Hearty Slow-Cooker Beef Stew

This recipe is very similar to my pot roast recipe. But last time we ordered some meat from US Wellness Meats, we got some stew meat as well and I was trying to figure out how best to use it. Stew meat does best when it is cooked low and slow, to make it more tender. This is why the slow cooker is such an awesome tool for lower quality meats such as stew meat. So you can enjoy your grass fed beef but at a cheaper price!

You could essentially throw whatever you want in here, but I am always a fan of lots of carrots, onions, and occasionally a sweet potato or two thrown in for good measure.

Ingredients
1) 2 pounds of stew meat (the package will actually say this)
2) 2-3 onions, chopped
3) 1-2 pounds of carrots, either diced or use baby carrots (I always add a lot of carrots because they're my favorite once they're all soft and juicy! So I did about 2#, but you could do less)
4) 1-3 sweet potatoes, diced (I added two of them. Sweet potatoes have a tendency to explode in the crock-pot and create a thicker sauce for the meal. If you want them to stay intact, cut them into really big cubes.)
5) 1-2 tablespoons of spices of your choice (I added italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt)

**Makes 6 large servings

Instructions
1) Add your stew meat to your slow cooker.

2) Add in your chopped carrots, onions and sweet potato.

3) Add your spices to the crockpot and stir to mix everything together.

4) Cook on low for a minimum of 8 hours. If you cook it closer to 10-12 hours it'll be even more tender, but 8 in the minimum you should cook this.
5) Enjoy! Portion it out for leftovers and have a hearty meal to keep you full and satisfied.