Beef Stew-for Camping

As I mentioned earlier my family went on an 8 day camping trip.  I love camping but cooking can get kind of hard after a few days.  Steaks are easy on the first couple days but they aren't going to last 8 in the ice chest.    I had originally planned on taking pictures of every meal to blog about but most of the time I was too hungry.  The two pictures I did manage to take were of meals half eaten.  Oh well.  I guess it's better than nothing.  And I don't suppose that you wanted to see pictures of hot dogs and jarred spaghetti sauce.

This beef stew recipe is not just used for camping.  It is my favorite beef stew recipe.  Perfect on a cold winter night or after a long day of hiking.  Though stew has a long cooking time it is easy for camping because well, I cook it before I leave.  Cook it before you leave and freeze it.   Let it defrost slowly in your ice chest and you can save this for a day 5 meal on your camping trip and the taste is 100 times better than canned stew.

Coming up Monday, the other camping recipe I managed to take a picture of.

Beef Stew
recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1930-2000 Limited Edition)

Ingredients

1 lb beef stew meat (cut into 3/4 inch cubes)
4 oz bacon (optional)-if you can find precooked peppered bacon use that, I can't ever find it around here.
8 oz tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth (or water and bouillon)
2 cups water
1 medium onion chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon pepper (if using peppered bacon omit pepper)
2 1/2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup sliced carrots


Cook bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat until barely crispy.  Remove bacon and turn heat to high.  Brown stew meat and remove the meat to drain the pan.  Add beef and bacon back to the pan.  Stir in tomato sauce, water, broth, onion, Worcestershire sauce, marjoram, oregano, bay leaf  and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cover and simmer for a little over an hour or until beef is nearly tender.  Add vegetables, cover and simmer about 20 minutes longer until vegetables are tender.