Country Hamburger Lentil Soup - Crock-Pot - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup dried lentils (I used a mix of red, brown, green and yellow)
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
8 ounces lean ground beef, browned
3 ounces celery, thinly sliced (3 stalks)
3 ounces baby carrots, thinly slieced (good-sized handful)
1/2 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups water
3 teaspoons beef bouillon
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 -2 bay leaf

Preparation

Brown ground beef.
Combine all ingredients in 4-5qt crock pot.
Cook on low at least 12 hours or high for 6 hours. I do a combination of high/low, when I made this I did low for 5 hours and high for 4 hours.
Remove bay leaves before serving.
*Note: when I saved the leftovers, I added another cup of water to prevent it from becoming too thick the next day. It made very yummy leftovers!