Sometimes, you’ve got to be flexible.

Things have been really crazy around my house lately: first, we moved into our new house, then there was travelling, activities, and, of course, all the fixing and other chores that come with home ownership. Now we’re pretty settled, but to add a little extra chaos to life, I had a birthday/Halloween party over the weekend. That was all fine & good, but there was one problem: for the Secret Recipe Club post, I had originally planned on making Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches, but proceeded to get such a sugar high at the party, I couldn’t bring myself to make/eat more sweets. I know: life is hard. However, the blog we were assigned, Fran’s Favs, has so many wonderful savory-type dishes, it was just what the doctor ordered. So, instead of pushing myself that much closer to diabetes, I decided to make Beef Barley Soup, and it was perfect for the cold, rainy weather we’ve been having!

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

• ¾ lb. beef tenderloin (or your favorite cut of beef), cut into small bite-sized pieces
• 1 tbl. butter (more if needed, or skip it if your beef is fatty)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• 8 cups water (unless you’re using stock, see below)
• 2 ribs celery (or other vegetable, I used zucchini), chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• ½ cup barley
•  beef bouillon cubes (or beef stock)
• 1 tsp. salt
• Ground pepper to taste

Melt butter in large saucepan and sauté beef, followed by onion.  Sprinkle with garlic powder and mix in.  Add water or stock (or some combination thereof) and bring to a boil.  While the soup is coming to a boil, add the celery, carrot, bouillon cubes and salt. I used zucchini instead of celery, because I don’t like celery (I know, I know), and if you do too, save the zucchini for the last 15 or so minutes of cooking  After it comes to a boil, lower it to simmer.  When the barley is tender (after about 45 minutes), add ground pepper to taste and serve.