My crockpot beef stew....

Hey all... someone was just asking the other day what I have been cooking so here it is. With a little "this/that/and the other".... this is the beef stew I came up with:

Recipe.....

- 4 small - medium potatoes cubed (spoonsize)
- 4 carrots sliced then diced (spoonsize)
- 1 & a 1/2 pounds of beef - I bought 2 beef outside round steaks and cut/cubed it and it was extremely tender after cooking.
- 2 cans of beef broth (regular size soup cans)
- 1 cup of water
- 2 - 4 cloves of garlic (depends on what you like)
- 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon of pepper plus a dasha shake of salt if you wish
- 1 tablespoon + a dash of paprika
- 2 stalks of celery, cut up and diced as well
- 3 small/medium onions diced (not too small)
- 1/4 cup of raw but well rinsed pearl barley (get the dust off it by rinsing and it will also help thicken up your broth)

- a few tablespoons of flour sprinked
- 1/2 cup of frozen peas (you don't want too many peas)

Put all your ingredients up to the barley into a slow cooker/crock pot as they are listed or just throw them in. Give it a good stir so all the ingredients including the spices are mixed. Cover it and set on high for 4& 1/2 hours - 5 hours, or set it on low for about 10 hours.

When there is about 45 minutes or a 1/2 hour left then put the frozen peas in as well as the few tablespoons of flour sprinkled on and mixed well. That will thicken it to a not so soupy consistancy.

You may want to toss it all in at once including the barley and peas and flour and it works that way too. The barley might be a bit stuck to the bottom but will come off. And personally, I'd only put fresh peas in that early, not frozen.

Here is the end result: Feeds 6 easily :-)