Hearty slow cooker beef stew

I love an easy meal that you can prepare ahead of time, and then just pull out of the fridge, plug in and leave as you're walking out the door for the day. I'll let you know how this turns out once we eat it!!

Edit: The beef stew was great, but I ended up skimming a good amount of fat off the top of the pot and added at least a tsp of salt!

Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Makes 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 large celery, sliced thick
1 large potato, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced thick
1 lb. stew cut beef
1/4 c flour
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
2.5 cups water
2 cubes beef bouillion
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat water and bouillion to boiling in pot or in microwave. Stir to dissolve bouillion.Combine flour and spices in a large bowl. Mix in beef and toss well to coat. Pour into bottom of slow cooker.

Cutting up the veggies is the most time consuming part of this meal.

Add vegetables and cover with broth (bouillion and water). Stir well to combine. Cook on low 8 hours or high for 5 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Martha's slow cooker pot roast and trusting your inner chef

Did I mention I got a new crock pot? We purchased a lovely stainless steel and ceramic 6 quart crock pot a couple of weeks ago. It's beautiful and even has a timer. While at the store this weekend, I decided it was time to crock pot a roast. If you've never cooked a pot roast all day in a crock pot, you're missing out. It gives you the most tender roast you'll ever eat. Usually I cover my roast and veggies in a mixture of broth, cream of mushroom soup, lots of garlic and some sage.

I've been trying to venture out of my comfort zone on dishes lately though and actually follow some recipes. The other day I found the recipe for Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker Pot Roast, and after reading all the stellar reviews, I figured I'd give it a try. Nevermind that I questioned the minimal spice and the complete lack of liquid. This recipe had raving reviews and I was following it exactly.
All I can say is that you should always listen to your inner chef. The people that raved about this recipe must have only made roasts in those reynold's bags prior to this recipe. Granted I cooked this 2 hours less then the recommended 10 hours (my crockpot timer only goes up to 8), but that honestly wouldn't have made a huge difference. The flavor was subtle but still managed to be a little tart from the worcestershire. The liquid "gravy" that everyone raved about was just a greasy, flavorless broth (don't worry, I used it to make a tasty gravy which saved the meal). The roast itself was the driest thing I've ever pulled out of a crock pot. It wasn't very tender either.

Popular recipes and beautiful photography don't necessarily make for a great meal. Lesson learned. The roasted potatoes on the other hand, were out of this world. I cut some gold potatoes into thick wedges, tossed them in some olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, thyme and crushed garlic. I roasted at 475 for 15 minutes on the low rack in my oven. Then I flipped them and roasted for 10 minutes more. Yum!!!