Vegetable Beef Stew -- Recipes to feed your family while you're on deadline

Happy Friday, everybody! It's been another long week. Continuing with my Friday Food Blog is my recipe for Vegetable Beef Stew. This one is my own creation. ; ) This recipe can also be doubled to make extra stew for freezing, which is great for those nights when all you have time to do is re-heat something.

Vegetable Beef Stew

2 lbs. extra lean stew beef
3 tbsp. butter
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
8-oz. pkg. fresh mushrooms (chopped)
1 pkg. McCormick Beef Stew Seasoning Mix
1 small can corn (drained)
1 small can lima beans (drained)
4 red potatoes (skins on & sliced bite-sized)
1-1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1-1 1/2 cups chopped brocolli
2 (10-oz. cans) Rotel Mexican Festival Diced Tomatoes (with Lime Juice & Cilantro) or if you don't want as much kick, you can use two cans of Hunts Diced Tomatoes with Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil.
6 cups of water

You're using extra lean stew beef, but if there's any fat, slice it off before cooking. Brown beef in a skillet (do not drain any drippings). Put meat and drippings in a large stew pot. Melt 3 tbsp. of butter in the skillet and saute chopped onion and mushrooms. Add onion and mushrooms to stew pot with the beef. Then add contents of seasoning packet and 6 cups of water. Stir until blended. Cut up remaining vegetables and add to the stew pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

FYI -- This stew goes great with sourdough bread or cornbread.

Pop back by tomorrow for the Saturday Fun Pic; I'll be posting my own Leaning Tower of Unpublishable Manuscripts. And on Monday, I'll tell you what books for writers inspire me.

Have a great weekend!
Lisa