Hamburger Barley Soup

Being snowed in today calls for a pot of soup on the stove and a cake in the oven!  I love having a pot of soup simmering on the stove all day.  After several pots of Chicken Noodle Soup this winter, I think we're due for a nice, hearty beef soup.  Wanting to use what I have in the freezer, I decided to try making a barley soup using ground beef instead of the beef cubes I usually use.  The result seemed to be a cross between Hamburger Soup and Beef Barley Soup.  So good for this cold day.

Hamburger Barley Soup 

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 lb. ground beef 
• 2 celery ribs, diced 
• 2 potatoes, diced 
• 1 onion, diced 
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 6 cups beef broth 
• 1-2 cups water 
• 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning 
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbs. Ketchup
• 2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce 
• 2 tsp. Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt 
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper 
• 3 cups frozen vegetables 
• 1/2 cup barley 

Directions: 

• In a large pot or dutch oven, cook ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink.  Drain grease.  
• Add the fresh vegetables, stock, water seasonings and sauces.  
• Bring to boil.  Cover and reduce heat.  
• Allow to simmer for about 1/2 hour or until the vegetables start to become tender.  
• Stir in the frozen vegetables and the barley.  
• Allow to cook for another 30 minutes - 40 minutes.  
• Remove bay leaf and serve.  

Notes:  

• I love how easy it is to throw this soup together but did consider how much quicker it would come together if I had used pre-cooked ground beef from the freezer.
• I used 3/4 lb. of ground beef to help keep the cost down on this soup, like I tend to do with a lot of recipes lately.  But this soup is so full of veggies and barley, you could really just use 1/2 lb. without noticing.