Beef Stew

This is my absolute winter favorite (chubby little bear cub I turn into in winter...)

Ingredients:
Roughly 1 1/2 lbs of beef chunks.*
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 can of dark beer (Guiness or other stouts recommended)
3 cubes beef bullion
2 cups water
1 onion, quatered
1 stick celery sliced
4 large carrots or about 1 cup of baby carrots chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup quick-cook barley

Mix together flour, salt, and pepper. Toss the beef in the flour mixture until totally coated.

Heat oil in a soup pot on the oven (I use a spaghetti pot). Toss in beef and extra flour. Brown on all sides. Pour in beer and water. Add bullion and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low heat.^ If you, like me, like the flavor of celery but not the texture add it now so it can cook to mush.

Let cook for at least 30 minutes. Add carrots. Cook another 15 minutes. Add peas and barley. Let cook for 10 minutes or until a lentil that has been fished out is tender.

OPTIONS!
-Potatoes instead of lentils: add at the same time as carrots
-Rice instead of lentils: add at same point as lentil would be added
-Additional veggies: rule of thumb is that you should add them at the same time as one of the other veggies of similar toughness. For example, corn would go in about the same time as peas (ditto other types of beans) radishes would go in at the same time as carrots.
-Tomatoes: always add last. Even after the lentils. They fall apart quickly.
-Red wine: different sort of flavor. I think the stew needs thyme mixed in with the flour if you use red wine. (About 1/4tsp)


*You can buy a tenderloin or other large pieces of meat if you like and cut it down. Flank steak is often a good choice for price alone
^The longer you cook this the more tender your beef will be. If you don't want to take the time, leave at medium and keep an eye on it (chances are good your pot will be almost full.)

Crockpot Week: Chicken Noodle Soup

Being sick isn't fun. Getting to eat chicken noodle soup can be, though. This has way more ingredients than my average recipe. It also makes more and can be frozen with minimal damage (the veggies get squishy when you reheat)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken breasts or thighs (Basic difference: thighs are fattier. They're what you see in your campbell's soup. In my opinion, they make the better soup)

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 tbsp pepper, preferably freshly ground

2 cups chicken stock

half a bag of egg noodles.

Directions:

Put chicken and stock in crockpot. Cook on high for 2-3 hours. Take a fork to the chicken and break it up into whatever size pieces of chicken you prefer. Add the celery and carrots, drop temperature to low and cook for another hour or until a fork can easily pierce the carrots. Add pepper to taste. 10 minutes before serving, add in the egg noodles. Add enough water to ensure that everything is covered and you have the amount of broth you want. (Make sure not to overfill! A crockpot filled to the lid is not going to cook well)

Dish out and enjoy!