Crock Pot Beef Stew

It's Winter time.  Beef Stew is a must!  Simple as that!! :-)

Ingredients:

- 2 lbs. Stew beef cubes, cut into bite sized pieces
- Olive oil
- 2 medium Onions, diced
- 1 cup of baby carrots, chopped
- 4 potatoes, cut up into pieces of your choosing
- 1 can mushrooms, undrained
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 3 cups Beef broth, divided
- 1/2 cup Flour

*I ended up NOT using the can of green beans shown, but you can really add any veggies you like into a beef stew!*

Directions:

1.  Chop all your veggies and place them into the bottom of your slow cooker.  Chop your beef cubes into smaller pieces (if you want to...this pkg of beef cubes were pretty large and we like smaller pieces) and begin heating some olive oil in a frying pan.  Also, season your veggies with the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

2.  Brown your beef cubes in the olive oil until browned.  You're not cooking it, just searing.  Pour the beef cubes and all the juices on top of your veggies in the slow cooker.  Mix together.

3.  Now pour 2 1/2 cups of your beef broth into the slow cooker, give it another stir and then place it on low for 4-8 hours.

4.  About 20 minutes before you're ready to serve, take the 1/2 cup of beef broth you have left and combine in with the 1/2 cup of flour.  Whisk together well.  This is called a slurry and it helps to thicken your stews or soups.  Pour that into your stew and mix well.  Continue cooking for the 20 minutes or so.  Also, if you're stew is TOO thick, you can also add a bit more stock if you choose to.

Here's the final product.....

It was VERY tasty, but the potatoes got a bit overdone this time.  I'm thinking I cut them too small.  Either way, it was still delicious and it gave great leftovers!  Stay warm!