can you freeze it, i figure it will be simple to make. is a ctock pot the same as a slow cooker, never mind i will look for the mix.

yes you can freeze it. but when hubby and i make a pot up it doesn't last long and its just the 2 of us. we make enough to last us for a few days. i buy mcmormick beef stew seasoning packet, carrots celery, potatoes and onions in ours. i take a beef roast cut up into chunks and flour and brown . we also use beef broth, sometimes i also will use some beef bullion cubes for some extra flavor

thank you very much.

Yes. You can freeze it. And a crock pot is the same as a slow cooker.

i brought mccornick beef stew mix, frozen veggies, and can potatoes, will buy onion and celery later, i hope both works in the slow cooker, as pot roast mix and mix veggies, can potatoes,

If you're using canned potatoes, you might want to add them after the rest is done cooking. They're already cooked and will turn to mush if you add them with the fresh vegetables and meat.

If you're using canned potatoes, you might want to add them when the rest is almost done cooking. They are pre-cooked and will turn to mush if added with the fresh vegetables and meat. You might want to also rinse the canned potatoes beforehand since they usually contain salt.

thank you very much.

Yes, it freezes very well! I didn't know this for a long time, but Crock Pot is actually a registered brand name and other similar appliances cannot call themselves a crock pot - they must call themselves slow cookers!

I agree with Sparkle about the canned potatoes. To be honest, I'd use fresh potatoes because of the texture of canned potatoes.

Makes me want to make some beef stew this weekend!

i am going to use baby gold potatoes, if they have them, i am doing beef stew next week in the slow cooker at 8 hour, if it isn't done 5 hour.

Good luck family. I hope it turns out well. I'm currently looking at 2 different stew/pot roast recipes trying to decide which I want to try. One uses butternut squash and Italian green beans and the other uses sweet potatoes and black beans. Decisions, decisions.

Dang! Now I'M going to have to make beef stew this weekend too!

Slow cooker beef stew is one of our staples when the weather gets chilly and damp, which it is currently.

Our recipe is really easy. We start with whatever decent beef roast is on sale: chuck or whatever and trim all the really big chunks of fat off. Then a couple carrots, a medium yellow onion, one parsnip, one turnip and 2-3 Wisconsin russet potatoes and ONLY Wisconsin russet potatoes, because...Wisconsin Black pepper, about a 1/2 cup of red wine, two garlic cloves, and an 8oz can of no-salt-added tomato sauce. You can pretty much add whatever herbs you like, we use a little herbs de Provence, but just a small sprig of rosemary works well too. I don't like to use a lot of herbs, because they seem to get a little too intense in the slow cooker and loose their brightness unless you make a sauce or gravy post slow-cook.

So, just do a quick rustic cut of the veggies (big and careless pieces) give the the garlic cloves a quick smash (so they are broken, but not in pieces) then brown the roast in a really hot stainless pan on the stove top, just before pulling out the roast, throw in the garlic cloves and brown them in the drippings, put the roast to the side and remove the garlic (you can toss those unless you have other plans for them, it's just for a background flavor). Then deglaze the hot pan with the red wine scraping up all the good bits, and add the tomato sauce and black pepper (if you're using a rosemary sprig add it in now). Bring to a simmer, shut it down and remove the rosemary sprig if you used one.

Throw all the veggies in the slow cooker, sprinkle lightly with the herbs de Provence (if that's your preference, put the roast on top of the veggies, pour the sauce you just made over the top of the meat and close up the cooker. 6-8 hours on the low setting and you've got some awesome meals.

Oh, my. Now I KNOW I'm doing a crock pot of beef stew this weekend! I always brown my roast in a cast iron skillet first too. Just adds that extra layer of flavor. And since I have a quart of fresh tomato sauce from my garden which I was trying to figure out what to do with, this is perfect!

Sounds good Trail_Mystic. I do like to change up my recipes and try different things though because I get sick of the same vegetables. I like most veggies but don't really love any of them so I have to mix them up.

I'm going with Caribbean Pot Roast in the Dutch Oven rather than the slow cooker (providing my Dutch Oven fits inside my counter top oven. Not sure. If not, I will put it all in the Crock Pot instead. I'm doing this one because I have the right size Chuck Roast for this recipe. It's too big for the other. This is the one with the Sweet Potatoes and Black Beans.

i will use the turnip, and parsnip, but the red wine, no i had to throw out my white wine, i only drink, tea, cokes, powerade, milk, and my garlic is a jar of minced garlic.

So, I made beef stew in the slow cooker yesterday. Also threw in a bunch of sliced mushrooms. We nearly swooned it was so good! Won't be freezing any though as hubby will eat on it all week along with the leftover lasagna from the weekend!

waiting til friday to get the stew meat.

I got a couple of chuck roasts that were on sale and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Yummy!

I made my pot roast today in the crock pot as my dutch oven lid had some built up gunk on it that I didn't feel like trying to deal with. Unfortunately, the sweet potatoes got a little mushy while the meat could have cooked a little longer. I guess I shouldn't have put the sweet potatoes in at the beginning. The meat was okay but not falling apart. All still edible though.

I usually do my pot roast in the oven too. But even when I use the crock pot I don't add the potatoes until the last hour. When I made the beef stew I put it all in together, but I had cut my meat up into small 1 inch cubes.

