Foodie Fridays - Crock Pot Beef Stew

It's the first edition of Foodie Fridays!  You can check out all of my previously posted recipes (posted on random days of the week before I got my act together) here.

Who doesn't love an easy crock pot recipe that involves a favorite comfort food.  At the first sign of cold weather I broke out my crock pot to make a simple beef stew. I'll give my mom most of the credit on this recipe, but it's one of those dishes that everyone makes in their own unique way.  This is how I made mine this past week:

Crock Pot Beef Stew
(serves 6 - 8)
1 lb cubed beef lightly floured (I did 1/2 lb of the beef chuck cheap stuff and 1/2 lb of the more expensive top sirloin)
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
3 - 4 carrots, chopped
3 - 4 stalks of celery, chopped
2 - 3 potates, cubed
12 oz can beef stock (or water and beef bouillon)
1/2 cup water (enough to cover the food in the pot)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp all spice
1 tsp minced garlic
1- 2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Chop up your vegetables and meat to be approximately the same size chunks (this will help everything cook more evenly).  Lightly coat your meat chunks with flour (this will help to thicken the gravy, you can also sear the meat quickly in a frying pan at this point but I usually skip that step). I put my vegetables in first and meat on top.  Add your spices to your liquid, give it a stir, and pour over top.  Add water as necessary to just cover everything.

You can cook it all on high for about 5 - 6 hours, or on low for 7- 8 hours.  Or if you are like me, I cooked it on high for about 4 hours, gave it a stir, and then cooked it on low for another 10 hours because I forgot to set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night to turn it off.  Everything still tasted great, and the the vegetables weren't over cooked. Remove the bay leaves, boil up some egg noodles or rice right before serving and pour the stew over top. Enjoy!