Wonderful Crockpot Smells in Here Tonight

The batch I’m cooking overnight tonight already smells great. Usually it takes until around 1 or 2 a.m. for me to really smell that great crockpot aroma. Tonight, it’s only been on 2-1/2 hours.

This one’s a sort of beef/barley/veggie soup. 

First I tossed in a can of diced tomatoes, followed by 2 small pieces of beef/steak someone had given me (each about the size of a deck of cards - not big, but big enough for flavor), then sweet potatoes (4, peeled and diced), then a bag of frozen string beans, followed by an onion, a bell pepper and 4 large ribs of celery. Along the way, after each layer, I tossed in 1/4 of the cup of barley. Oh, and I topped it all with a splash, a generous splash, of Worcestershire sauce that’s been in the closet since my nephew (who used it on everything including mashed potatoes) passed on.

I’ve learned, after using dried barley a few times, to sort of layer it thinly. Otherwise, I end up with some golf-ball-size glob-like barley balls.

This was in answer to my wanting some beef stew but I’ll settle for a sort of soup. Hopefully, the barley will do its usual job of slightly thickening the broth. I no longer use flour or cornstarch for that. So, after defrosting the little pieces of beef, I just went rummaging around in the pantry closets and the freezer and the veggie drawers.

Looking forward to this tomorrow.