winter beef stew....

even though i am not a fan of cold weather outside, i love preparing warm, filling meals for my family - yummy soups and chilies are this year's favorites.  several years ago, i found a recipe for lentil beef stew and tried it for the first time.  i have tweaked this recipe several times since then, and finally found a delicious take on the original recipe.  i made this stew for us last night, and i would love to share a bowl-ful with you!

{gather your ingredients}

1 1/2 lbs. stew meat {i used beef}

1 lb. celery

1-2 lbs. carrots {i always use extra!}

1 sweet onion

1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes

4 cups beef stock

3-5 medium red potatoes
salt, pepper, parsley flakes, olive oil

{directions}

 1.  chop up all of your veggies... this will really make it easier for you to get it over with now!  you can peel the potatoes if you want.... most of the times i leave the peel on, but today i decided not to and it turned out good!

2.  choose a large stockpot, add 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil and heat over medium.  add in your stew meat and season liberally with salt and pepper.  brown meat for about 7 minutes.

3.  using a slotted spoon, transfer the browned meat to a bowl and let it set while you sautee the veggies in the leftover oil and beef drippings.  add in salt, pepper and about 1 tbsp parsley flakes to season.  sautee until the onions become opaque, about 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently.

4.  add the stew meat back in, along with the juices in the bottom of the bowl.  pour in your diced tomatoes and give it all a good stir.

5.  make your beef stock.  you can purchase stock pre-made, or you can make your own with beef granules.  to make it even easier, i microwave 4 cups of water on high for 5 minutes and then add 4 heaping teaspoons of granules to make the stock, no need to dirty up another pot!  when you have this prepared, go ahead and pour it all in, it should come almost to the top.  don't worry, it will boil down.  bring your stew to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover {or just prop the lid on top so steam escapes} and let it do it's thing for about 2 hours.... you can stir occasionally, or you can just forget about it!



6.  add in your potatoes about 45 minutes to an hour before you are ready to serve, that way they don't get all mushy on you.  by the way, "mushy" is a very technical culinary term.  continue simmering....

7.  now your soup is done! enjoy <3

want some nutritional facts? i've already done all the work for you!!