Sharing one of my passions

I LOVE to cook. I have so much fun making a yummy recipe and then getting the "this is amazing" reviews from the hubby. One of the things about cooking that I love is finding, trying and tweaking new recipes. I thought that I would share some of my favorites whether they are new ones I have found or the faithful recipes I have been raised on.

My goal in finding recipes is to find those that are healthy and relatively quick (like under 2 hours). I know it's probably crazy to start this when I am about a week away from my due date, and I am well aware I probably won't be posting new recipes on here for a couple weeks if not months. But I am hoping to be able to post a couple before his debut. It will give me something else to think AND post about until he does come! :)

So I thought that I would start with one of the faithful recipes that I was raised on. My mom always made dinners that were really healthy and because of her example, I want to raise my kids (and husband...hehe) the same way. Hence the reason that I try to only cook things that are good for us. This first one is not very glamorous or showy. It is just a hearty, HEALTHY soup that I love to add on to my recipe list. I hope you enjoy!

Moms hamburger vegetable soup

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

2-3 potatoes (don't peel), chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

1 celery stock, chopped (note: I sometimes add more if I have it on hand)

14 oz. can tomato sauce

3 cans water (note: I just put enough water to cover all the vegetables)

1-2 tsp. salt (note: one of the ways I try to make recipes more healthy is to cut down on salt. I usually put 1/2 tsp. and then salt to taste when you are ready to eat)

1 bay leaf (note: I put 2 in just for fun!)

1/4 cup barley

--Brown the meat and the onion together in your stock pot. After the meat and onions are cooked, add the tomato sauce. Add the chopped vegetables and then enough water to barely cover the vegetables. Add the salt, bay lead and barley. Cook on medium heat for 40 minutes.

I originally thought to post the recipes after I tried them for dinner and would therefore have a picture. But this recipe isn't planned to be consumed for 2 more weeks so I have no picture. Hopefully the next recipe I post will have a picture! This will force me to make dinners that taste AND look good! ;) Hope you enjoy it!!