I have a pound of ground beef.... now what?

Last night for dinner (after the worst day ever... not really, but at the time it seemed that way) I was trying to come up with something to eat with... a pound of ground beef. Burgers? ... no buns. Meatloaf? ... my husband might divorce me. Spaghetti with meat sauce? ... had spaghetti the other day. I was stuck so I went to Google. I love google.

I found a recipe for (ground) beef vegetable and barley soup. It was yum-o! I thought it might be someone else's yum-o tonight so here's the recipe from http://www.groundbeefrecipes.net/:

Hearty Vegetable Barley Soup

Ingredients -

1/2 pound Lean Ground Beef 1/2 cup chopped Onion 2 Garlic cloves, minced 7 cups Water 16 ounces No-Salt Tomatoes, undrained and chopped 1/2 cup Medium Barley 1/2 cup sliced Celery 1/2 cup sliced Carrots 2 Beef Bouillon Cubes 1 teaspoon Basil 1 Bay Leaf 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper 9 ounces Frozen Mixed Vegetables

Preparation:

1. Brown lean ground beef in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Brown beef until no longer pink. 2. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are tender. Drain off excess fat. 3. Add water, no-salt tomatoes, barley, celery, carrots, beef bouillon, basil, bay leaf, and black pepper. 4. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. 5. Simmer 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. 6. Add mixed vegetables; cook 10 to 15 minutes until vegetables are tender. 7. Add additional water if soup becomes too thick. Happy eating!