Homemade Crab Soup

I love all recipes I have ever tried with blue crab meat (and Old Bay!)...crab dip, crab cakes, crab soup...you name it, I probably like it. One soup that always worried me was crab soup (not cream of crab, but the veggie-based one). I've never been a huge fan of vegetable soup and don't really make it so when I decided to make it for my family Christmas get together, I was a little concerned it would turn out alright. Thankfully with a little help from my mom, I came up with this recipe and loved every bit!

Maryland Crab Soup with Old Bay
(all organic ingredients)

7 c chicken broth/stock (homemade if possible)
1 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, sliced
2-3 small potatoes, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1/2 c frozen peas
1 1/2 lb crab meat (best to use your own picked from crabs but I used Philip's claw meat this time when it was on sale and MUCH cheaper than the "special" crab meat, which it my opinion is not better and often has more shells. You could easily use less crab meat, but why??)
1-2 T Old Bay seasoning to taste (I tend to add less since you can always add it individually to taste when eating)

Place first 5 ingredients in large soup pot and bring to gently boil until potatoes start to soften. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until all veggies are cooked.

Eat right away or freeze. In my opinion it is better the next day :)
We enjoyed the soup with homemade soft pretzels (I ate some gf ones leftover from a previous night. I will share the recipe soon, but not quite right yet).