Crock pot stew

I made this last weekend in my frenzied Sunday of cooking make ahead food for the week. But it could easily be put on before work in the morning simmering away, ready for dinner when you walk in the door.

I am going along with Jamie Oliver's theory which more and more I am believing is correct, that you do not have to brown the meat before making a stew.  This cuts the prep time and mess to the point of being able to prepare in the morning while you are eating breakfast.

2 onions chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 red peppers chopped
2 sticks of celery
4 carrots (except I did not have any this time)
2 lbs of stewing beef cut into fairly large chunks
One cup of red wine
1/2 cup of beef stock
1/4 cup fresh herbs chopped (basil, parsley, thyme, oregano) or equivalent dried
2 bay leaves

Sweat off the the vegetables for a minute until the onions are translucent, then add along with the remaining ingredients into a crock pot.

Sitting in the crockpot waiting to cook

Cook on high for about 4 hours or on low for up to 10 hours. Of course this could be cooked in a regular pot in the oven, but somehow the crockpot is easier to leave.

Rather blurry picture of finished stew

 This made enough for 4 containers of stew in my fridge and freezer each one feeding at least two.  It could be stretched to feed more by adding some vegetables at the time of reheating like carrots, potatoes or even as my mother used to do red kidney beans.

I had this for dinner on Wednesday with peas and boiled potatoes, dinner was on the table in about 15 minutes.  How good is that.

Make ahead meals - chilli

My job has increased in responsibility in the last few months and correspondingly in hours, so I am hard pressed to get home and cook a meal each night.  Rather than resorting to pre-made dishes or take out I decided to start cooking up make ahead meals on the weekend.  So this Sunday my Kitchen was bustling I stewed up a large batch of stewed rhubarb there was a batch of stew in the crock pot and I made up a large pot of chilli

Quantities certainly are not exact, but chilli really is very forgiving and you can adjust to taste any way.

2lbs of lean ground beef
2 onions chopped
2 red bell peppers chopped
1 tablespoon of chipotle chili powder
1 tablespoon of regular chili powder
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon of ground coriander.
2 large can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups of beef stock
1 cup of dried pinto beans
1 cup of dried red kidney beans.