Mom's Beef Barley Soup

This is a classic favorite and one of the first meals I used to prove that I could cook in college. And I could. I made this, oatmeal bread and pan fried chicken breasts. And the occasional batch of brownies. Thank you Sorella Goebel, (my second mission companion) for showing me a higher way! Poor mom tried but I just wasn't willing to learn.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb beef chuck or round, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 yukon gold potatoes, diced
8 white button mushrooms, washed and chopped
1/4 C pearl barley
1 pkg lipton beefy onion soup mix
salt and pepper

Saute beef, onion and garlic for five minutes. Add soup mix, barley, and water. Let simmer for at least two hours.

In olive oil in a separate pot, saute chopped vegetables. Add to beef mixture and let simmer about an hour.

"When I make this soup, I do all the chopping first thing in the morning, and let the beef and barley simmer. Then I saute and add the vegetables to let the soup finish in time for lunch. For a really tasty soup, make it one day and serve the next." - Mom