This is an old-time recipe just updated to cook in the slow cooker. The best part is that the ingredients are still fairly inexpensive today. I bought a 10 lb. bag of potatoes on sale for $2.49, a bag of carrots for $.79, a bag of Quorn $2.50 and a can of tomato paste for $.89.  So, I spent $6.67 on ingredients for dinner and had extra potatoes left over for the rest of the week. I had garlic, onion powder, cornstarch and oregano in my pantry.

The dish cooks in the slow cooker all day long and because I cut the vegetables slightly bigger than I normally would they didn’t over cook. They still had a bit of bite to them rather than being mushy.

Verdict:

This was interesting. It was simple to make.  We ate the whole pot of stew, which almost never happens in our house. There was not a bit left at the end of dinner. Everyone was hungry and with a loaf of homemade crusty bread for sopping up the broth it was a nice, simple, hearty meal. Add $2.25 to the meal total for the bread.

Because I cut the potatoes and carrots slightly larger than normal they did not turn mushy while cooking. They kept fairly intact which was really good. My family loved that the slow cooker dish still had some bit to it. They don’t like mushy slow cooker meals.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2- 2 lbs. potatoes, cut into large cubes
• 1 lb. carrots, cut into 2″ chunks
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 3 cups vegetables stock
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 (12 oz) bag of Quorn (frozen) or 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
• 2 TBSP cornstarch
• 3 TBSP cold water

Directions:

1. Place potatoes, carrots, tomato paste, stock, oregano, and garlic into the slow cooker bowl. Stir well. Lay the Quorn (or ground beef) over the top of the mixture and cover. Do not stir! Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
2. Stir the mixture 1/2 way through cooking.
3. Mix cornstarch and water in a small bowl about 15 minutes before serving. Add to slow cooker and stir well. Mixture will thicken.
4. Taste and adjust spices adding salt, pepper, garlic or oregano as needed.
5. Serve hot.