Our Fav Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Heaven in a bowl. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, tweaked it a bit according to other's opinions and voila! Perfection! Out here in Wyoming, this is a staple in our family in the winter! Double batch it for left-overs or freeze for another day. Pair it with some cornbread and you will have one happy family!

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into pieces

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 ½ tsp paprika

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

3 ½ cups beef broth

5-6 potatoes

4 carrots sliced

2 stalks celery

1 pkg McCormicks beef stew seasoning. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bag. Coat the meat with it. Sear meat. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour 2 cups beef broth into pan to deglaze then pour over beef. Add rest of broth and all other ingredients. Stir and cook for 10 hours on low.

(Note: I'm rather horrible at adding the exact amount of veggies. I just dice, throw in, and when it fills up the pot just right, I stop :) Therefore, I almost always end up using 3 cans of beef broth or whatever it takes to get it right to the top of the veggies and meat).

Chuckwagon Stew

You wanna feel like a cowboy, eat Chuckwagon Stew. This is by far Hannah's fav (served with buttermilk cornbread, mmmmm). The key is to use polish sausage. Although not my favorite, my family cleans the slow cooker bowl with this one! (Recipe from allrecipes.com).

1 ½ lbs cubed meat

½ lb sausage

1 onion

2-3 tbsp minced garlic

3 potatoes, chopped

28 oz can of bbq baked beans

BBQ sauce

Brown meat, onion, sausage and garlic in pan. Meanwhile, place diced potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot. Spread meat mixture over top. Spoon baked beans evenly over the top. Add extra bbq sauce to your liking. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours.

Freezer Variations: If you wanted to have this as a prepped freezer meal, I would only suggest having the meat, onion, sausage (cooked if using breakfast sausage and sliced if using polish sausage) and garlic ready in a freezer bag. Uncooked potatoes do not freeze well (they turn brown) and well, baked beans are easy as they are already in the can! It also freezes up great as an after cooked meal! Freeze portion sizes in ziplock containers for an instant meal!