Steak & Vegetable Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
1 1/2 lbs steak, cheap lowfat cut, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 lb mushroom, coarsely sliced
1/2 cup baby carrots, sliced
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1/3 cup barley
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
2 cups water, for barley cooking
4 cups water, for soup addition

Preparation

Heat skillet to medium high.
Combine flour and chipotle in plastic bag, add beef cubes, and shake to coat.
Add oil to skillet, and brown the beef. Usually I do 1/3rd at a time. Dump browned meat into crock pot.
Lower skillet heat to medium, and saute the carrots and onion.
When onion goes clear, add the mushrooms, and saute until mushrooms look mostly cooked. Dump everything into crockpot, liquid and all.
Add barley and 2 cups of water to the skillet. Bring to a boil, cover, and set to low temperature to simmer. Set timer for 25 minutes for when it will be mostly done.
Add the frozen mixed vegetables, oregano, and beef broth to the crockpot.
When barley time is up, drain and rinse in a colander, and add to crockpot.
Add 4 cups of water to crockpot, or however much you would like.
Cook in crock pot for 6 hours, on Low temperature.