Slow Cooker Meal We All Enjoyed

The weather on Saturday was AWFUL! It was cold and rainy. After braving the elements for a short while in the morning, we decided we needed a warm and hearty meal. I visited my old standby(http://www.allrecipes.com/) and found a recipe for slow cooker beef stew. It was divine! We all gave it a thumbs up except for the three year old who pronounced it "icky" because of the "veguble" he saw in it.





Slow Cooker Beef Stew (adapted from allrecipes)

Ingredients
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 cup red wine

Directions:
Coat meat with flour and saute in olive oil with onion until browned (doesn't have to be cooked through). Remove meat and onion from pan and place in slow cooker. Add broth and wine to the pan and bring to a boil while you stir. Be sure to stir up the bits of meat and flour which will add a lot of flavor to your stew.

Pour the sauce into slow cooker over meat. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

To this base recipe I added some veggies I had in the freezer (green beans and corn).

Also note that if you don't have the wine on hand (or you drank it last night) just add additional broth.

To accompany the stew we prepared this YUMMY fococcia bread found at www.joyinmykitchen.com. It was so easy to make. I made the 9x13 loaf and my six year old has eaten over half of it in the last day. She has it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.