Recipe: Beef Stew

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe on here, but today I'm making one of my favorite "easy" dishes. It's a crock pot recipe that I'm able to get started during my lunch break and let cook the rest of the afternoon until dinner time. That's perfect for me today, because I've been busy doing editorial work and trying to pack for my trip up to Ohio tres early tomorrow morning.
Here's my beef stew recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil (for browning meat)
Beef for stew (usually comes in 1 lb. packages)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
1/2 cup Flour
Large Onion (I prefer sweet onions)
Celery
Baby Carrots
15 oz. can of Tomato Sauce (fill empty can with water too)
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Basil
Bag of Potatoes

Preparation:

1. Flour beef in a bowl.
2. Season floured beef with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
3. Coat pan with olive oil and brown the outside of the beef. Don't cook all the way through, it'll be finished off in the crock pot.
4. Dump browned beef, tomato sauce, can of water, baby carrots, oregano and basil in crock pot.
5. Either chop or peel apart (my preference) onion and add into the mix.
6. Clean and chop up a few celery stalks and add into mix.
7. Turn crock pot on high and turn down later. The longer it cooks the more everything blends.
8. About 2 hours before dinner, slice up some potatoes into bite-size pieces and add them into the mix. You can do this step at the beginning if needed, but potatoes don't take as long to soften.

Like I said, I can usually fix this up during my lunch break and still have lunch. Then, the smells drift throughout the apartment all day while I'm focused on other things--like editing and doing battle with databases!

This recipe is really easy, and it tastes great for the original meal. If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, I actually love this even more when it's re-heated the next day or two (not that we usually have any left two days later).

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In case, you're interested in fixing something else, I also have recipes for:

• Jambalaya and...
• The best meat loaf ever!