Beef Stew

This has been done every which way since men figured out that cows
were tasty. Since I am currently unemployed, I went cheap with the
ingredients – all purchased on sale. This made 9 bowls of stew for
me, which seems boring but is cheap eats. Figure $12.50 for 9 bowls
of stew. Add $0.99 for a loaf of ralphs value wheat bread, and you
have 9 good plates of food for maybe $1.50 per plate.

2 lbs stewing beef - $5
2 packets Kroger beef stew powder - $1
1 bottle Charles Shaw cab - $2
½ cup AP flour
6 cups water
1 8oz can tomato sauce - $0.50
4 bay leaves
1 TB garlic powder
1 TB onion powder
1 TB cracked pepper
3 med carrots, peeled and chopped - $0.50
3 med onions, chopped into rings - $0.50
8 oz sliced mushrooms - $1.50
4 red potatos, peeled and chopped - $0.75
2 cups white rice (measure is before cooking) - $0.50

in a large stock pot, combine water, kroger packets, bay leaves,
garlic & onion powder, cracked pepper, and tomato sauce – bring to a
boil
coat beef cubes in the flour
in a large fry pan, heat some veg. Oil and brown the beef in batches
after each batch, use 1 cup of red wine to deglaze the pan, and pour
the wine (with the good caramelized bits all in it) into the stock pot
simmer the beef for approx 1 hour in the stock pot
add chopped vegetables, simmer 1 more hour

I made a pot of jasmine rice. I ladle the stew over the white rice
and enjoy with an ice cold beer. Except for the first night – I
polished off the rest of the wine with my first bowl of stew.