Fast foods may have been the meal of choice for many busy families through the last couple of decades. But now the slow cooked, home-prepared meals are gaining in popularity! Crock pots, with their wafting aromas and 'ready to eat' meals, entice health-conscious, busy people.Start cooking by adding around 2 tbsp of vegetable oil onto the bottom of the cooker. Once hot, saute the onion and garlic and start browning the beef. Once it is brown on both sides, add the liquid (easy beef stew stock and tomato sauce) and the cover securely with the lid. Once you hear the cooker sizzle or if the indicator valve says the pressure is build up already, set your timer to 20 minutes.There are a number of cooking time and heat combinations you can use with a slow cooker but the best simple beef stew and easiest is to just throw it on low heat for hours and let it sit over night or over the course of the day).Here's to brightening our days with well-balanced meals so we can be refreshed with each meal and get a decent night's sleep! Yes, we'll keep hoping this day will come, right? Well, it takes much dedication and motivation to get on a healthy diet and remain on it. Alas, it need not be boring to eat healthy! Get creative!Create regular backups of your personal and business computer systems. I use Norton Ghost to image copy my entire drive onto an external hard drive and store it in the trunk of my car parked in my driveway. You probably won't be thinking about your business in the middle of a disaster, but when you survive you will need to rebuild your life and business as soon as possible.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly dust the meat pieces with the flour. Heat the oil over high heat, in a Dutch oven or large skillet. Brown the flour-dusted meat quickly. Add all remaining ingredients, and simmer on the stove for about five minutes.The first meal involved slow cooker soup slow cooked with soft wheat kernels and merguez (a spicy lamb sausage) accompanied by a dill pickle. The wine was mouth-filling and showed great balance. It tasted of plums. It kept its power in the presence of Turkish harissa, a spicy condiment. I tasted some tobacco. The wine was moderately long.If you are in the mood for a bigger dinner, then try one of the big plates that range in price from $16.00 for the nine 75 meatloaf to $28.00 for the 12 oz roasted garlic rib eye. Some other choices include buttermilk fried chicken for $17.00 and the shrimp and scallops risotto for $24.00.Another tasty option for dessert is a Pot O' Gold Cupcake -- a rainbow-colored cupcake paired with gold chocolate coins. To create rainbow cupcakes, simply prepare a white cake mix and divide the batter simple beef stew seasoning six small bowls. To create purple batter, add 9 red drops of food coloring and 6 blue drops of food coloring. To create the ideal blue, green and yellow shades, you will need 12 drops of each in the batter. For orange, add 12 yellow drops and 4 red drops. For Red, use 18 drops of food coloring. Layer the batter inside the baking cups and bake according to box instructions. After cooled and shortly before serving, add whipped cream icing to represent a cloud. Sit the cupcakes on a platter covered with gold chocolate coins.