Recipe(tried): Harvest Stew - I survived!

Well, I finished my OAMC debut. It only took about 4 hours, including cleanup (except for one meal still in the crockpot). I didn't want to overdo it my first time, so I only made 7 or 8 recipes. However, that ends up being 2 weeks worth of meals because it's just my husband & I. I'm having a baby in 5 weeks and wanted to have something stocked away.

TIP: It helps to brown all ground beef and chop vegetables the night before, so on cooking day you just need to assemble everything & cook it. It saves alot of time!

Harvest Stew

1 lb ground beef, cooked & crumbled
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup diced potatoes
4 cups water
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp basil
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes

In a large pot, combine & simmer all ingredients except tomatoes. Simmer over medium-high heat for 20 mins. Add tomatoes & comtinue to simmer an additional 10 mins. Allow to cool. Freeze in a freezer container.

To serve, thaw overnight in refrigerator. Put stew in a large pot & heat.

This is very tasty & easy but you need to pay attention. For some reason my vegetables all got too soft. I'm afraid what will happen when I thaw it out!