Those sound really good, Deb, especially the Italian Beef!!
Beef Stew
Layer:
Beef stew meat, sprinkle with salt and pepper
Quartered onions
Halved mushrooms (fresh or drained canned)
Chopped garlic
Chunks of carrots
Bag of frozen peas
Can of cream of mushroom soup
Cover for 6-8 hours.
20 minures before serving, whisk some flour and water, pour through a strainer so there aren't any lumps and stir the whole pot up. This will thicken up the sauce to more of a gravy.
Serve over buttered noodles or mashed potatoes.
Potatoes can be added in if you don't want to have mashed ones. When I do, I use either quartered "new" red potatoes or baby yukon golds. I really like the baby yukons, just can't always find them.
I used to do one, when my kids were little that's similar to above, except no potatoes or peas, add celery instead, sprinkle oregano or basil over the meat, and instead of the mushroom soup, use a can of V-8, either the littlest one or the next size up. Don't thicken and serve over pasta. The peas could stay in, but my kids didn't like them, and they aren't as "hidden" in this one as the other.