This delicious recipe is from Kendra Frampton, the awesome blogger behind When's My Vacation. Check her out and be sure to tell her how much you love this dish!

Favorite Fall Recipe: Simple Crock Pot Beef Stew

Ingredients

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1’’ pieces
2 lbs of carrots (I use baby carrots and just dump the bag into the crock-pot)
2 Stalks of celery, cut into bite size piece
1 can cream of mushroom (or other flavor) soup
4 cups of beef stock
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Place meat in crock pot. Add all other ingredients on top. Cook on low for 10 hours. Dinner is served.My kids like to top the stew with a dab of sour cream or plain yogurt. It just adds a little creamy-ness to the stew once it is all mixed in together. Serve it with homemade bread and butter and you have a full delicious meal. This is a hearty meal that will fill you up and warm you from the inside out. It is a perfect weekday meal when you need something hot and ready when you get home, but it is also great for a chilly Sunday afternoon.

I added my beef stock recipe here as well in case you need to try a new one. I do not add any salt so it is a great low sodium alternative to canned stock.

Ingredients for Beef Stock

4 pounds of meaty beef soup bones
3 carrots, cut into chunks
3 pieces of celery, cut into chunks
2 medium onions, cut into chunks
3 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
8 peppercorns
4 sprigs of fresh parsley
1 tea dried thyme
1 tea dried marjoram
1 tea dried oregano
3 quarts of cold water

Directions for Beef Stock

Preheat oven to 450°. In a large roasting pan place soup bones and bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Add carrots, celery and onions. Bake an additional 30 minutes. Drain the fat.
Transfer the bones and vegetables using a slotted spoon into a large Dutch oven. Add the warm water to roasting pan; stirring to loosen browned bits from pan.
Transfer the pan juices to Dutch oven on the stove top. Add seasonings and enough cold water just to cover the bones and vegetables. Slowly bring to a boil, about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat; simmer the pot uncovered for about 5 hours. Skim the surface (as needed) when foam rises to the top. If necessary, add very hot water during the first 2 hours to keep ingredients covered.
Remove bones and throw away. Strain broth through a cheesecloth-lined colander, discarding vegetables and seasonings. Broth can be covered and refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen 4-6 months. Yield: 2-1/2 quarts.