Everyone is talking about comfort food, snow and seriously, Christmas decorations! While it may be like the arctic in 50% of the U.S. – we are having Santa Ana’s in Southern California right now. When it is 75-85 degrees during the day, it’s hard to get excited about making a hot and hearty meal. But I persevered with a fall recipe and I’m so glad I did. Jordan and I visited the farmer’s market on Saturday and got a beautiful bunch of rainbow colored carrots. I remembered that I had some stew meat in the freezer along with some red potatoes and sweet potatoes in the pantry. I looked online for beef stew recipes that I could throw in the crockpot and then I modified it a bit. So in record time, we had a delicious and hearty meal. I loved the addition of the sweet potatoes. It was so colorful and flavorful. I also loved how everything just got dumped in- it truly was a one pot meal. No browning the meat before. Yay! The meat was tender and the beef stew had a rich flavor.

We made a batch of our delicious one hour cast iron focaccia to go with it. Who cares if we ate the stew in our shorts and tank tops – it was delicious!

The Best Crockpot Beef Stew
Ingredients
2 pounds beef stew meat, (cut into bite-sized pieces), I used a bit less
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 T minced garlic
6 oz can tomato paste
32 oz beef broth
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups carrots, diced
5 – 6 small red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups)
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

1 cups frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup water

1. Combine the first 12 ingredients in the crock pot and mix well. Cook on LOW for 10 hours or on HIGH for 6-7 hours.

2. About 30 minutes before serving, mix the flour and the water together in a small dish and pour into the crockpot. Mix until well combined. This will add a nice thickness to the stew. Next add in your frozen peas and corn. Continue cooking covered for 30 minutes.

Recipe found on familyfreshmeals.com and adapted slightly.

Cindy