Beef Barley Soup...I Will Miss Thee

Well, it's spring time and it's warm out. We've been sleeping with our windows open and ceiling fans on. Woo hoo! Unfortunately, that means that my favorite winter food - SOUP - is no longer as appealing. Good thing is that over the last several months I have perfected my version of Beef, Barley & Vegetable Soup. It is, shall we say....scrumptious. The day after I made it the last time, I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know...but it's SO good. Brad is not really a soup guy. In fact, he told me this early on - probably because I always talked about soup and how much I love it. After finding this out, I made it my mission to find at least ONE soup that he would eat - and enjoy. Well, mission accomplished. Here it is. :) You can find the original recipe here at my favorite recipe site: allrecipes.com. Brad and I prefer a heartier soup with more meat and veggies and less watery broth, so we "beefed" it up a bit. (Pun intended - sorry.) Mine is a little thicker - probably more like a stew. Below is my version of this amazing one-pot meal. :)

Note: I am the kind of cook that doesn't necessarily follow recipes well - I just toss things in that happen to be in my fridge or spice cabinet. Below is a rough guesstimate of what I do.


Beef, Barley & Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
-6 large celery stalks, chopped
-6 large carrots, chopped
-1 large onion, chopped 
- 3-4lbs. stew meat (or cut up roast...your preference)
-2 T butter or olive oil
-2 cups beef broth
-1 cup tomato juice
-2 cups water
-1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes
-1/2 bag of frozen peas or 2 cans of green beans (whatever I have on hand)
-2 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. pepper
-2 tsp. garlic powder
-2 tsp. italian seasoning (the original recipe calls for basil, oregano, etc. I just save some time with one bottle)
-1 cup quick cooking barley 


Directions:
- In a stock pot, combine celery, carrots, onion, beef and butter/olive oil. Saute until veggies are tender and beef is mostly cooked through.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients except the barley. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the barley and wait about 15 minutes until soft. 
- If the soup is not as thick as I like, sometimes I add in a tablespoon or so of flour. 
- The longer you wait to eat the soup, the better it tastes - flavors really come out the next day.
- Enjoy!

P.S.  I got this dish scrubber from my sweet, sweet mother-in-law for one of my bridal showers. I use it all the time! It was so cute and it used to have a little lady's face on it. Based off this picture, raise your hand if you think I've done a few too many dishes. (Hand silently raised...)