Vegetable Beef Soup

Vegetable beef soup seems like the perfect winter soup, doesn't it? It's hearty and filling and delicious. Last week, I made plans to make some in the crock pot this past Saturday. Of course, I didn't get things started until mid-afternoon. Not surprising. Unfortunately, I had to adapt my plans. The recipe I chose to use came from the aforementioned crock pot cookbook my parents gave me. Here it is:

1 lb. stew meat
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, sliced
3 celery ribs, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
3 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1.5 cups frozen mixed vegetables

-Combine first three ingredients in the crock.
-Cover. Cook on high six hours.
-Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on high two hours more, or until meat and veggies are tender.

So... when I realized that there was no way I would have this ready by dinner, I called my mom to ask her how to best switch this to be a stove top situation. She had me brown the stew meat and then simmer it in water (with some bouillon) for almost two hours. I almost burned the meat, but I saved it. After that, I added everything else and simmered that for a while. I decided to add barley (why not?) and added a cup and a half about thirty minutes before dinner was ready.

 

I think that the soup turned out pretty beautifully. Boyfriend liked it, which is always a good thing. The barley sucked up all of the broth after the first time we ate it, so now it is super thick, but I can live with it for leftovers.

If you want some comfort food, you should make this. For. Real. I am usually a stickler for following recipes, so it was concerning when I had to deviate to make this work for the stove. Ack. I'm glad I did, though. *cue triumphant music* 

YES! HORNBERGER**!!!!

**haha**