This soup is an old standby from my time on the road. I don't know why, but I have a very specific memory of sitting in the basement stage management office in the theater in San Antonio in 2008 eating this soup out of a tupperware and thinking "where has this soup been all my life?"

It's forgiving. It's hearty but homey. It's got a lot of flavor but comes together in less than an hour - because of how much it leans on canned goods, frankly. You'd think I would want to save this for a time when I am incredibly busy, but I decided to make this during my marathon weekend of batch cooking for three good reasons.

1. I knew I'd love knowing it's waiting for me in the freezer.
2. It's been bitter cold, and this is a soup that smells warm, and I was craving some good smells.
3. I saw ground lamb at the grocery store the other day, and that's not always a guarantee, so I wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

Planning!

Here is ye olde recipe from All Recipes. It doesn't take much planning at all, other than making sure that ground lamb is available. Other than that, it's pantry staples and canned goods. Easy! Time to get to it!

Here's the nutritional breakdown from Fitbit...

Groceries I had on hand...

• onion
• carrots
• celery
• spices (see the Cooking section for my "snafu")
• black pepper
• barley

Groceries I had to buy...

• ground lamb (1+lb @ $4.99/lb = $5.03)
• diced tomatoes (2x14.5oz cans @ $1.79/can = $3.58)
• beef consumme (3x10.5oz cans @ $2.59/can = $7.77)
• tomato soup (1 can @ $2.59/can)

Total monies spent for the entire recipe: $18.97

Total monies spent for each of these 4 portions....

$4.74 per portion.

Cooking!

Okay, this went easily and as expected except for the part where I had forgotten to write myself a note that I was out of chili powder, so I didn't pick any up at the store. I covered nicely with about forty turns from my Chilli Addict Grinder (gifted via South Africa by my brother, who gets me) plus a dash of cumin. No worries!

Other than that, it was a textbook easy soup!

Lookie here:

When the timer went off, I did taste the barley and each of the veggies to make sure the soup didn't need more time. It was all I could do not to snarf more of it down. But into the containers it went, for a probably-snowy day down the road...