I make beef stew about once a week or so.  It is a quick and easy crock pot meal that usually turns out well.  I like to make it on those days when you know you are going to get home just in time for dinner and really not feel like making it.  For me, those days are our Frontier Girls days.  Two hours filled with activities with about 15 girls is enough to drive you to the edge of sanity.  Of course, I keep coming back for more because the girls love it and it is such an amazing group of people.  Enough about that, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (or more) beef stew meat
• 3 lbs of sweet potatos, cubed (you can leave the skin on)
• 2 cups of carrots sliced or baby carrots
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups green beans
• 1 cup frozen corn (this is optional, my girls wanted “more color”)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 3 cups of stock or broth (I didn’t have beef broth so I used chicken broth)
• Salt and pepper to taste

I layered the ingredients in the crock pot as follows: onion, sweet potatoes, carrots, beef.  Then I added the chicken broth, then the spices.  My crock pot has a setting according to hours.  I picked 5 hours since I got around to doing this at noon.  Low heat all day would work or medium for 5 hours.  For the last hour I added the green beans and corn.  I  mixed the corn in a little but just layed the beans on top.  Before serving I gently folded the ingredients together in the crock pot.