I made myself a calendar to encourage me to post each day this month. Today I am supposed to post my favorite fall recipe. This one was so hard for me because I have so many. I wanted to do something sweet and fun for a dessert recipe but decided to go with an easy crock pot recipe that can be done with little prep in the morning before heading out the door. Plus I made this dinner this past week so I could grab the pictures easily. (I said I would blog, I didn’t say I wouldn’t be lazy about it!)

Favorite Fall Recipe: Simple Crock-Pot Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces
• 5 lbs potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1’’ pieces
• 2 lbs of carrots (I use baby carrots and just dump the bag into the crock-pot)
• 2 Stalks of celery, cut into bite size piece
• 1 can cream of mushroom (or other flavor) soup
• 4 cups of beef stock
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Place meat in crock pot. Add all other ingredients on top. Cook on low for 10 hours. Dinner is served. My kids like to top the stew with a dab of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. It just adds a little creamy-ness to the stew once it is all mixed in together. Serve it with homemade bread and butter and you have a full delicious meal. This is a hearty meal that will fill you up and warm you from the inside out. It is a perfect weekday meal when you need something hot and ready when you get home, but it is also great for a chilly Sunday afternoon.

I added my beef stock recipe here as well in case you need to try a new one. I do not add any salt so it is a great low sodium alternative to canned stock.

Ingredients for Beef Stock

• 4 pounds of meaty beef soup bones
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 3 pieces of celery, cut into chunks
• 2 medium onions, cut into chunks
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 8 peppercorns
• 4 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 tea dried thyme
• 1 tea dried marjoram
• 1 tea dried oregano
• 3 quarts of cold water

Directions for Beef Stock

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large roasting pan place soup bones and bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Add carrots, celery and onions. Bake an additional 30 minutes. Drain the fat.
• Transfer the bones and vegetables using a slotted spoon into a large Dutch oven. Add the warm water to roasting pan; stirring to loosen browned bits from pan.
• Transfer the pan juices to Dutch oven on the stove top. Add seasonings and enough cold water just to cover the bones and vegetables. Slowly bring to a boil, about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat; simmer the pot uncovered for about 5 hours. Skim the surface (as needed) when foam rises to the top. If necessary, add very hot water during the first 2 hours to keep ingredients covered.
• Remove bones and throw away. Strain broth through a cheesecloth, discarding vegetables and herbs. Broth can be covered and refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen 4-6 months. Yield: 2-1/2 quarts.