Hearty Vegetable Barley Soup

1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
6-7 cups water
1 14 1/2 oz. can stewed/diced tomatoes
1/2 cup uncooked barley
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
2 bouillon cubes
1/2 t dried basil
1 bay leaf
1 9 oz. pkg. frozen veggies

In a large pot brown ground beef, onion, and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients except the frozen veggies. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Add the frozen veggies and cook on low heat until heated through. Remove the bay leaf, and enjoy! This makes a bunch of soup, so freeze the leftovers and you will have a quick and easy dinner one night!

My friend that gave me this recipe usually makes it using left overs from Sunday dinner. You can replace the ground beef with roast left overs, and throw in any peas, corn or carrots you may have left over. The California Blend of frozen veggies is what I use, but you can use whatever your family will like! Also you can adjust the amount of water depending on how runny you want your soup, but remember the barley soaks up a lot!!