Crock Pot Beef & Cabbage Stew

Yes this is a craft blog for the most part but the way I came up cooking is a craft. Now that doesn't necessarily mean fancy gourmet meals. It does mean cooking with and as an expression of love. It means making food that's good for you and nutritious. You have to eat anyway so why not make it something you are going to enjoy. Sure those little box means are handy once in a while and I've relied on them sometimes to but when is the last time you could really say that microwaved frozen thing was really something enjoyed? Now I have to say I'm a hard core fan of my crock pot. Sure I want tasty healthy food but standing over a hot pot isn't exactly something I'm always up for. Making your own life easier is also part of the craft. To that end I will sometimes post recipes here though not all of them will be for the crock pot. That said I've always seen recipes as sort of a suggestion and not a hard and fast law. For example in this recipe if you don't like black beans then use a bean you like. If you don't have or like quinoa then try some rice instead or maybe some barley. If you don't like beef, try some ground turkey or a vegetarian substitute. Make it something you will like and use what's on hand. Lets go to the kitchen shall we? :-)



Crock Pot Beef & Cabbage Stew

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
2 15oz cans black beans
1 10oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 14.5oz can Italian style diced tomatoes with juice
8oz frozen corn
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups water
1 16oz package coleslaw mix
1 tsp mint
1 tsp sage
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

• In a large pot over medium heat, cook beef until brown drain.
• Add meat beans, tomatoes with juice, corn, onion, water, coleslaw mix, mint, sage, oregano & pepper to the crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours OR low for 8 hours
• Rinse quinoa in cold water, boil water. When boiling add quinoa and simmer 20 to 30 minuets until done. You can do this step ahead if you want to.
• When the stew is about a half hour from done mix in the cooked quinoa and finish cooking.

Serves about 8