Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

I made this soup over the weekend to take in my lunch this week and next. It made a lot so I probably could get 8-10 days out of it. It is a bit bland so I will add more seasoning next time.

Vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb beef chuck, cut in 3/4" cubes (I used pre cubed stew meat)
1 medium onion, chopped (our onion was bad so I just used some onion flakes)
4 cans beef broth (I used two boxes low sodium)
1 can (28-35 oz) plum tomatoes (I used crushed)
2 cups water (I used a little less water and more broth)
1 bay leaf*
1/4 tsp dried thyme*
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb carrots, peeled and diced
1 lb red poatoes, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, diced (opps, I just realized I forgot this-I even bought some)
1 pkg frozen peas
1 pkg frozen corn (I used a can-drained)
Barley (I think I used 1/2 cup)

Brown beef in vegetable oil. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes, water, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes. Once it came to a boil I added the barley and cooked it unti lthe barley was tender.

Add carrots, potatoes, and celery, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add peas and corn and cook 15 minutes.

*I didn't have the right seasoning so I added some thyme, parsley, and Italian seasoning. I would just make this part up, use whatever seasoning you like.

As I'm sure you can tell this was a real recipe that I just adapated to what I wanted and had around the house. It would be great without the meat or with additional vegetables. It is a basic vegetable beef soup. It worked well for me and was a lot more cost effective than buying 8 cans of $2 soup.