Our hamburger stew

I've never had a recipe for this, but sometimes people will ask for the recipe.  I'm making it today, so I wrote things down as I cooked.  The lady who first told me about hamburger stew didn't use tomatoes or okra.  I wouldn't even be making this today if I'd realized there's no cabbage in the house; cabbage absolutely makes it, but I'm sure we'll suffer through.  Like any vegetable soup, it's adaptable and you really don't need a recipe.  This is one way of making a pound of hamburger feed eight people (or two people for three days).  We really like cayenne pepper; you might want to use less, or none at all.  

HAMBURGER STEW  

1 pound ground beef
2 medium stalks of celery
one large onion
2 cloves minced garlic
Brown all these together until the meat is browned and the vegetables are soft.  Then add:  


1 quart (2 cans) tomatoes
1 quart water
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
3 or 4 large carrots
about 3 pounds of potatoes


cook until potatoes and carrots are almost done, then add:  
3/4 cup quick barley
2 cups okra, fresh or frozen  


Cook another 10 or 15 minutes and it should be ready.  You can substitue rice or pasta for the barley (give the rice 20 minutes cooking time in the soup).  I'm cooking garbanzo beans for the freezer today, and I may throw a cup of those in.  


On Sparkpeople.com, if you are a member (it's free) you can type in all the ingredients to a home-made recipe like this and find out the calories and nutrients per serving.  Here's what I came up with:


For a two-cup serving:  Calories, 279; total fat, 12.3 g; sat. fat, 5.0 g; mono-saturated fat, 5.5 g; cholesterol, 43.8 mg; sodium, 473.4 mg; potassium, 892.5 mg; total carbohydrates, 29.4 grams; dietary fiber, 4.9 grams; sugars, 3.8 grams; protein, 13.9 grams.  Just click on the picture below to see other nutrients; you won't find many meals that are this loaded with good things.