Crockpot Beef Bourguignon

Ever since I watched the movie, "Julie and Julia", I've wanted to make beef bourguignon. I saw the movie a few years ago and have made this dish three or four times ever since. I've never been much of a beef stew lover, but since there is red wine involved, it makes my mouth water every time I think about it. I got this recipe from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child but with a few tweaks and made it in the crockpot so that it was so much easier! This dish sounds intimidating but it really is so simple. Hope you enjoy!

Crockpot Beef Bourgignon
Serves: 1 hungry pregnant girl and her fiance who was starving. (normally this would serve 3-4 people)

Ingredients:
6-7 slices of turkey bacon
1 lb lean stew beef, cubed
1 sliced carrot
3/4 sliced onion
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp flour
1/2 bottle of red wine (approx.)
1 beef bouillon cube
1/2 tbl tomato paste
1 clove mashed garlic
1 tsp herbs de provence
Egg noodles or mashed potatoes

1.  Brown the turkey bacon in a skillet. Set aside.
2. Dry the beef and brown on all sides in the bacon fat. Set aside.
3. Saute the onions, carrot, and mushrooms until tender and just browned.
4. Put all ingredients into a crockpot and cover with red wine (it may take you more or less than 1/2 bottle, just eye it!). Make sure that the wine just barely covers the meat, you don't want too much.
5. Set the crockpot on low for 7-8 hours or on high for about 5 hours.
6. When it's done, you can either serve it like that or mix it with a tiny bit of flour that's been mashed into soft butter. I did that because I wanted it to be a little thicker.
7. Serve with egg noodles or mashed potatoes and enjoy!

The only thing I would change would be to saute the mushrooms right before the crockpot is done and add them in. This would make them a lot softer, which I like, but this way still tasted awesome and it saved me a little more time!