7 Bean and Grain Soup

In wondering what to make for dinner the other night, i was in a conundrum: i wanted to make something using up our last half pound of ground beef and something that could be consumed within a couple days so we wouldn't have leftovers in the fridge when we headed to Portland.
It also had to meet the all important criteria: no shopping any further than the pantry. :)

I had some 7 Bean & Grain soup mix, in which are pinto, black, kidney, and navy beans, split peas, lentils, barley, etc. There's a cabinet full of spices.

So it sounded like to me, soup was going to be the ticket. However, i didn't want any tomatoes added.

Here's what i came up with--more gruel than a soup, i'd say, but pretty yummy:

1/2 lb lean ground beef
half large onion
2 cubes garlic (this fabulous new invention i found--frozen packets of garlic by Dorot, frozen in perfectly beautiful cubes equivalent to a clove)
1-2 cups soup mix
8 cups water
2 tbsp organic beef boullion

Herbs:
2 tsp parsley
2 cubes of frozen basil (see garlic)
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp rosemary

Precook the beef. Add beans, etc and simmer for a few hours.
Best the next day!