Snow and Stew! (Recipe)

We finally received some snow here. The children are excited, but I'm not as I desperately need new tires with tread on them! Hopefully I won't have to get out while it's slick. Luck would have it that I planned a stew for tonight and this is the perfect weather for it. This is an old family recipe that has vague instructions, but I have tweaked a few things to fit my family. Originally it called for cooking in a casserole dish in the oven, but us modern gals like to put the crock pot to good use!

Stay-A-Bed Stew
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 8oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 can water (this I've changed to 3 full cans)
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 1 32oz. bag of frozen mixed veggies (smaller bag if you feel this is too much)
• 3 lbs. potatoes (cubed)
• 1 small onion (diced ~ I use only half)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Lightly brown meat and add onion toward the end. In a separate bowl combine sugar, tomato sauce, water, mushroom soup, and salt and pepper. Place browned meat, potatoes, and frozen veggies into crock pot and add liquid mixture. I set for 4 hours but it is usually ready before. I like to keep an eye on the liquid in case I need to add a little more water. Serve with cornbread.