Slow-Cooked Meatball Stew

I subscribe to several recipe distribution emails and have gathered quite a few simple but tasty recipes from these groups.  This meatball stew recipe came from pillsbury.com and we were very pleased by our finished product.  

Ingredients:

1 bag (1 lb) ready-to-eat baby carrots

1 lb small red potatoes (2 1/2 to 3 inch), cut into quarters

1 jar (4.5 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

1 small onion, cut into thin wedges

1 bag (16 oz) frozen cooked meatballs (about 32)

1 jar (12 oz) beef gravy

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

Freshly ground black pepper, if desired

Directions:

1. In 4 to 5 quart slow cooker, layer all ingredients in order listed.

2. Cover, cook on low setting 8 to 10 hours.  Before serving, gently stir stew.

Note:  In this recipe, it is important to place ingredients in the cooker in the order listed.  Longer cooking vegetables are on the bottom where they cook more quickly.  Already cooked or faster cooking ingredients are layered on top.

What we changed (it's what we do!):

1.  I cut the red potatoes into smaller pieces to make them more bite-sized when served.

2.  Since I didn't have a real onion on hand, I used 2 teaspoons of minced onion.  Couldn't tell the difference in the finished product.

3.  I used turkey meatballs to be a bit healthier.  Kroger has a 2 lb. resealable bag that worked perfectly, leaving us a pound to use for another meal.

4.  The can of diced tomatoes was a can of Hunt's No Salt Added, with Basil, Garlic & Oregano.  I figured extra spice flavor and no sodium was a win-win!

5.  Besides sprinkling black pepper on the top, I also sprinkled some garlic powder and chipotle chili powder, because we like spice.

6.  At the 8 hour mark, I stirred the stew and sampled for doneness.  It was done, but Ed wasn't home yet, so I turned the slow cooker to warm for another 30 minutes until he arrived which worked nicely.

Our thoughts:

This stew definitely fits the definition of comfort food!  Hearty flavors that blend well, not soupy like some recipes get in the slow cooker, but just the right consistency to be called "stew".  Even though it's about to be summer and you might think of stew as more of a winter meal, this dish makes for a great dinner without heating up the house.  We'll be keeping this recipe in our dinner rotation!