Sausage Barley Soup

At this time of year, we think of warm foods. As they say, comfort foods, hot drinks (as I am drinking my tea), extra clothes, wood fires, etc. (Except for those who are headed south.) Which is why I decided to put this soup in. It sounds like a great crock pot soup, and with some great bread it will make a hardy dinner.

I will make it later, because we had to eat up some leftovers first. Joe makes killer soups, so I've been spoiled and can't go back to canned soups-though the Bear Creek brand makes good ones, in my opinion. They are a dry package and not inexpensive, but very tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound Italian sausage 1 (48 oz) can chicken broth

½ c. diced onion 1 large carrot

1 Tbsp minced garlic 1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach

½ tsp Italian seasoning ¼ c. uncooked pearl barley

DIRECTIONS:

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, onion and garlic until the sausage is evenly brown. Season with Italian seasoning. Remove from heat and drain.

In a slow cooker, mix the sausage mixture, chicken broth, carrot, spinach and barley.

Cover and cook four hours on high or six to eight hours on low.

MY NOTES:

I don't need to add that one can change it anyway you would like. If you don't eat pork, then maybe turkey sausage, with a little more Italian seasoning. It doesn't seem like a lot of barley?? Since we don't have any on hand, we will use lentils. For me, it looks like a lot of sausage for the amount of liquid, but maybe not.

If you are like me, I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving. Crazy;) How do you use turkey leftovers? I saw on Facebook that someone took crescent rolls, rolled it out, put mashed potatoes, turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce on it, rolled them back up and baked them. Sorry, I don't have the amount of time and temperature but I'm guessing it's the same as what is on the package. I could look it up if needed.

ENJOY AND STAY WARM!