Beef & Barley Soup

I LOVE Sunday night dinners.... especially as the fall weather rolls in and I can start making soups, stews and all the 'comfort foods' I love!!

This past Sunday I had a craving for beef and barley soup... after looking through a few recipes, I tried BudgesBytes Beef and Barley Soup. It looked delicious plus she had pictures up of the step by step process. I LOVE blogs that do that- makes me feel more comfortable knowing mine sorta kinda looks as it should. I used a dutch oven and adjusted a few of the ingredients. Hope you enjoy... We sure did!!

Your shopping list

INGREDIENTS
1 lb.	beef stew meat
1 Tbsp	vegetable oil
1 med	onion
3-6 cloves	garlic
1 cup or 1 lb.	chopped carrots
1 cup or 1/2 bunch	celery
2 Tbsp	tomato paste
3 extra lg cubes	beef bouillon
6 cups	water
1 cup	uncooked barley
2 whole	bay leaves
3 sprigs/1 tsp	Thyme/dry thyme
4 medium (1.5 lbs)	red potatoes (optional)
to taste	salt and pepper

I ran out to the store between C's feedings and grabbed everything I needed to cook up a storm during his afternoon nap. (You can see my list in the middle!)

 

Cut the meat up into 1inch cubes (remember they are going into your SOUP so don't make them too big!) Throw them into your dutch oven with about 1 tsp of vegetable oil. First have the temperature quite high as you want to sear the outside of the meat, then lower it and cook for approximately 10 mins.

 

Cut your onion into small pieces and use a garlic press for your 3-6 cloves. (I would get this ready ahead of time... I tried to get it done while the meat was searing and there just wasn't enough time!!)

 

 

Cook the onions and garlic until they are soft (approx 3-5 mins).

 

 

While this is happening make sure your carrots and celery are cut into bite size pieces and throw them in.

 

•  Next add the tomato paste and stir it up really well until everything in your pot is covered in paste! Keep stirring, making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom. Continue for about 3-5 mins until it caramelizes a little.

 

 

Add 6 cups of water, the beef bouillon cubes, the thyme, bay leaves and barley bringing it all to a boil. Keep stirring to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.

 

Once boiled reduce heat and simmer for at least 45mins. (Mine was longer as my hubby was watching the end of the football game- Men!! :p)

 

 

Add the potatoes during the last 15-20mins. (I ended up adding more water at this point as the barley had soaked up a lot of it).  The meat, potatoes and barley should all be tender. (I say sample to find out!) Remove the bay leaves.

 

 

Yum! Delish!! Enjoy!!

 

 



Pumpkin seed roastin'

It's crazy that C's First Halloween has already come and gone! Halloween is my least favourite holiday but I really tried to get into the 'SpRit' this year.
I decorated the house and hosted a Halloween play date with all my mummy friends.



My Husband and I went to the local farmers market to get our pumpkins. We got C all dressed up for the gloomy day and headed out... only to leave the camera at home, which is just as well as he slept through the entire visit.



We had a blast carving the pumpkins and I had EVEN MORE fun digging out all the guts to get the seeds for roasting. I hit up a few Pinterest sites and found Oh She Glows had the best recipe. So I tried 'er out!

I set the table up with a plastic table cloth and all the equipment I'd need for "gutting".

 

1- Clean the seeds of ALL the pumpkin guts

 

 

2- Put them in a pot of boiling salty water for 10 mins. This is supposed to make the seeds easier to digest! They turn a little brown in colour but this doesn't seem to affect the taste.

 

 

3- Drain the seeds in a colander and pat them dry with paper towels or a tea towel. They stick a little once you've pat them down but that's ok. They don't have to be 'bone' dry just make sure you get most of the water off.

 

4- Drop the seeds on a baking sheet with some olive oil (I used about 1 tbsp) add some salt (I used rock salt). Now get down & dirty and mix it all in. Spread all the seeds out making sure, as best you can, that they don't overlap.

 

5- Roast the seeds at 325F for approximately 10mins. Take them out and mix them around (trying to flip them over if possible). Then put them back in for another 8-10mins. (This could vary a lot depending on your oven.) DO NOT over cook them... the seeds on the inside will cook a lot faster than their shells so you have to sample them to see if they're cooked... What a hardship!! :)

 

 

6- Eat Up!! I LOVE these little guys. They are jam-packed with iron, magnesium, fibre, zinc, potassium, healthy fats, protein, and tryptophan (which can boost your mood and help you sleep). They taste just like popcorn which is why my husband doesn't love them- Ah well, more for me!!