I’ve been reading Stephanie’s A Year of CrockPotting and she has inspired me! As a matter of fact, her fajita recipe is in the pot as we type!
I make an awesome beef stew — and I know it’s awesome because my guys said so! But it’s a lot of work and though it’s fabulous, I don’t make it very often because there’s so much browning and sauteeing and deglazing — it takes about an hour to get it into the oven, and then we have to smell that for two or three hours before we can eat it! So the other day I just chopped everything up, threw it in the pot and waited to see what would happen. All I can tell you is that I didn’t make enough of this stuff. It was even more awesome! And a lot easier to do! So — here it is!
Awesome Crock Pot Beef Stew
2 pounds stew meat
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 large carrots, sliced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 tsp thyme
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup water
Some flour
Just throw all this stuff into your crock pot (mine’s 5 quarts and I probably had enough room left to double this recipe) — except for the peas, the last cup of water and the flour. I left it on low for about eight hours. We weren’t home, so I don’t know if it was ready before that!
You might notice that there aren’t any potatoes. That’s because we make mashed potatoes and put the stew over those — like gravy. Yum yum! You can, of course, just throw your potatoes in there if you want to, but my guys would think I was cheating if I did that. They specifically want the mashed potatoes!
I also thought it could have used some more salt, and I’m sure I throw in much more than two teaspoons of thyme — my measuring spoons don’t see the light of day very often. I also use more carrots — I love carrots! But you have to put amounts in recipes, so I said four. 
When you’re ready to serve it, put the crock pot on high, toss in the frozen peas, and make a slurry with the water and flour. I didn’t measure the flour, either — sorry! — but it was probably about half a cup. Stir that in and it will thicken the stew beautifully while you’re mashing your potatoes. And the peas cook really fast and aren’t mushy like I think they would probably be if you left them in there all day.
The only warning I have is to use some common sense when you eat this stuff! Leftovers are your friends! 
