Weekend Recipes - Spicy Beef Vegetable Stew

Happy Halloween!!  Here in Atlanta it has been rainy and cold all day.  The PERFECT day to have something cooking all day in the Crock Pot.  I decided to try out Spicy Beef Vegetable Stew, a recipe that I found while bored in class on Thursday.

Spicy Beef Vegetable Stew

1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 (30 ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce

3 1/2 cups water

1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 cup sliced celery

1 teaspoon beef bouilon granuale

1 teaspoon pepper

In a skillet over medium heat, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until the vegetables are tender.

Some notes on what we did:

- I couldn't find a 16 oz. bag of the frozen vegetables that I wanted, so I bought the 32 oz. with the intent of only using half - I think I used more than half but it didn't seem to overpower the stew to use more than it called for.

- Next time we will DEFINITELY use LESS pepper than the 1 teaspoon that it calls for.  If you like pepper or need your sinuses cleared, I would say use the full teaspoon - otherwise, I would recommend cutting it in half.

- Even on low, it started to boil around 6/7 hours - so make sure you are around after it has been in for awhile to stir.

Here's to warming up a rainy day!!

Sarah :)