Hearty (Homemade) Beef Stew

A few weeks ago while grocery shopping, I was looking for something I could make that would not require a lot of work.  You see, recently I've found that a lot of low-grade recipes have been more my speed.  With my work schedule getting more insane, school getting a bit more tedious, and my personal picking up and leaving the city in a few months, my brain feels like it's going in a million directions.  After a day involving any of the above, the last thing I wanna do, is cook something that will require a lot of time or attention.  Thank goodness while cruising through the meat case at Marsh, I saw the thick cut beef for stews, and immediately thought Beef Stew.



When I was growing up, this was a staple meal that my mother would cook frequently for my siblings and I.  The thing I remember the most was that it's not a big meal, but it's hearty and has a lot of servings in one crock pot.  One bowl and you're full, and if you jump in for seconds, you made need a nap.  Here are the ingredients you'll need:

• 1 1/2 lbs. of beef stew meat
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 can of stewed or peeled/halved tomatoes
• Frozen or raw: Carrots, green beans, onions, celery, red peppers, green peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of Beef Base (find it in the spices isle, with bullion)
• 3 Cans of Regular or Spicy V8 tomato juice
• Salt, Pepper and Oregano

First, you'll need to set your slow cooker to it's "low" setting.  Open up your meat packaging, and depending on preference, you can cut the size of the beef stew meat down to your liking.  Once unpackaged, take the beef base and chopped beef, place it in the crock pot, and let them sit for a short period of time (maybe 30 minutes) in the low heat.  It will help to soften the beef, as well as allow the beef base to lightly cook into the meat.

After a short period of time in the crock pot together, you can begin to add all of your other vegetable ingredients.  A note of warning, if you use the can of tomatoes or even fresh ones, take back the V8 to two cans instead of three.  Once all of your vegetables are added, add minced or pressed garlic cloves and a pinch of oregano, salt and pepper to taste, and top off the mixture with your cans of V8.

I like to cook this over night, or early in the morning, so that way the mixture is ready to be taken as lunch the next day or ready for me when I get home from work.  It's a slow cook recipe, so be mindful that it will not be ready same day, and will require at least 8 hours of cook time before it's completely prepared.  I let the mixture stew for at least 12-hours, if not longer, as just a matter of preference.

This recipe still fits the need of value, as about all of the ingredients set me back $13, but could vary depending on market and what ingredients you may elect to use or not.  Enjoy your stew, and remember that patience is a virtue, let it stew.

Eat On,

Justin