Lentil Soup with Beef and Barley

1/2 lb ground beef
1 c lentils, washed
1/4 c pearl barley or rice
6 c water or vegetable stock
2 c beef broth
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
large pinch of thyme and basil
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy pot brown beef, drain off fat.  Add lentils, barley, water or stoch and beef broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered till lentils and barley are nearly tender (about 30 minutes).  Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 1 1/2 hours.  Add extra liquid to give thickness desired.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 12 (maybe, it's good!)

French Beef Stew

I got this recipe from Simplify Suppers.  We've had it just as a stew but I think it would be great on noodles or mashed potatoes too.

2 pounds stew meat
6 carrotes, cut up
5 celery stalks, cut up
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can tomato sauce
2 c beef broth
1/3 c tapioca
1 T sugar

Combine all ingredients in large roasting pan.  Cover and cook at 350 for five hours.  (The recipe called for salt but the first time I made it, it was SO salty.  I omitted it and didn't miss it!)

Macaroni and Cheese

This is as easy as mac and cheese in a box and about 10,000 times better (in my humble opinion).  It's my variation on the recipe from my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook.

1 c Barilla rotini pasta (the omega 3 enriched kind)
1/4 c onion (sometimes I skip this...it's great either way)
1 T butter
1 T flour
1 1/4 c milk ( I use skim)
2/3 c shredded cheddar cheese (you can use more cheese if you want, the recipe calls for 2 c but I think that's too too much)

Boil the pasta 10 minutes.  Meanwhile melt the butter (if you decide to use the onion, saute it in the butter before you add the flour...cook it until it's tender, not brown), add the flour once it's melted, then the milk.  Mix together and stir occasionally (keep the temperature low) while the pasta boils.  When the pasta is boiled, mix it all together.  The milk mixture won't be thick at all.  That's OK.  Pour it into a casserole dish (1 qt).  Add the cheese and mix it in.  It's OK if it's not mixed in and the cheese is a little clumpy.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes then stir to evenly spread the cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I grew up eating ketchup on this and my kids like it that way now too.

I just tripled this recipe for our lunch.  It's that good.