Our favourite beef stew recipe

The boys in the house love their meat, and my husband in particular likes to take this to work for his lunch. Us girls tend to eat the vegetables more! I have had this recipe hand written in my binder for at least a year now, and I can't remember where I copied it from...

Old Fashion Beef Stew

ingredients:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs stewing beef, cut into cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 cup red wine (I use "real" wine, not the cooking wine you find at the grocery store lol)
3 Tbsp tomato paste
3 cups of beef stock
5 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
375 g green beans (I have used frozen green beans)

• combine flour, salt, pepper in large ziplock bag. add beef to coat well
• in large pot, heat half of the oil (1 Tbsp) over medium heat and cook beef, adding oil if needed until the beef is browned all over. transfer to a plate
• reduce heat to medium-low * don't clean the bottom of your pot *
• add to the pot onions, garlic, thyme, marjoram, bay leaf and a little bit of flour
• cook, stirring for about four minutes, or until onions are soft
• add wine and tomato paste, cook and stir to scrape brown bits from bottom of pot
• return beef to pot and pour in stock
• bring to a boil, stirring until liquid seems a bit thicker
• reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally
• after the 1 hour, add carrots and potatoes to pot
• cover again and simmer for 30 minutes
• add green beans to stew, adding more stock to cover vegetables if needed
• cover and simmer another 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender
• remove bay leaf and enjoy!