And this is how the story goes...: Cookin' in the Kitch {Oven Roasted Veggie Beef Stew}

Lets be honest, I really have no idea what to call this. It was more of a "hmm, I wonder if I take this, & do this, & then add this...what will happen in the end?" And now I can tell you, what happened is this: we ate the crap outta this.
This idea originally started brewing when I was getting us ready for our Camping Adventure(i know, i know, I will definitely have a post by the end of the week!). Each couple/family was assigned a meal to provide for the Camp & we saw that one of the meals was set for Hobo Pizza Pies. The only issue with that is that 'J' can't have cheese. We were left with two options; A) I drive out to the specialty store about 20 mins away & get dairy-free ~~totally gross~~ "cheese" or B) we make his with just sauce & pepperoni.
Then it hit me, why does it have to be pizza? I remembered going to Camp as a Girl Scout & we learned how to make foil pocket dinners on the fire. Basically ground beef, some mixed veggies, sliced up potato & seasoning tossed onto a piece of foil & folded up like a pocket. Toss it on the fire, let it cook, flip it over, cook more, open & eat right out of the packet. BOOM, dinner is served.
So I thought to myself, ok ok- I said out loud to myself, I bet if I made some ground beef & tossed in diced potato & mixed veggies & sauteed it up beforehand, we could make some meat PIES. So that's just what I did. Only I did it really quick with frozen veggies & canned diced potatoes. Over all they were good (except for the part where they were burned really bad in our 1000* fire), but I'm not really a canned/pre-packaged kinda gal. Not that there is anything wrong with that, well to be honest there is... like a crap load of added shit/preservatives that you don't need to be ingesting..., but to each their own, right?
So last night for dinner I decided to do it right. And man was it right.

I gathered:
1.5 lbs fresh ground beef (from our market)
1/2 organic yellow onion, diced (Trader Joe's)
3 cloves (or more to taste) garlic, minced
fresh Thyme (about 1 TBS chopped/5-6 sprigs)
fresh Sage, about 1 TBS chopped
a pinch of fresh Oregano

Saute' diced onion in Olive Oil until soft, add garlic & some S & P.
Add ground beef & fresh herbs, cook till brown.

a bag of Tiny potatoes, halved (TJs)
about 5 organic carrots, cut into sticks (TJ's)
1 large zucchini, cut into sticks (gifted from a friends garden)

Drizzle with Olive Oil, toss to coat. Season with S&P & roast in 400* oven for 20 mins

Same prep as above, only these roast for 30-40 mins

(Note:I baked them at the same time. Also Note: I did the large veggies in stick form so that I could put some aside for little 'A', then dice them after they roasted but you can cut them differently, keep in mind the cook time may vary)

After the veggies are roasted, I diced the carrots & zucchini into smaller pieces & added all the veggies, plus some frozen peas to the meat mix. Then add 1cup organic beef broth (TJ's), bring to a simmer. Add 1 TBS of cornstarch to a little cold water, stir to blend. Add cornstarch mix to the pan & boil 1 minute. And that's it!

So you see, it's not really a stew, but it's coated lightly in gravy so is it then, by default, a stew? Your guess is as good as mine. What I CAN tell you, is that this rocked our dinner socks off.

*You could make this Paleo by removing the peas & adding some other veggies, like mushrooms or squash. Replace the potato with some sweet potato or serve over mashed cauliflower. Replace cornstarch with any of the following thickeners: Arrowroot flour, coconut flour or pureed onion.

As part of our Daily Life Skills Learning I had 'J' help set the table :)