HEARTY BEEF STEW

 Full of veggies and stew meat to make a very satisfying meal. Wayne couldn't quit raving about how good it tasted. He did tell me it was only missing one thing..."onions"... we both said at the same time. I told him he could add some minced onions. He said he would the next time we ate it. (Onions and I do not get along at all so I almost always omit them in recipes. He's used to it.)

It did make a really big pot so that we have generous servings for two more meals. If you have a big family, it would be a good meal to make. Wayne suggested next time that I could I made it, I could use more carrots which I agreed with him. The recipe just said 3 carrots and my carrots weren't super big so I definitely could have used 4 carrots. So remember that when you make it. My potatoes were fairly large so we had plenty of them. I had cut my stew meat into smaller pieces when I prepared it to freeze to use when I was ready. I also browned it on the stove in a skillet a bit before adding it to the slow cooker. The recipe said to cook it 6 hours on LOW and it was ready after 5 hours. I preheated the slow cooker on HIGH while I was preparing the veggies.

HEARTY BEEF STEW

3       carrots, peeled and sliced

3       potatoes, peeled and diced

1       onion, chopped

2       stalks celery, sliced

2       lbs. stew beef, cubed

1/4    cup flour

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2    teaspoon pepper

1       clove garlic, minced (I substituted 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.)

1       bay leaf

1       cup beef broth (I made my own using 1 cup hot water and 1 beef bouillon cube.)

1       teaspoon paprika

1       teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Spray a 5 - 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray (for easy cleanup). Preheat cooker on HIGH while you

prepare the veggies.

Arrange veggies in cooker and

top with beef that

you were also browning in a skillet while preparing the veggies.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl;

sprinkle over meat.

Add garlic and remaining ingredients.

I made the cup of beef broth using a beef bouillon and added the spices to it and

poured it evenly over ingredients in the cooker.

Cover and cook on HIGH for one hour.

Then reduce temperature to LOW and cook 5 - 6 hours more.

Remove bay leaf and gently stir the stew to distribute the ingredients.

Spoon into bowls to enjoy!