Superbowl Grub Take I: Sausage and Chicken Lentil Soup

Can I just say that I love lentil soup?  It's versatile, cheap, and delicious. You can do basically anything you want, and it always turns out fantastically. So, what a perfect soup for the Superbowl! Low maintenance, self-serve, stays warm for hours. Yes, please.

I combined two different recipes, one from Budget Bytes, and one from Food Network, and used already cooked sausage and chicken (leftovers from my grandmother's spaghetti sauce I told you about earlier). This can easily adapted to cook meat in the soup, or be vegetarian.  Easy peasy.

Ingredients:
1lb lentils, picked over and drained (hint: bulk lentils are cheaper than the 1lb bags, if that's even possible).
4 stalks of celery (about half a bunch)
3 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 box vegetable stock
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
2 sausage links, sliced
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
water

Directions:
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot.
Chop onion, carrots, and celery, and add to hot oil.
Mince garlic and add to pot.
Stir veggies until desired softness (remember that they will continue to cook in the soup).
Add spices and stir.
Add lentils, tomatoes, and vegetable stock.
Add water until everything is covered plus a few inches.
Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer until lentils are mostly done (hint: if you test 5 different lentils, and all are done, the whole batch is done) adding water as necessary.
Add meat, and heat until warmed through.
Serve with some cornbread, and enjoy!