Brianne's Beef Stew

I am an unusual person in the fact that I dislike tomatoes in my beef stew. I therefore created this simple recipe to my liking. Mom recently made it since as Dad shares my distaste. They both really enjoyed it! It's easy and can be adjusted in so many ways.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. beef stew meat
• 4-6 potatoes, peeled and cubed (I use red or yukon, but you can use russet)
• 1 md. onion, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 lg. (handful of small) carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
• Flour (any type should work: All purpose, whole wheat, rice, etc. You want this to thicken your stew.)
• 2-3 cans chicken broth
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Combine a handful of flour with salt and pepper. Coat each piece of meat in this mixture.
2. Heat pan with olive oil. Brown all sides of coated meat.
3. Add meat to large pot. Take some of the broth and get the yummy crusty parts left on the meat pan. Add this to the stew pot.
4. Add onion and chicken broth and salt/pepper. There should be enough broth to cover the meat and then some. Cook for 2-3 hours. The meat should be tender at this point. If not, continue to cook until tender. Be sure there is enough liquid. If not, add more broth or water.
4. Add potatoes and carrots. Cook under vegetables are tender.  The soup should be decently thick at this point.
5. Serve and enjoy!

Note: I add green peas at the end to just heat through.  You can add so many things.

Note 2: You can also do this in the Slow Cooker, just add everything up front. Be sure to brown the meat first though!