Melissa, I am just looking on the justslowcooking website, and a stew there calls for thickening by adding half a cup of dry instant mashed potato....

Something different I suppose.

I am still trying to figure out what to do with this beef I have, and some lentils. STILL looking for a yummy looking dahl recipe! So far its looking like beef, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, beef stock, maybe half an onion.... some tin beans, whatever spices I can find, and maybe some barley. Eeek - what a combination!