Beef Stew

This is my FAVORITE dish.  Its very cheap and very filling.  I brown my meat the night before, chop all of my vegis so in the morning, I can just pop it in my slow cooker and have a delicious hearty healthy meal for my hungry hubby!

Beef stew

4 servings

2 T flour

1/2 lb stew meat (or a cut up roast, SAME cut of meat, maybe cheaper/on sale!)

2 T vegetable oil

1 med onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 c corn

3 large red potatoes, diced into bite size pieces

3 cloves garlic

1 can low-sodium V8

2 cups beef broth(can be frozen or defrosted, I use frozen)

8 oz red wine, like Cabernet

1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t oregano

1 t thyme

1/4 t rosemary (I find powdered rosemary, or just blend rosemary to a fine powder)

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t Celery Salt

2 bay leaves

1.  Cut beef into SMALL bite size pieces.  They will cook down in the Crockpot, but I like to cut up the roast into bites first, just in case.

2.  Put flour in a large bowl, add beef, shake to coat

3. Heat oil in large cast iron skillet, brown beef.  Do not cook, just brown.  This is where your meat gets lots of flavor, DON'T SKIP IT!!!   Some browning of the crust should be on the outside, while the inside is still rare.  Roasts are cheap because they are tough cuts of meats, they have to be SLOW roasted to get good.  You brown the meat for a more complex taste, you slow roast for the tenderness.

4. In crockpot, place all remaining ingredients

5.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours, high 4-6.  As with all crock cooking:  the longer it cooks, the better it is!