Sarah's Slow Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

   This is my cousin Sarah's recipe.  I'm excited to finally have one.  Though she didn't technically share this one with me.  She posted a picture of her make ahead slow cooker meals for the week on Facebook.  Then, when asked, she posted the recipe.  So, being an opportunist, I took them!!  Ha! Maybe she will share some more with me now, so I don't have to hijack them from her.

    This was a really nice combination of beef stew meat and mushrooms with a really tasty gravy.  It has a surprise ingredient too.  Apple juice!  I wouldn't have thought of apple juice in a beef and mushroom dish, but it worked.  Of course I had to make a change or two.  Her recipe called for canned mushrooms, but fresh mushrooms were on sale so I went with a pound of fresh button mushrooms instead.  Also, I wanted the gravy a little thicker, so I added some corn starch at the end.  The following recipe includes my changes.  To make her original recipe, switch an 8 oz can of mushrooms including the juice out for the fresh ones and omit the step with the corn starch.

Sarah's Slow Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

3 lb stew beef

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 lb button mushrooms

1 pkg onion soup mix

1/2 cup apple juice

1 T corn starch

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix beef, mushroom soup, mushrooms, soup mix and apple juice in slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. Remove 1/4 cup of gravy, stir in corn starch and return to slow cooker.  This would be a good time to taste and adjust salt and pepper.
4. Crank it up to high and cook until it starts to bubble.
5. Stir and serve over noodles.