Beef Barley Soup

Today was cold and dreary, which is horrible weather to be having in June when I want to be out in the garden, but what can you do?

This is simply a variation on Beef Barley Soup.  I don’t usually add tomato paste but it was an interesting change of pace.

Here is the "recipe":

- About 2 cups of diced BBQ’s steak

- Two large baked potatoes, the pulp scooped out, and the peeling saved

- One Corn on the cob kernelled

- ¾ cup of BBQ’d mushroom and onion medley

- One 156mL/5.5 Fl oz can on Tomato Paste

- 6 Cups of beef broth

- ½ Cup of Pot Barley

- 2 Tbsp each of Fresh Parsley and fresh thyme

- Black Pepper to taste

All the above ingredients were placed in a slowcooker and turned on high for 30 minutes and then tuned to low for 6 or more hours.  I served it with freshly baked bread, of course!

*Bonus: Remember those empty potato skins I saved?  Sprinkled with bacon, green onions and cheese, then broiled for a couple of minutes = YUMMMMMY!


Shepherd’s Pie

I still had two ears of corn and one steak to do something with.  I could have froze them and created something with them later, but I had the time today to do something with them.  So that’s what I did, then I froze the Shepherd’s Pie to use at a later date.

I had used all of my potatoes in the soup, so I had to boil and mash some more.  I also used all of the BBQ’s mushroom and onion medley in the soup, so I slice an onion as well.

I diced the last large BBQ’d steak and mixed it and the sliced onion with a package of mushroom gravy mix.  I layered the kernelled corn on top of the meat mixture and then the freshly boiled and mashed potatoes on top of the corn.

I let everything cool in the fridge and then packaged it with saran wrap and tin foil.  I marked clearly what it was, when it was assembled, when it should be used by, and in the freezer it went.  Ready for a hectic day in the future!

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!