Half Moons Soup with roasted onions and garlic

I had noticed the theme of “one word” around blogtown for a couple of years now. It is not new, but it is new each time it is presented. New again because when you first saw it but did not take action, it went off your radar. Then when you read about it again and made a decision to act, it became new for you. New because you did something, you came up with your word.

The timing was perfect when I noticed it on Sidewalk Shoes. Pam writes a delightful, friendly, down to earth, comfortable, this is me and I’m OK with it, blog. I read Sidewalk Shoes regularly and Pam always has something good to say or something good to eat. I read her blog and many others over coffee, a nice relaxing way to start my day.

When you look around for a few years or 40, we each are all at a different, but same place. That same place would be “in progress”. Where I stand in progress would be different spot than where you stand in progress. But you see, we really are all in the same place. We are all in progress.

Meaning, we are all in the progress of living. 

There are duplicate patterns as well as the sharing of sameness. You could live across the street or across the country and the matching patterns would still exist. There are the early years where we upsize, and the middle or later years where we downsize. Or possibly the troubled years where we might have to downsize for cash. It does not matter there will be a shared sameness. The sharing of sameness has been around forever, just a few short years ago downsizing was called “the empty nest syndrome”.  And I do believe upsizing was referred to as, just starting out.

But back to one word…….

Picking one word can be hard. This one word will help define your life for one year. So you will want to remember it, and use it daily. This is not like more work, so have no fear. Also, don't worry, it's not like there are one-word police on patrol, ready to write a ticket,  so your safe to play along. But still, picking that one defining word is important. And it is all about you, your next year and what you want to happen. Fun stuff, and I was so ready this time! My word is enough, as in…….

worried enough, stop because more won’t help.

worked hard enough, go home to your life. 

haven’t played enough, go and have some fun.

warm enough, fed enough, and comfortable enough, be proud of your accomplishment.

Whew, all of that is going to be nice. I have only worked about 40 years to get here, but enough complaining already! Evidently I was not ready before, because if I had, I would not be here today. Either that or I was real busy upsizing and having my babies! I guess I was finally ready, and for that I am  thankful.

This also relates to my kitchen. Some days I like involved recipes, some days, meh not so much. 

On those meh days, my favorite throw together meal is soup. The only negative side is that often times I don’t write it down, when it is gone, it’s gone. However I did decide to play with some ground beef and meatballs for a bone broth soup with tomatoes, celery, carrots and barley. I often reach for these ingredients, they are pantry staples and I love them together in soup. Soup makes a great meal, for us, for my lunches and for just me when Honey is on the late shift.

I think meat balls can be overrated, especially for soup. Often times when you brown them they get flat sided. After that they’re not balls, so you might as well take the easy route and make this.

Half Moon Soup with roasted onions and garlic

1 # lean ground beef

2 eggs

2 slices bread, crumbled

1/2 t salt

fresh ground pepper

herb or herb blend of choice (I used some homemade Bay Leaf Seasoning)

1/3 (approximate) c milk

1 - 2 large onion2, 1/2 inch dice

4 – 8 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

olive oil

Break eggs into large bowl, beat. Crumble bread and scatter over eggs, pour on the milk. Crumble the raw beef, season with salt, pepper and herbs if desired. Stir with a fork until well mixed. Allow meat mixture to stand for about 3 – 5 minutes while preheating the broiler.

Using a medium ( 1 T size) cookie scoop, scoop meat into “half moon” scoops and place on a prepared baking pan. Broil until brown, 5-8 minutes.

You may also turn over and brown other side if desired. 

Remove the cooked meat from baking pan, scatter onion and garlic over sheet into a single layer.

Drizzle with olive oil. Broil 4-5 minutes, stir, rearrange and continue to broil until golden brown. If you want a rich roasted onion flavor, use both onions and roast longer.

In a large crock pot, place the following:

1 c pearl barley

4 ribs celery sliced

4 carrots, diced if large, sliced is slender

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

the cooked meat

the roasted onion/garlic mixture

beef bone stock/water to within 1 inch from top of crock
and if desired, one of the following:

1 bunch kale, remove ribs, diced 1/2 inch OR
2 c green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces OR
1 c frozen green peas OR
3-4 c chopped green cabbage

Cover and cook on high for 4 – 6 hours or until done.

Simple, tasty and enough to invite the neighbors or some family or both.

As always, thanks for taking a moment to stop and say hello.

I appreciate your visits and comments.