The crockpot, a great little invention...

I spent my whole day off yesterday cooking and baking. By the end of the day, I was beat! So today I wanted to have dinner waiting on me when I got home from work. Since my husband doesn't cook, I went for the next best thing--a crockpot dinner. One of my favorite things to make in the crockpot is beef stew. I made up this recipe a while back and it's been my beef stew recipe ever since. It's great comfort food and makes for some awesome leftovers as well. It was so nice to come home and have dinner ready and waiting with little effort on my part.

Beef Stew

1.5 lbs stew meat
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5-6 medium red potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
2 cups baby carrots
3 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 14.5 oz can green beans, drained (you could also use fresh or frozen)
1 29 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans beef broth
1 packet McCormick beef stew seasoning(yes, I cheat a little here)

Toss stew meat in flour to coat. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over med/hi heat and add meat. When meat is slightly brown on the outside remove pan from stove. In your crockpot, combine meat with all other ingredients. Stir to combine. Turn the crockpot on low and cook for 6-8 hrs.

*I served with Jiffy corn bread muffins. One day I will try to make my own cornbread...but not today. ; P