Lazy Day Beef Stew -Low Carb (S)

Let me start by saying I'm not really a slow cooker kind of gal.  I'm more of a pressure cooker person, but, I understand that the nutritional values of the food are better preserved by slow cooking and it can be a convenience, so I have adapted.  I still have a tendency to want to rush though, so I have given directions for cooking this dish on high for 5 hours and then adding the veggies in and cooking for another hour or so till they are done.  But it could just as easily be cooked all day (or night) on low before the veggies are added in then and turned on high for an hour or more.  Either way, this is a lot of food bang for the amount of prep time, buck!  It is also the recipe for some of best stew that I have ever eaten.  I have been making it for almost 40 years and it is a family classic for us.  I THM'd it by switching out the potatoes and carrots for radishes and green beans, and changing the Worstershire Sauce in it for Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  We can't even tell the difference!  It's still winter's number ONE-derful stew for us!



3-4 pounds beef tips, roast, or any inexpensive or on sale beef you can find

I like to use high quality meat, but try to get the best deal I can.  This roast was originally $24 but I ended up getting it for the price shown in the mark down bin at Kroger and it fed 5 adults as a main dish with low carb bread with 2 good servings left over.  (These store's mark down the all natural meat like it has the same shelf life as the other meat in my opinion and because it is cleaner it still has plenty of days left on it, onlike the cheaper quality meat.)

1 quart of tomato juice - buy it or make it by thinning a can of tomato paste
*If you decide to cut back on the meat be sure you divide the tomato paste too or it will be too strongly flavored (total 24 gms of carbs in can of paste divided by 8 is 3 gms per serving from tomatoes  http://turtlehull.blogspot.com/2014/10/using-canned-tomato-paste-to-make.html

1/3 cup chopped onion (negligible carbs per serving)
1 tablespoon celtic sea salt (I start with this amount and usually put in another teaspoon or two when it is done)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons Bragg's Amino's
4 bay leaves- remove these before adding in the veggies

2 bunches of radishes-or more! (rinsed, top removed and cut in half)
1 can of green beans (drained)
1 or 2 carrots sliced thinly
Any other low carb veggie that would work here, preferably a root vegetable
2-4 cups water added with the vegetables (not absolutely necessary but flavors will be more concentrated, more like a super flavorful roast and less like stew if you don't add the extra water)

PinIt!

Place the cut up meat in the crockpot and mix the tomato juice and spices together and pour over the meat.  Cooking time will vary according the cuts of meat that you have used.  I cooked the roast in the picture that I had cut into 8 pieces for 5 hours on high.  Then I skimmed the excess fat from the pan,(I like to do this with a gravy separator, but if you don't have one just use a ladle)  added more salt, used a knife and fork roughly cut up the meat into more manageable pieces and put in the radishes and green beans.  I cooked all this on high for another hour.  Then I left it on warm (though it was done) for a couple more hours while I waited for guest to arrive and it was still perfect.

As I said earlier this could be cooked on low all night or all day (8 hours) and then add in the veggies for an hour or so on high.