Woodstock's CARBOHYDRATE LOADING BEEF STEW

Dry off with paper towels: 1 lb beef stew meat, cubed

Shake the beef up in the bag with the seasonings.

Dice one small fresh jalapeno pepper, removing the seeds

Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a heavy stove top stew pot. Brown the meat and the jalapeno together in the hot oil.

Add 2 cups stewed tomatoes (I use mine frozen from my own garden, but canned from the grocery store works, too)

Add any seasoning mix that is left in the paper bag

Bring barely to a boil, cover the pot, and lower heat to lowest setting. Stew for at least two hours, stirring about every 20 minutes or so, and checking for need to add a little more liquid. If getting dry, add about 1/3 cup water & stir.

At this point, you can stop until about 1 hour before serving. Flavor improves overnight, I think!

1 hour before serving, add 7-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed clean but not peeled.

3 carrots, peeled, and cut into fairly large chunks.

Bring the heat back up, and cook covered until veggies are done - about 1 hour

15 minutes before serving, prepare noodles - wide egg noodles or Kluski style are my favorites. When noodles are done, drain, melt a little butter into the hot noodles. Serve stew on top of noodles.

Good with garlic bread, or garlic bread sticks, and a green salad.