Soup

[SmileyEH]

I've never made a real soup before. Right now I've got the following cooking based on a soup my friend made for me last week.

3 smallish yellow onions
half a red pepper
4 carrots
2 yellow squash
3 things of garlic
about 1.5lbs of stewing beef.

First I browned the onions in some olive oil, added the pepper and carrots after about 15 minutes and sauted them all for about 5minutes with some salt and italian seasoning (basil, parsley, other good stuff).

I browned the beef in some olive oil and butter seasoned with cayenne, chili pepper and salt.

Once the beef was browned I added all the veggies and put a few cups of water into the pot. Seasoned with lots of thyme, salt, black pepper and a few bay leaves.

I'm going to let the soup simmer for about 40 mins, add the squash and let it simmer for another 20-30 mins.

How does my soup sound OOT chefxperts? I basically just went for easy and simple with stuff I had in the kitchen. Anyone else got some great recipes?