Mom's Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

This recipe comes from Canada's Best Slow Cooker Recipes, which has all sorts of good freezable crock pot recipes in it. My sister just asked me for a stew recipe, so I figured I may as well just put it right up on my blog. I haven't made this in awhile, but it's good and takes little time. If you want to freeze it, omit the potatoes, as they don't freeze well.

1/4 C flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 lbs. stewing beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 C beef stock
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 can (540mL) tomatoes, diced, with juice
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley or 2 tbsp. dried
1 C frozen peas
salt and pepper

1. In a heavy plastic bag, combine flour, salt and pepper. In batches, add beef to flour mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to a plate. In a large nonstick skillet, heat half the oil over medium-high heat. Cook beef in batches, adding more oil as needed, until browned all over. With a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a slow cooker.

2. Add 1C stock to pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits. Transfer stock mixture to slow cooker. Add carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, tomatoes (with juice), remaining stock, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and parsley; mix well to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 6 hours, until vegetables are tender and stew is bubbling. Remove bay leaf and discard.

3. Add peas. Cover and cook on High 15 to 20 minutes longer or until slightly thickened and peas are heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serves 6 to 8

Freezer-friendly if you leave out the potatoes