Beef and Barley Stew

I needed to find a yummy way to use some beef bones in my freezer, so, on S's suggestion, I learned to make this stew. It is delicious and perfect for a winter day! You can take shortcuts, but I did it totally from scratch:

Step 1--

2 approx. 6" beef bones with bone meat still on
4 qts. water

Boil the bones in water at low-med. heat for about 4 hours. Remove the bones and meat and set aside. Strain the broth through a cheese cloth (or similiar linen) to remove any particles. Set aside. Remove meat from bones, and seperate meat from fat. If you want to gain a friend at this point, feed bones to dog. Divide meat into small stew chunks. At this point, you can save some broth and meat to freeze if desired, store it overnight in the fridge to stew the next day, or continue to the next step.

Step 2--

Beef Broth and meat from 1st step.
Carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces
Celery, chopped into bite-sized pieces
Onions, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1.5 cups raw Barley
2 bay leaves
2 tsps. oregano
2 tsps. Seasoned salt
1 tbs. garlic
2 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in crockpot, and simmer for 4-6 hours. Serve with homemade dill bread.

Note: you will probably want to add more salt and/or pepper. We don't season with much of either. The great thing about this recipe is that you can't really mess it up. All ingredients are added in desired amounts, but I wrote what we did to give you an idea. Enjoy!