Beef, Barley, and Mushroom Soup: An Instant Pot Story

One of my all time favourite Winter soups is Beef Barley. I'd never made it before, but it was always my first choice when it was gloomy and gray outside. After going on my low carbohydrate diet to get my diabetes in remission, I learned to just not think about the foods that I needed to avoid, so as to not let myself feel the kind of self-pity that leads to unhealthy choices.

Today, however, as I am approaching my fourth anniversary in diabetic remission I decided to just go look up how much carbohydrate is barley. Quite a lot, but lots of fibre too. I tentatively did some searching for Instant Pot recipes and to my surprise, discovered that many of them had as little as 2/3 of a cup of uncooked barley. That's only 80 grams in an entire pot of soup!

So, my usual routine: I read six or seven different recipes and then went off on my own. The result was a smashing success and I have my favourite Winter soup again!

Fifteen minutes prep and 30 under pressure.

Beef, Barley, and Mushroom Soup

• 1 diced onion
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb beef stew meat
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 sliced carrots
• 3 sliced celery stalks
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 pureed Roma tomatoes
• 8 cups beef stock
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2/3 cup pearled barley

Set the Instant Pot to sauté and when the display reads "Hot" pour in the olive oil and diced onion. Sauté for about five minutes, then add the beef and continue until it is browned. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Put the lid on the pot and hit the "Meat / Stew" button and go watch an episode of The Crown.

When the buzzer goes, do a quick pressure release, remove the bay leaves, and go to town!

Project 57: Retirement Aloha Shirt

Early in 2017, a longtime co-worker announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. He had often commented on a particular one of my Aloha shirts, and asked me if I would make one for him. Tailors choice of design, etc. I was quite happy to accept the commission, especially since we're the same size and I wouldn't have to create a one-time use pattern.

The fabric that I had used had shiny gold ink in the design, which though fabulous for a showy person like myself, would have been too much for the laid-back retiring scientist. I decided to do some color blocking to reduce the overall shine and told him that his shirt would be hand-wash / hang dry. He said that was fine.

I love it. He loves it.

Happy retirement, Mark!