One of the benefits of living in a state that has ridiculously snowy and cold winters is that comfort foods, like my Hearty Slow Cooker Beef and Veggie Stew, just seem to taste better when the elements force us to hunker down indoors.
Are you as obsessed with your slow cooker as I am? It is so simple and convenient to throw a bunch of great ingredients in and forget about it. You can run some errands, do some chores, or just spend some fun quality time with the family instead of slaving over the stove. Plus, when you come back the whole house smells simply amazing!
Stay tuned for an upcoming post on Freezer Cooking with over ten slow cooker recipes to stash for those busy, hectic days.
Add all ingredients except the corn starch into the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, testing meat and veggies for doneness at 6 hours.
30 minutes before stew is done, mix together 2 Tbsn. corn starch and 2 Tbsn. cold water (or 3:3 if you like your stew thick like we do) and stir slowly into crock pot and recover and cook for another 30 minutes.
Don’t forget to fish the bay leaves out before serving or you can do what my husband’s elementary school used to do – leave them in and whoever finds one in their bowl gets a cookie! Ha!
Serve with crusty bread or some buttery crackers. Delish!