Beef in Pomegranate Sauce

I can't believe how far behind I'm getting in reviewing recipes. It's actually really, really easy for me to try two or three new recipes in a week, especially if I make something sweet that doesn't count as dinner. But I better keep up with taking notes or it will all be for nothing!

Also, I could have sworn I already reviewed this one. Am I going crazy?

Beef in Pomegranate Sauce

Comments & Modifications:

• Instead of leaving the beef in serving-sized pieces, I cut it up into smallish bite-sized chunks. I prefer to cut my food before it's cooked.
• I totally didn't brown the beef. Too much trouble. In fact, I wonder if I even read the directions or if I just threw all the ingredients into the crockpot.
  
• I used a bottle of pomegranate juice from an overstock store, and didn't realize at the time that it was part pomegranate, part apple juice. No wonder it was so cheap.
• I couldn't find fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, so I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes. They didn't really disintegrate in the crockpot, sadly.
• I omitted the raisins, because they're gross.
• The meat sat in the crockpot all day while I was at work, so the beef was a bit chewy.
• We ate this with rice. Mmm rice.
  

Verdict: This was okay. I think if I had followed the instructions more closely it would have turned out better. Next time (if there is a next time) I'd use 100% pomegranate juice to avoid the sweet apply flavor, and I'd also puree the tomatoes before adding them to the crockpot. The way I made it it was edible, but I had to really get motivated to use up the leftovers.