Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs stewing beef
• 4 carrots
• 4 potatoes
• 1 large sweet onion
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 4 stalks celery
• 1 cup water
• salt
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
• 1/2 cup water (optional)

Instructions

1. Basic Info about the ingredients:.

2. This recipe is very forgiving -- so if you only have 3 potatoes, no biggie. The important thing is that you get what you have in a crockpot!

3. Amount of beef is flexible -- just buy around amount called for and don't sweat being exact.

4. All veggies need to be washed & cut into thick slices or chunks.

5. Potatoes should be left UNPEELED. I prefer red potatoes because I always leave the peel on - Yukon Gold are also a good choice).

6. Ready? Here Goes!

7. Dump beef in crockpot.

8. Dump thickly sliced carrots, thick chunks of potato, celery & onion in crockpot.

9. Open can of diced tomatoes with the juice, pour on top of beef and veggies.

10. Dump 1 cup water and about a palm-sized amount of salt in the crockpot and give it a bit of a stir.

11. Set crockpot to low and cook for 6-8 hours. If it ends up cooking longer - no biggie. It won't hurt the stew.

12. If you feel the stew is too liquid-- right before you get ready to serve, you can add 4 tablespoons of corn starch to about 1/2 cup of water until dissolved and pour over stew and stir until the broth thickens.