Can't wait to hear about your stew Family

Drac, the recipe (for in the dutch oven) did cook the meat awhile before adding the potatoes. I did consult Google about converting the cooking time, but I also looked at crock pot recipes for stew that all said to add the potatoes with the meat so that's what I did. I did not, however, cut the meat which I probably should have done as well as waiting awhile to add the potatoes. It still is okay, but could have been better. Actually, most of my meals seem to turn out that way.

I had a roast happen like that to me and a friend of mine. We had purchased chuck roasts on sale and we both found the even though we cooked in the crock pot for many hours - more than called for - they were like yours. Done and not bad, but not that falling apart tender. I had one more of these roasts and when I went to cook it I checked - I found it had these really long coarse muscle fibers indicating it came from an older animal. Nothing in the world wrong with it, but now we saw why it was on sale. I cut the roast in three pieces and it cooked down to as tender as it could be that time. Learned something new!

mine is cooking now, will be ready by 6pm, the meat was taco meat, veggie were cut to early turn brown, and we forgot to deglaze a pan i am following trail recipes, except potatoes.

As I'm no longer out at work all week, I don't use slow cookers these days, just my electric oven. And to cope with the more mature, tougher cuts of meat I ....

Cook at a high heat (200C) in a casserole dish with a lid on for a full hour, then for a couple more hours at a moderate heat (150C) turning the meat (or just stirring if it's been diced) every now and then.

I only add vegetables for the last hour of the moderate temperature.

The initial high heat speeds up the break down of fibrous meats whilst the later, moderate heat finishes the process to provide a good and tender end result - plus excellent stock for gravy

I know slow cookers are meant for cooking while you're at work but I never trusted leaving one on while I was not home. I only use it it when I can be here supervising.

Same here, oldbroad. I just never felt comfortable leaving mine on when no one was home. Lots of people do though!

I did very occasionally leave mine on whilst I was at work but I wasn't ever a regular user of them, whether I was in OR out of the house. I've always preferred my hob and ovens

oldbroad, mad, draclvr. i was home, as my hubby, he, my sister help me.

So, how did it turn out, family?

it was good, but the guy i gave some to put sugar in it, 3 cups.

3 cups of sugar!! Oh my

Sugar? In beef stew? THREE CUP!? Throw it out!

that was his, mine is in my fridge, he said the turnips were bitter.

But 3 CUPS family? That is a lot!

i know, i separate the beef stew, gave him some, kept some, that is a lot.

Wait, did you give him 3 cups of stew and he put some sugar in it, or did he put 3 cups of sugar in the stew that you gave to him?

he put 3 cups of sugar in his stew, not mine.

That will be inedible... I can see adding a teaspoon of sugar, but 3 cups? That's more than a recipe for candy!

Yes, that is a lot of sugar.

How did you like the turnips family? I don't think I've ever used turnips or parsnips in a stew. I'll have to try them. I can't make it always with just carrots and potatoes.

I have a ton of turnips out in the garden, but they aren't big enough yet. I used a rutabaga from the grocery store. Love them!

I use parsnips in soup all the time. Love it! I use turnips with daikon radish to make potato-less hash browns.

I like a tablespoon of molasses in my stew. It's delicious!

I thought about a rutabaga after I posted the above entry. I don't use them very often either and it would be a welcome change. My store has chuck roast on sale this week so I'm going to have to start planning.

I can see the bit of molasses in a beef stew... sounds like something I need to try! Going to try the "turnip" hash browns too. I love turnips and so does hubby. He is controlling his diabetes with diet alone and the sounds like something he'd like.

Add some onions to the hash browns and anything else you would normally add to them and they are delicious. I do it for the lower carbs too.

i divide the stew in 2 tupperware and kept one, and gave the other to my friend.

Who knew beef stew would be such a hot topic. I know I'm late to the partty, but wanted to share my way of making beef stew. I hate to cook, but I find beef stew to be one of the easiest dishes to prepare. I buy the cut up stew meat at the store. I brown the meat in oil or Crisco. Transfer the meat to a large pot, add beef broth (not boullion), onion, celery, parsley, and seasonings. I simmer on the stovetop for about two hours, check to see if meat is getting tender, and then add cut up potatoes and carrots and simmer until potatoes and carrots are cooked.

family - As far as your friend adding 3 cups of sugar to his portion of the stew, I think he must have been teasing you.

i saw him, he took the sugar container, pour the big hole in the tupper ware and stir, pour some more and stir, and then said it was fine now.

I would hate to have tasted that stew after he'd finished with it !!!!

family - Do you think he actually ate it? I think he was being mean.

he did eat it, and it was his, mine is in the freezer, my husband did not want to carry the crock pot bowl, too big, so we put it in 2 tupperware, 1 for him, the other for me.

Nobody is putting you down family and we understand that it was not you who did that. People have different tastes. I still want to know if you liked the turnip in it.

it was good i had some today and froze the leftovers, and i enjoy it, iu just need to figure out how to make the italian roll soft.

Italian bread is not usually soft. But if you put a roll in the microwave for about 10 seconds, it will get soft. But you have to eat it right away.

thank you very much.

If you leave it in the microwave too long, it will get rubbery!

I would just dunk it in the stew without making it soft!

I "dunk" like that a LOT .... it's delicious

It sure is, Mad!

Best idea! Dunk it in the stew!

thats what im mking I put the potatoes in at the last 1/2 hour .... thats the way I eat it no mushy but a little together try it see if it works for you ok

I'm thinking about some chili soon. Mmm.