Veggie and Barley Soup

This was a great crockpot meal from this week. It is a hearty vegetarian soup. If you want a sweeter soup, try sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. It makes a big pot of soup, but makes great leftovers!

Ingredients:
• 1 cup medium pearl barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 9-oz. pkg. baby carrots
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups frozen green beans
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 (14 oz). cans vegetable broth
• 4 cups water
• 14-oz. can diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained

Preparation:
Place all ingredients except tomatoes in a 5-6 quart crockpot in the order given. Do not stir. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir soup and add tomatoes. Cover crockpot and cook for 10-15 minutes longer until soup is hot. Remove bay leaf before serving. 10 servings

February Meal Planning

I can't believe another month has passed. I am hoping to blog a little better this month. I changed things just a bit in this month's planning. I have reduced it to five meals a week instead of six. We still eat in six nights a week, but I have a couple of things put back for quick fixes or leftovers for a night. We have enjoyed the meals together this month. After the busy month of December, it has been nice to have things getting back to normal. The test will be continuing it another month.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/70948616/Gordon-Meal-Planning-February-2011