World's Easiest Beef Stew

No pics today -- we all have the plague or something and didn't do much but lay around and watch football. G and Cupcake are worse than I am -- I had this back in December, but they're just getting it now. I wanted to make something warm and cozy for dinner today that would also be easy and I whipped up this beef stew that turned out great. And it only took one dish, plus a cutting board and knife.


WORLD'S EASIEST BEEF STEW

• 1½ lbs. stew beef, cut into approximately 1" cubes
• 3-4 carrots, cut into approximately 1" pieces
• 2 stalks celery, cut into approximately ½" slices
• 2 large potatoes, cut into approximately 1" chunks
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• handful of button mushrooms, quartered (optional)
• salt, pepper, and thyme to taste*
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion
• ⅔ cup beef stock
• 1 bay leaf (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare beef and vegetables and place in a large covered baking dish. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. Stir to mix well. Add tomatoes and stock and stir until evenly combined. Cover and cook for 1½-2 hours or until meat and vegetables are cooked through. (You may want to stir once or twice.) Then uncover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until most of the stewing liquid is cooked off. Remove bay leaf. Let sit uncovered for 10-15 minutes before serving with crusty bread.

Enjoy!


* Footnote -- which I originally forgot about! I used salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence as seasonings, because I love me some herbes de Provence (with lavender). Just thyme will work fine, though.