Baked Beef Stew

This is an old family favorite recipe. It came from my grandmother's brother. I know it is not officially a crock pot meal, but it is easy and a great one for a day when you need something to just fix and forget.  You could cook it in the crock pot if you like.   You can dice all your veggies and mix it together the night before. Then all you have to do is throw it in the oven.  This is what my meat/potato-loving husband considers the perfect soup.

Baked Beef Soup
1 lb. potatoes or 3 large; peel and diced.
3 carrots; diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 medium onion; chopped fine
1- 1 1/2 lbs. stew meat
1 can  stewed or diced tomates (14 oz)
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. Tapioca
Place everything into a roaster. Mix.

Cover and bake at 250 degrees for 5 hours.

This is one recipe you can really make your own adding more or less of a certain veggie.  I like to add 1 cup more celery.  The original recipe does not call for any water.  I do not like my stew to be really thick so I add 1 cup of water.  If I find it is still too thick after cooking I will add a bit more water or even some more tomatoes.  I also do not add the Tapioca each time and it turns out fine.

Check out some great crock pot recipes at  Crockpot Wednesdays over at Dining With Debbie.