Crockpot Beef Stew

I don't know if it's the colder weather (which if you haven't figured out yet, I LOVE IT), my new hair color (which I also now love), or PMS, but I'm feeling very philosophical, deep, and emotional (in a good way) today.  I love the chilly weather, the changing leaves, the start of the holiday season, and all the food that comes along with it. Chili, hotdish, hot chocolate, hot apple cider, beef stew.

What's not so great about fall is the lethargy and the want to do nothing but sit on the couch in my jammies and drink said drinks while watching Netflix.  I've always been a firm believer in eating what you want to eat, regardless of what society thinks or says.  If you want to eat a cookie, eat a cookie. Indulge and get yourself those dill pickle potato chips and ENJOY.  However, I've also noticed that the older I get, the harder it is to be in shape. So eat that cookie, but only one. Eat those potato chips, but no more than the recommended serving size. There is a point to this tangent and it's to show it's how I feel about all this great fall food as well.  Everything in moderation, including tater tot hotdish. Is it the healthiest? Not really, but I see nothing wrong with cooking with canned soup as long as you don't eat all the hotdish in one sitting.  Now on to the actual reason of this post. Beef Stew!

I've never been much of a beef stew gal but Andy is a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy so I like to make it once in a while for him.  What makes it even better is that I can just let it sit in a slow cooker and it'll cook itself.

Ingredients You'll Need: 

1 lb beef stew meat
5-6 small or medium red potatoes (I used 3 small and 3 medium)
1 packet beef stew mix
1 packet brown gravy mix1-12oz (1 1/2 cup) package of mixed vegetables, frozen
1 bay leaf
2 cups beef broth
1 cup water
corn starch, optional

First, wash your potatoes and chop into desired size and add to the slow cooker  I chopped mine into 2-3 inch chunks.

Then add the vegetables and beef stew meat to the slow cooker.  I cut some of the bigger chunks of meat into smaller chunks to try and make sure they'll all cook at the same rate.

In a large measuring cup I add the beef broth, water, beef stew, and gravy packets and stir to combine.

Then pour the mixture into the slow cooker with the beef, potatoes and vegetables. Mix well.  Add a bay leaf for a little extra flavor and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until beef is cooked through and potatoes are tender.

I decided at the list minute to throw some chopped onion in there too.  I actually cooked on low for about 1 1/2 hours and got impatient (read: hungry) so I turned it up to high and cooked for an additional 2 hours. Here is where I whisked in a couple tablespoons of corn starch at the end to thicken up the stew. I've noticed that red potatoes take way longer than yellow potatoes to get soft, so next time I think I'll add the meat after letting everything else cook for an hour, hour and a half first.  I served the beef stew with biscuits and it was delicious and soul-warming.

Until next time, Fire Away!