Cooking with Leftovers

This has to be one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen (other than therapy, but that is another post in itself). This is why I make roast. It is so easy to recycle the leftover meat. It also tricks picky children into eating leftovers. It can be shepard's pie, beef stew, or hash very easily. Tonight it will be beef stew. This is a family recipe, which are my very favorites. It came from my grandma, Vera Costello. I love you Grandma!

Beef Stew a la Grandma

1 lb. stew meat or leftover roast beef
flour
salt
pepper
1 onion, chopped
celery, sliced
garlic, chopped
1 package frozen mixed veggies
potatoes (diced, if you aren't freezing leftovers)
1 can diced tomatoes
worcestershire sauce (winchester)
roughly 5 c. water
leftover gravy from said roast beef or 1 jar Franco American beef gravy

Season flour with salt and pepper (if using stew meat). Dredge meat in seasoned flour and brown. Add in everything else. Simmer until yummy. If you use leftover pot roast and it's too thin, then thicken with some cornstarch and water. (Mix cornstarch and water, then add to stew. If you just dump the cornstarch in, then you are asking for lumps.) Serve over rice.

This is one of those recipes that you can freeze the leftovers for busy nights if you leave out the potatoes.