It's what's stewed for dinner

This is one of the recipes the Chief Taster likes to use.  This time, when she suggested beef stew for dinner, I thought that meant I had the night off.  I was wrong.

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew (from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)
2 T flour
12 oz beef stew meat, cut into 3/4" cubes (I have no idea how much beef I used, but I think it was closer to a pound)
2 T cooking oil
3 C vegetable juice
1 C water
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges (I used about half an onion, because I think these older recipes referenced smaller vegetables)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t beef bouillon granules
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried marjoram
1/4 t black pepper
1 bay leaf (I used my dad's rule of always adding an extra bay leaf. Nobody died.)
3 C cubed potatoes
1 1/2 C frozen cut green beans
1 C frozen whole kernel corn (instead of looking for these specific frozen vegetables, I used an equal amount of whatever frozen mixed veggies I had handy)
1 C sliced carrots

• Put the flour in a plastic bag or a bowl with a tightly sealing lid.  Add meat cubes, a few at a time, tossing to coat and removing the coated cubes to a large saucepan or Dutch oven with the oil.  You may have to add a little more flour; I did.  Brown meat, drain if necessary, and add vegetable juice, water, onion, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, bay leaf, and seasonings.  Bring to boiling, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1-1 1/2 hours, until meat is tender.
• Add potatoes and veggies.  Return to boiling, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer another 30 minutes, until potatoes are done.  Discard bay leaf.  Eat.

Beef stew is meant to be a hearty meal, but for some reason, when I have a hearty meal, I want bread, too.  We didn't have any dinner bread at the time, and I didn't have the time to make any, nor the ambition for biscuits, so I took the easy way out and made some libum.  Libum is one of the oldest existing bread recipes, and my personal favorite for short-notice bread baking, but it's also a post for another time.  For now, suffice to say that if you make libum with gorgonzola cheese, you get green bread.

It's greener without the flash, but it's also too dark to tell it's green with just the overhead light in my kitchen.  Just trust me on this one.