Barley

Cistercian Dunbrody Abbey Beyond Barley Field, County Wexford, Ireland

I love the Mennonite store by my Moms' house, that is where I get all my bulk foods, aluminum free baking powder, Montana prairie Gold wheat, and barley.

I just started cooking with barley, sad huh!!!  And after I have been reading about just how good it is for us, I hope to incorporate in a meal for my family every week.

According to www.whfoods.org: " Barley is a wonderfully versatile cereal grain with a rich nutlike flavor and an appealing chewy, pasta-like consistency. Its appearance resembles wheat berries, although it is slightly lighter in color.

When the weather's cold, a big pot of soup simmering on the stove warms the heart as well as the hearth. Adding some whole grain barley to the pot will improve your health along with the flavor of whatever soup or stew you're cooking. In addition to its robust flavor, barley's claim to nutritional fame is based on its being a very good source of fiber and selenium, and a good source of phosphorus, copper and manganese."

...and the health benefits keep going, the page long info on it is pretty extensive.

I also looked up barley in my 1958 encyclopedia, just for fun and shared it with my girls during school.

Today I used some things I had on hand and made this barley soup:

Barley Garden Soup

(The recipe here, was my base: my version below

with just what I had on hand, I would have loved to have added carrots and maybe some corn)

8 cups water

5 T. knorr chicken bullion

3/4-1 cup of pearled barley

1/4 tsp. onion powder (I didn't have any onions on hand) :(

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. sugar

1 large can crushed tomatoes

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 cups shredded zucchini (this was from my garden last year)

After rinsing and washing barley, add all ingredients to stock pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 90 minutes. I served it with Amish wheat bread and it was great!!!

What are some of your favorite barley recipes I would love to know!!! :)

On another note:

This morning I made baked oatmeal for breakfast and used coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil, everyone LOVED it, how many of you bake with coconut oil? Do you like it? Do you have any favorite recipes?