Slow Cooker Beef and Mushroom Stew

I just made this, and it came out great! I bought a boneless blade roast on sale, and cut it and trimmed it into perfect sized cubes, much better than buying "stewing beef" that's already been cut up, and it's cheaper too. I've made different beef stews at least a dozen times so I made a few changes on the first try with this recipe; Added 2 cloves of minced garlic, lowered garlic salt amount to 2 teaspoons. I also browned the meat before, I know the recipe says you don't need to, but trust me, it's worth the extra step - Get a good sear on the cubes using a hot cast iron skillet or Dutch oven but make sure you don't cook the meat! The flavor that develops from the seared meat (look up maillard reaction) is exquisite! I then used the 1/2 cup of water in the recipe to deglaze the pan, mixed in the rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, garlic powder, and pepper and threw that in the pot. Lastly, I didn't add anymore water at the end, I scooped some liquid out of the pot to mix the flour in, there was enough liquid as is. A few notes: It will seem like there isn't enough liquid when you throw everything in the pot, don't worry, there will be a lot of liquid at the end. Also the mushrooms will shrink considerably, so don't cut them up too small, and if the mushroom is an inch or smaller in diameter throw them in whole. Will make it again for sure!

Would 100% make this again. The husband loved it and took leftovers to work 3 days in a row! He loves the fact that it is creamy and full of all his favourites.