with this as you can't take seasoning away)
Add:
12 ounces fresh or frozen green beans (I often cut them into smaller pieces)
**Cook for an additional 15 minutes and the soup is ready
This makes a lot of soup, so if serving with noodles added, make the noodles separately. Noodles get funky if in leftover soup and the soak up too much broth. I cook egg noodles, add a bit of oil or butter after draining and server in the soup by adding a scoop of noodles in the bottom of each bowl and topping the noodles with the hot soup.