Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

This soup reminds me of the Campbell's Vegetable Beef Soup I grew up with, only better. The recipe says it's better made one day and eaten the next so that's what I did. I made it on a Sunday and when I got off work on Monday all I had to do was heat it up and I had a delicious meal with no work. I love the flavors the V8 juice and diced tomatoes give to the dish. I also love the barley in it but it says you can also use Quinoa which I'm sure would also be good. It says it freezes well which is an added bonus. Dry onion soup mix gives the ground beef a nice flavor. The veggies are green beans, carrots and onions. It also gets a rich flavor from the beef broth and a nice little kick from the red pepper flakes and bay leaf.