Soup, bread and chopping celery

I LOVE soup.  It's been a staple in my diet for many years.  My mom used to make large amounts of baked potato, black bean and other various soups for me and freeze them so I could take then with me to Columbia.  That was back when I never cooked for myself and sometimes didn't have enough money for all my basics, like food.  There is nothing like a bowl of soup to warm you on a cold rainy day.  We've been having a lot of cold wet weather here. No, its not snow. It's just miserable wet and cold.  Though it doesn't matter too much, to me though, I will eat soup anytime any place.

Buying vegetables at the commissary (grocery store) on Okinawa is quite the experience.  You never know whats going to be there and you never know if it will be worth buying.  A small bag of potatoes costs $10.  We eat a lot of rice.  The most consistent well priced types I've come across are carrots, celery and zucchini. It's lucky that zucchini is so cheap since it's my favorite. The carrots and celery come in prepackaged bags.  I honestly can't remember how much everything costs back home because I didn't do much grocery shopping for myself.  I do some chopping and freezing.  It's easy to do with those two vegetables and they make great ingredients for soup.  It might be more logical to buy already frozen or canned veggies. I do buy frozen for certain items like spinach and broccoli and canned for tomatoes and mushrooms.  It all depends on cost effectiveness and flavor. 

 This is my second attempt at this recipe and while its not as pretty as the first its much more filling and delicious.  The link is to the original recipe but I have highly modified the recipe so I have included my exact version. The recipe is great for left overs.

Mushroom Barley Soup

1 cup barley

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1cup carrot chopped

1 1/2 cup celery chopped

3 small cans of mushrooms

5 cups chicken broth or beef broth

a dash of red wine vinegar

two bay leaves

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stir in the onions, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent. Stir in mushrooms, bay leaf and barley, and cook 5 minutes more.

Pour in broth, and bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium or medium-low, and continue simmering 30 minutes or until tender.

Another thing easy and great recipe is Beer Bread.  I made it a few times with my mother when I was younger and found a recent post by Food Blogga that reminded me how easy and quick it is.

 Basic Beer Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 (12-ounce) bottle beer, preferably dark, such as porter or stout (don't use light beer)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat and 8-by-4-inch or 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. Pour into pan. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until top is golden broan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely.

Yup it is just that easy.  No yeast, no fuss. I think I'm going to eat some right now.