In an effort to cook more efficiently, lately I’ve been trying to prepare meals that keep well in the freezer. The plan is to make large portions, eat some and freeze the rest. After a bit of searching around, I ran across a few recipes that seemed interesting and would store well. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of meals designed to keep one person fed for weeks. Here’s what you’ll need to put it together.

2 lbs. of beef cubes
2 T of oil
6 cups water
1 T salt
1 T black pepper
4 Cloves Garlic
2/3 cup pearl barley
2 Cups chopped onions
1/2 lbs. of sliced mushrooms
1 sliced bell pepper

Start by placing the oil in a large pan and bringing it up to temp over medium heat. Place the beef in the pan and cook until browned. Next, add 2 cups of water to the pan, cover with a tight fitting lid, and simmer for 60 minutes. Now add the barley, salt, pepper, garlic and the rest of the water to the pan, cover, and simmer for another 30 minutes. I know all this simmering seems to be eating up a lot of time, but trust me, its necessary to tenderize those tough beef cubes. After the second simmer, add the onions, mushrooms and bell pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, we are ready to eat. Simply spoon into a bowl and you are ready to show down. To freeze, allow to cool then place in tupperware and make sure the lid snaps tight. This should keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When eating this for the first time, I immediately thought this would work better as a soup/stew. I think with a bit of hot broth, this could be even better and I plan to try that soon. I’ll let you know how it comes out. For now though, its a good, hearty, filling meal that’s most welcome at the end of a long, cold, winter day.

Enjoy,
-E