Slow-cooker sweet and sour beef

I am in love with “Slow Cooking All Year Round” by Gooseberry Patch. Everything I have tried has been a success… and so easy! am giving away a copy of this cookbook, and you can still enter until midnight on Wednesday 1/16, so go check it out!
Slow-cooker sweet and sour beef…  Like going out for Chinese, but better!

Start with 2 pounds of stew beef cubes. Brown them in a little oil in a large skillet. (The goal here is not to cook them through, just to get the outsides seared so all the yummy juices stay inside. Cook them hot and fast!) If you need to, divide the beef into 2-3 batches. You don’t want things to steam, you’re looking for a nice brown sear on the outside.
Toss the beef in your crockpot, then add one chopped green bell pepper…
… two cups of peeled, chunked carrots (about 4 medium carrots)…
… one chopped onion…
… and one 20-ounce can of pineapple (drain it first and hang onto the juice).
Then, in the same skillet you used to brown the beef, combine the sour stuff (a 15-ounce can of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of vinegar), the sweet stuff (1/2 cup molasses and 1/4 cup sugar), and the spices (2 teaspoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt).
I didn’t have any molasses. So I used sweet sorghum syrup instead. It’s very similar to molasses, but it’s made from sweet sorghum instead of sugar cane. And Farmer Doc helped to make this batch of sorghum syrup!

Cook these over medium heat until everything is blended and the sauce is hot and bubbly.
Pour the sauce over everything in the slow cooker and give it a good tossing to mix up all the veggies and get everything good and coated with the sauce.

Cover, and cook on low for 6-7 hours (or on high for 4 hours if you’re in a hurry). If you want the sauce to be a little thicker, dissolve 1/4 cup of cornstarch in the reserved pineapple juice. Stir this into the slow cooker, and let cook for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve it as is, over rice, with some noodles, however you like it! Enjoy!
Here’s the printable recipe card: