Hamburger Vegetable Soup with Barley

Since last Sunday was our kick off for Thanksgiving and I stuffed myself that day and every day since with heavy meals, plus it's really cold today, I decided today was a good soup day to lighten it up a little around here and to get some needed vegetables and broth in our bodies.  Therefore, I made a big kettle of my hamburger vegetable soup with barley.  This also works great for leftover roast beef shredded and cut up if you have that.  We didn't go anywhere today since we celebrated already, so it had a chance to simmer for a while and made the whole house smell good.  I usually try to make some homemade bread to go with it, but since it was a day off from work and a "slug" day for me, there is no warm bread to go with it, unless they want to make toast from store bought bread!  It tasted soooo good to me for dinner!  My tummy still feels warm inside and I am full, but not stuffed and bloated which feels really great!  Here's how I make it..

Hamburger Vegetable Soup with Barley:

1 lb lean hamburger-the high fat hamburger just makes it really greasy, even with draining to me.
1/2 large onion diced finely
2 -3 stalk celery cute finely
3 carrots, cleaned and diced finely
1 large can whole tomatoes..I remove any "hard" pieces and squash them with my hand when I put them in the kettle..I also add the juice from the can.
1 small can whole kernel corn
1 regular can pantry cut green beans cut in half
a handful of frozen peas
Beef base (I use Better than Bouillion beef base in the jar) 4 Tablespoons.  You can substitute beef bouillon cubes-4-6
1 quart of water
1/2 cup catsup

In a large stock pot, brown hamburger that is seasoned with salt and pepper, onion and celery until cooked through.  Add rest of ingredients and simmer until all the vegetables are tender.  Then add 1/4 of a medium head of cabbage that has been finely chopped and 1/2 cup of quick cooking barley.  Simmer another 1/2 hour until done.  Taste for seasoning..add salt and pepper and a little sprinkle of sugar if needed and can also add more beef base if needed.