Meal Prep: Extreme Edition - Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Stew

Next up in our meal prep journey is a delicious stew Tara and I discovered on one of our first ever cooking days, and had forgotten about until now.

I think the original recipe called it a soup... but it's a stew!

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew      |     Portions: 16

Ingredients
- 1.5kg chuck steak, cubed
- 6 brushed potatoes, washed and diced (peeled if desired)
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 4 celery sticks, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tsp Worstershire sauce
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 litres beef stock
- 1 cup pearl barley
- fresh thyme
- salt & pepper to taste

Method
Step 1: heat vegetable oil on the stove and brown the meat
Step 2: Add all ingredients to the slow cooker, and cook on high for 5 hours
Step 3: remove bay leaves and thyme stalks, before portioning

I would serve this with some crusty bread - and that's it!

We had this for dinner the other night (forgot to take a photo!); I actually find this quite bland.  When I am eating this other night, I will be adding half a cup of water and heating it up on the stove - I will also be adding more salt & pepper, along with some paprika and maybe some chilli flakes.  I'm not sure yet - I will update the recipe once I know what works!

Join me next Wednesday for a delicious Tuscan chicken :)

Hx