Weekend Warriors+ Beef Barley Soup

Last weekend was Rifle Deer opening day, AND we were home for the first weekend in the last 7 AND it snowed, so out came my inner Suzy, Suzy homemaker that is. 

         

We were planning on getting the rest of our yard work done, you know, leaf pick up, cut plants down, mow, and blow out the sprinklers..... so much for that.

                      Then the husker game got a little boring..... so I headed to the kitchen......I made Whole Wheat Pumpkin  Bread. The recipe I used was really naughty....  a lot of sugar and oil..... working on a variation of it that's a bit healthier to share! Stay tuned.

Caught up on the "Favorite Things" edition of O magazine!

      Sunday: Before Kyle went out hunting again, it was time for some weekend warrior projects.....

We  Kyle hung some new shelves in our bathroom. I love the double sinks in our bathroom, but seriously cannot stand the lack of counter space.... If you're a girl who has a lot of stuff when it comes to hair and makeup, I would not recommend double vanity sinks for your bathroom.

Then it was time to fill an empty wall with a little collage, this wall had been the home 

of various icky art pieces in the past. Sorry Kyle the native/cowboy/horse art work is not my thing......This wall will probably be taken out in the next few months to open up our kitchen, so why not put a few holes in it in the mean time!?

 Kyle went back out to hunt for deer and I headed back to the kitchen to figure Sunday night dinner. 

 I decided on Beef Barley Soup, which is one of the soups my mom makes that I LOVE. I didn't have the recipe on hand so I threw what I could remember of it together and it went something like this. 

                                         Beef Barley Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound hamburger

Salt + Pepper to taste

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes

3 Carrots, cut coin style

1 package of diced mushrooms

1 medium yellow onion

2 teaspoons of minced Garlic

2 cups corn

1.5 cups of quick cooking Barley

1 can tomato paste

HOW TO:

Add 2 TBSP of Olive Oil, chopped onion and Garlic and saute in pot on medium until transparent

in same pot add beef, and brown with onion and garlic- Season meat with S+P and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Add package of mushrooms and saute until tender

Add cut carrots (cut coin style) and saute for a few minutes

Add Can of Diced tomatoes

add 5-6 cups of water

add can of tomato paste

add about 1/4 cup or so of Worcestershire sauce ( I added it to taste)

Add S+P to taste

I used frozen corn again from our friends farm that we processed this summer

Add Barley to taste, I added about 1.5 cups

Bring to boil, then bring down to low and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes until ready to serve

Serving suggestions: I served it with hot whole wheat oat bread and sprinkled the soup with the asiago cheese blend, because everything is better with a sprinkle of cheese! 

The soup turned out great, Kyle said it was even better than my moms Beef Barley recipe.... Sorry Mom!