Need a warm-you-up kind of meal?

Is it still a bit chilly in your part of the country? Although it's still typically sunny & 70 here, they're calling for rain this weekend. On one of our rare colder evenings, I came across this homey, comforting Ground Beef Stew recipe over at Southernplate.com and boy was it just what we needed! Easy, delicious and hearty, it'll have you warmed up in no time! It was suprisingly similar to a soup recipe my Gramma used to make for me as a child when I was home sick from school... ah memories. Here's what you need...

Ground Beef Stew                                                                                  Christy Jordan

11/2 lb ground beef
1lb carrots (roughly chopped)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 or 3 large russet potatoes (diced)
21/2 cups frozen green beans
28oz can diced tomatoes
28oz Spicy Hot V-8 juice
2 cups water
4 beef boullion cubes
1 tsp salt

This is seriously the easiest form of cooking, other than using the ol' Crock Pot... and frankly you could just as easily throw all the ingredients in there and let it cook on low all day if you wanted!

First you'll grab you're big soup pot and put everything MINUS the ground beef, and the salt. Bring it to a boil over high heat and then turn it down to medium-low and let it simmer for an hour or so, until the veggies are nice and tender. Meanwhile, brown your beef in a seperate skillet, drain the fat, and set it aside. Add the ground beef to the stew and let it simmer for a few minutes to heat it up if needed. Serve yourself up a big bowl, grab a comfy quilt and head for a seat by the fireplace!

Enjoy!