Do you have a crock pot? I sure as hell hope so. Why would you NOT own one of these wonderful devices? Just throw some stuff in before you leave in the morning, and when you come home, your house smells wonderful, like your own personal slave has been cooking for you all day.

The easiest thing to make in a crock pot is beef stew. If you can use a knife and open cans, you can make this dish.

1 pkg Stew meat - or you can probably cut up a pot roast cut.
potatoes (I used 5 smallish)
carrots (ummm...5, I think)
onions (as many as you like...actually that goes for all the veggies here)
2 cans beef broth
bay leaf
salt '
pepper

Chop up veggies into large yet bite size pieces. Put into pot. Dump meat into pot. Add bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Pour cans of beef broth over. Turn crock pot on low, for 8 or more hours, or high for less time.

When you get home, you can eat it right away (just fish out the bay leaf), or if you have some time you can play around with it. I turned it up to high and added barley. You can also add some tapioca beads, which help thicken (sounds gross, but it's not!). I like to make bisquick dumplings - just follow the directions on the box. The dumplings disintigrate a little, thickening the stew. Or you can probably just mix some flour with mix, add, and let cook until thicken.

mmmmm....tasty....

|