Vegetable Beef Stew

Makes me remember: my first home-cooked meal as a married woman!  Rabbit was a meat eater, I was a vegetable eater, and we didn't see how dinnertime could make us both happy.  As a truce, I tried to make a beef stew, and it was terrible!  Neither of us ate it.  But after MUCH tweaking, I have a killer (and easy) recipe for the crockpot.  Still, I smile every time I make it, remembering those first few weeks of married life.
Tastes: Hearty, hot, and like coming in from playing in the snow
Make it a meal:  Serve with biscuits or bread

To market, to market:
1-2 pounds lean chunks of stew beef
2 12-oz cans vegetable or beef broth, low sodium
1 clove garlic, minced (1/2 tsp powder will do in a pinch)
1 tsp black pepper
1 28-oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 can diced (or sliced) carrots, rinsed
1 can diced potatoes, rinsed
1 can corn, rinsed
Add-ins:
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 barley or quinoa

Spray crockpot with cooking spray, add meat, garlic, broth, and pepper. Cook on high 4 hours or low for 6 hours.  Add tomatoes, carrots, corn, and potatoes.  Cook at least another 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. If adding lentils, barley, or quinoa, add 2 hours prior to serving.  Add water as needed, up to 2 cups.

Note:  you cannot mess this recipe up.  I have cooked it completely on high, completely on low, using different ingredients, and it is always good.  Fresh vegetables are even better, just be sure to add them early (at least 6 hours prior to serving) so that they are tender when it comes time to eat.  The lentils and grains cook faster, so don't add them at the beginning or they will make a gunky mess at the bottom of the crockpot.  I always add lentils, because they cook down and just thicken the stew.  My husband never even knows they are there.