Oven Stew

I love the fall when the air is crisp and cool and it feels homey to have the oven on baking and warming the house. While I use my crockpot, sometimes I would like my stew done a little sooner without having to watch it on the stovetop or to insure that my vegetables are “just right”. This is the perfect recipe to make your home warm and cozy with the fragrance of homecooking. This is a real budget meal if you get the meat on sale and use the store brand V8 or tomato juice.

Budget Saver: I usually buy the large packages of stew meat when they are on sale, and bag and freeze them in meal size portions for my family so I never have to pay full price for the meat. Also, it is more important how many meals you can get for your family than how much the meat actually costs per pound. Another budget tip: I rarely use the full amount of meat called for in a recipe. If your family is big on meat, gradually reduce the amount you are adding until you reach the amount that is palatable for your family and budget saving for you.

Looking for inexpensive spices, try Monterey Bay Spice Company at http://www.herbco.com/ You must buy in bulk and do you know how much 1/4 pound of bay leaves is? Get together with your friends and family and send in one order and share. These are the freshest spices, except for homegrown that I have found.

Oven Stew

Carol

Dice together:

5 potatoes

5 carrots

1 onion

3 stalks celery

Add 1 pound stew meat cut into bite size pieces

Pour over vegetables and meat:

1 cup V8 Juice

Sprinkle over mixture:

1 Tablespoon oregano or Italian seasoning, parsley flakes and, as my son would say, whatever else looks good like I usually add a bay leaf or two

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons tapioca

Bake 4 hours at 250º F. after covering tightly with foil.

What I Do: Truthfully, I just eyeball the vegetables and meat for my large family of large eaters, which amounts to about 2 medium/large potatoes and 2 carrots per person. Adjust onions accordingly and celery is optional. I use about 1 1/2 cups of stew meat cut into bite sized portions. I often use the store brand V8 Juice, or when it is too expensive, I have even used just tomato juice. I add the same number of cans of water as I am using of the juice if I am making more than a 9 x 13" size pan. I don’t use the tapioca, although the stew is good with it. Also, I don't add the salt in the pan, but sometimes we add it at the table. I only cook it about 3 hours on 350º.

Last night I added about 2 teaspoons of rosemary in addition to the other spices. The flavor was good, but 2 teaspoons were too much. Next time, I would try 1 teaspoon.