Slow Cooker Stew (From Taste of Home Magazine)

I am so thankful that I had this on the menu this week. It was quick to pull together and tasted wonderful. With Greyson being sick, I really enjoyed having a nice and easy meal. We have tried a few other stew recipes, but have not found a keeper.

My mom makes a really good stew, but it takes her two days to do it. The first day, she cooks a roast with potatoes and carrots (which is a meal I despise). The second day, she uses everything leftover to make stew. I just can't make myself cook her recipe, because it would be a complete waste of time if you didn't eat the roast the first day.

Back to the recipe we just tried.

Here it is:

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 7 1/2 hours

Yield: 5 Servings

1 lb beef stew meat

2 medium potatoes, cubed and peeled

1 can beef broth

1 can V8 juice

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped

3 bay leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp cold water

1/2 C frozen peas

1/2 C frozen corn

1. In a slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until mean is tender. Discard bay leaves.

2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into stew. Add corn and peas. Cover and cook on high for 30 min.

3. Serve

** I doubled the recipe and put it in my big crockpot. It fit great. I also did not use the cornstarch/water mixture. I thought the consistency was perfect without it. Next time, I am going to cook it on low 8-10 hours and add the peas and corn in on the 7th hour. I think the peas and corn would be better if they were cooked on low with the rest of the stew for a few hours.

Tip: Bay leaves freeze really well. Buy a fresh package in the produce section and use for this recipe and then freeze the rest.