Crock Pot Beef Stew

It’s really not all that cold outside for this time of the year, but the clouds make it feel like you just want to wrap yourself in a blanket with a nice bowl of Beef Stew & watch a Christmas special. Right? Well, today I hope to do at least half of that. I have never made stew in a crock-pot. At least I don’t remember ever making it in the crock-pot. Josh, will say that doesn’t mean I haven’t. Oh the joys of having a “Mommy Brain.” I went online to my trusty Google Search Engine & typed in “Crock Pot Beef Stew” & wouldn’t you know I found a great recipe. I probably could have just whipped up the stew with the knowledge I have of making it growing up with my mom & I’ve made it a few times for Josh before we had kids, or perhaps we had Ashlyn at the time. But I figured it would be good to have some sort of guidance.  Here is the recipe I found via Allrecipes.com:

                  2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

                  1/4 cup all-purpose flour

                  1/2 teaspoon salt

                  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

                  1 clove garlic, minced

                  1 bay leaf

                  1 teaspoon paprika

                  1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

                  1 onion, chopped

                  1 1/2 cups beef broth

                  3 potatoes, diced

                  4 carrots, sliced

                  1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions

1.  Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

2. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

I added a few different spices & didn’t put in the paprika. And I mixed the flour & spices into the beef right in the crock-pot. Ya, I'm lazy like that.  But mostly I followed the recipe. I don't think I ever follow a recipe exact ever. Here’s a little play by play with photos of how I whipped it up.

And of course the final product (I think it cooked on HIGH for almost 5 hours) with some good ol homemade buscuits. (Got the recipe from the handy dandy Good Housekeeping Cookbook)

Oh it was the perfect meal for today. Josh said he wanted more beef though. ;-)

So, I also have to update you on the wreath. Ya, the one I was oh so proud of. It needed a little extra tlc today. I saw it blowing in the strong wind we had yesterday & I felt it needed a little more tying down. But it's back up & looking better than ever. 

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Warming up with my hubbie & a movie now,