Venison Stew

This is one of the few things I make with my Crockpot. I rarely use my crockpot at all, but it's perfect for stew! My husband and I make this a lot during hunting season, but on Sunday we both really had a taste for it. It fills your house with such a heavenly aroma, that by dinner time your mouth is watering! So this is "our" recipe, we've been making it for years now and never really had an actual recipe, but I think it's pretty darn great! And again, you can sub beef for venison but we personally love the flavor the venison brings. And because we don't have a "real" recipe for this, all measurements are aproximate. We usually just throw in "a little of this" and "a little of that" and it works well!

Ingredients
Aprox. 1-2 lb. venison stew meat
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots chopped, or a few handfuls of baby carrots
2-3 potatoes, roughly chopped
1 Beef Stew seasoning packet (we usually use McCormick)
1 32 oz. carton of beef broth (we use Swanson)
Aprox. 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Directions
Put first 7 ingredients in Crockpot on low heat and stir until well combined. Cook for about 8 hours. I have never made this stew and have left for the day (I make it on weekends because I refuse to keep my crockpot on during the day while I'm at work), so I stir it every so often during the day. About an hour before you are ready to eat, whisk together the flour and a bit of water until it forms a thick but pourable paste. Pour into stew and mix until thoroughly combined. If you prefer a thicker gravy, you can keep adding more flour/water mixture but keep in mind that the stew thickens the longer it cooks. So we usually pour in the initial flour/water mixture, wait about 5 minutes, and then add more until the stew reaches your desired consistancy. Serve with some crusty french bread or homemade biscuits.