Easy Beef Stew and Low Carb Mug Cake

Lisa and I got to my house to aromatic beef stew that cooked itself!

Crockpot Beef Stew a la Tina

1.5 lbs. stew beef in chunks
1 package peeled, cut into cubes acorn squash
1 large onion, chopped
1 can (14.5 ounces) petite diced tomatoes
1 small package baby bella mushrooms, broken into large chunks
Optional (which I did not think to add): chopped celery
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (from a jar)
dried basil and parsley to taste; pepper
1/2 cup water

Starting from the top of the ingredient list, add to crockpot. End with the water and give it a bit of a stir. Set on low and if you put it on at 8 a.m., it will be ready at 5 p.m.  

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We followed the stew with an amazing recipe that I got from the internet. I'm sorry, I don't remember whose recipe it is.

Chocolate Mug Cake (Low carb, but not low calorie)

Not trusting the size of my mugs, I used a ramekin (about 5" across).
1 Tbs. ground flax
1 egg
2 Tbs. unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
dash salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. liquid Stevia (I used 1/2 tsp. Splenda brown sugar)
Combine ingredients and pour cake mix into (greased) ramekin or mug.  Microwave 1 minute on high.

Chocolate Sauce

1 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbs. water
1/8 tsp. liquid Stevia (I used a heaping 1/4 tsp. of the Splenda brown sugar.

The only thing missing: whipped cream!

Lisa is not eating cream, so hers is on the bottom. To make these two desserts, we had to double the recipe above.  Yum!!