Beef Stoup....Even a wimp'll love it!

Even my wimp of an ex husband likes this recipe. Except for the onion, it has none of the "icky" vegetables that Mama's boys are so afraid of. When the sissy boy was still eating here, I had to grate the onions in a cheese grater so that he wouldn't see them. Sure, I would have preferred them chopped like a normal person, but while he was living here, I had to deal with my onions being invisible. If the fool couldn't SEE them, they didn't give him heartburn. So, I slippped them in on him. I should have slipped in some anti-freeze while I was at it.

For some reason, people think that soup is only good to cook during the colder months but I like it year round. It's always a great meal and one of the best ways to use a cheaper cut of meat or a leftover roast. One of my favorite soups is vegetable beef and my oldest son loves beef stew so I cook up a big pot of soup, take a big bowl out for myself and then thicken it for my son's stew. I have never seen a vegetable that couldn't be used in this meal but here is my basic recipe that you can add or subtract from to make it your own. The meat and vegetables can be cut into any size you like, but I prefer mine cut into large chunks. The meat and potatoes should be cut to the same size.


2 lbs. round steak diced
5 medium potatoes diced
3 large carrots sliced
2 small onions diced
1 1/2 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 cup frozen peas
1 large can diced tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes, diced
2 bay leaves
3 beef bullion cubes or 1 quart beef stock
1 teaspoonful celery seed
3 tablespoonsful soy sauce
3 tablespoonsful worcestershire sauce
2 envelopes of beef stew flavoring or brown gravy mix
salt and pepper to taste


Chop the meat and cook it in 1 quart of water with bullion or beef stock for two hours (if you don't add the quart of beef stock to the water, you may have to add another cup or two of water when the meat is done to cook the vegetables. Heck, you may have to add a bit more water later anyway, just to keep enough to barely cover the vegies.), covered and stirring occasionally at a low simmer. (You can certainly use a crock pot if you have one, but this is how we poor folk down here in the South do it.) Of course, if you're using leftover roast or meat that's already cooked, you only have to simmer the meat until it's tender.) Add everything else and stir. Simmer for another hour, tasting occasionally to check your seasonings.

When you get the flavor just right and you would like to make this recipe stew instead of soup, mix one cup of milk with 3 tablespoonsful of corn starch until corn starch is dissolved. Add to soup 1/4 cup at a time until it's as thick as you like it. Of course, you need to stir and wait about 5 minutes in between each 1/4 cup of corn starch/milk that you pour in to see if you really need more thickening. If you want to keep the meal as soup, add 2 cups of barley, rice or pasta if you like before serving.