Soup and bread to share

I signed up last fall for my church's meal providers list. This means that I'm kind of on-call to prepare and deliver a meal to families in need in my area. I didn't have any meal requests at all until last month. But since then, I've been busy preparing meals.

The latest request was for a family with a newborn, and I tried out a couple of new recipes. That might sound a little risky since I was preparing food for people that I just met for the first time when I delivered the meal on Saturday evening. But I guess I could be considered adventurous in the kitchen, and I'm thankful to the Lord that the recipes turned out well.

I made Vegetable Beef Soup with Barley and Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread. Both are low in fat and high in fiber, and really tasty, if I do say so myself. The soup was adapted from a recipe on the side of a box of Quaker Barley, and the bread was adapted from the Quaker Oats Favorite Recipe Collection book.

Vegetable Beef Soup with Barley
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 cups chopped onion
8 tsp. minced garlic
14 cups water
28 oz. diced tomatoes
1 cup medium barley, uncooked
2 cups sliced celery
2 cups sliced carrots
2 Tbsp. dried beef base
2 tsp. dried basil
3 bay leaves
16-oz. frozen green beans

In a large stock pot, brown ground beef; add and saute onions, and then garlic. Add remaining ingredients except frozen green beans. Cover; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add frozen vegetables and cook about 10 minutes until tender. Add more water if the soup is too thick at this point. (Makes 6 quarts.)

Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread
2 cups oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup skim milk
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup shredded coconut
20-oz. can crushed pineapple (minus 1/2 cup of the juice)
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine the oats and milk; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine other dry ingredients; mix well. Stir in carrots and coconut.

Add pineapple and juice (minus the 1/2 cup), eggs, oil, and vanilla to oat mixture; mix well. Add to dry ingredients all at once and stir just until moistened.

Pour into two greased 9x5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, and then remove to cool on wire rack.