I thought I would pass along this recipe (I use the term loosely) for beef & barley soup that I recently made. Although it was an incredibly simple recipe, the family (my wife, Steph, along with our kids Sylvia, 6, and Henry, 4) loved it. I made a ton of it, planning to freeze half of it, but after four days, there wasn’t any left – the most telling sign that I had success in the kitchen. I didn’t follow a recipe, or measure anything, but here’s an estimation of everything;

4-5 cubes beef bullion
2 tablespoons of concentrated beef stock (the kinds that you mix with water)
3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
½ of an onion
1 box of quick barley
1 pound of hamburger
1 pound (probably just little more) of stew meat
2 tablespoons of black pepper (honestly, the only spice I used)
some garlic (for browning the meat)
some olive oil (for browning the meat)
enough water to fill the stock up to about 3-4 inches from the top (our stock pot is a foot tall and covers the burner)

Brown the meat with some garlic and a little bit of olive oil. Drain the meat and add it to the stock pot. Cut up the vegetables and add them to the stock pot along with everything else. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2-3 hours adding the barley 10 minutes before you’re done. That’s it, simple and easy and done in one pot – my favorite way to cook.