Pot Roast Perfection

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my crock-pot!

There...I said it.  I mean it, too.  There is nothing better than doing a little prep work and tossing things into the pot in the morning and then returning home to a delicious smelling house and a crock-pot full of ready-to-eat goodness.  Some days, I pull out one of my million crock pot cookbooks. Others I just throw things into a pot and hope for the best.  One thing I can always count on being wonderful is a roast.  It seems like you can throw just about anything into a crock-pot with a decent roast and come out with an amazing meal.  

For this pot roast you will need the following:

1 - 3-4 pound beef roast (this was chuck roast on sale for $3.49 per pound)

5-6 whole carrots

2-3 stalks celery

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 Tbsp Rosemary Herb Mix Seasoning (I had this from Pampered Chef...you could just as easily use a pinch each of rosemary and thyme or whatever herbs you prefer)

1-2 c beef or chicken broth (I'm easy like that)

2 Tbsp flour or 1 Tbsp corn starch(optional)

First things first....bust out the crock pot!

Yours doesn't HAVE to be camouflage like mine, but I am convinced that it makes the food taste better!



I recommend using crock pot liners...they make life so much easier.  You just drop the liner in, cook inside of it, and when you are done you just remove the bag and wipe out the condensation from your crock pot instead of scrubbing.

Now that your crock-pot is all set up and ready to roll, you will need to start with your veggies.  Wash, peel, and cut your carrots.

Tip...instead of making cute, short little ch ch ch cuts I recommend using long fluid motion to peel.  It may not sound as cute, but it makes for less of a mess, less waste, and prettier carrots.

I just blew your mind with the upside down carrots, right?




Now if you are like me...when you get your 5 or 6 carrots out, there will be something like this left in your bag of carrots.

At this point, you have two options.....wash, peel, and eat....or wash, cut, peel and throw in the crock-pot.  I LOVE carrots with my roast, so I prepped them for the pot.

Make sure you remove the tops and the tippiest little ends of the carrots.  Now, I know these are not cut with the most perfect knife cuts in the world.  What would a good old fashioned pot roast be without some good rustic cut carrots?  Don't let perfectionism spoil this for you...have fun with it!

Now, you will start prepping your celery.  Give it a good wash and begin by removing the very bottom portion.

It will leave you with a cute little piece that looks like a flower....I'm saving mine for a project, so you'll see this little guy again.  If you aren't doing the project though, you can toss this piece.

Isn't he cute?!?!


Ok, enough of that!  Go ahead and continue cutting up your celery in slices as thick or thin as you like.  I cut all of my celery to save some for another recipe.

Put the portion of celery you plan to save for later into the fridge in a bowl with a lid or saran wrap.

Now, if you are like me, take a moment to remove the blueberry muffins from the oven....what? You didn't know you had muffins in the oven? It's ok if you don't.  We can't all be multi-taskers.

Toss your carrots and celery into your crock-pot.  How did I not get a picture of that?!?!  Anyway....

Now place your meat down directly on top of the vegetables.  Mmm...look at that cut of meat...this is gonna be great.

Sprinkle onto the meat your herb seasoning mix and your onion soup mix.

Now pour your chicken or beef broth down evenly over all of this.  I used about 1 1/2 c. chicken broth.

Now toss the lid onto the crock-pot and set it to low for 8-10 hours.

Go ahead at this point and wash the dishes up from everything we just did (muffins included) so that you don't have to do it later....go on...you know you need to.  Awe, heck, just throw them into the dishwasher.  I won't tell.

Now go serve the muffins to the children.

Well...the ones that are awake anyway...

And enjoy a big cup of morning happy.

Then go about your day.  The roast will start smelling delicious right away, but don't be tempted to lift the lid.  Leave that thing alone all day long!

When the day is done, and you are ready to serve your roast, go ahead and shred the meat with a fork.

If the gravy is too runny for your taste, you can thicken it up with an easy fix.  Remove a little bit of the liquid to a small bowl and add either 2 Tbsp flour or 1 Tbsp corn starch and mix well.  Return to the pot and stir in well.  This will thicken to a more gravy-like consistency.

Now just serve over rice or mashed potatoes...whichever you prefer.  In a pinch, we have even eaten it as is.

This pot roast turned out absolutely amazing. The baby was the only one who would let me have her bowl long enough to get a picture...everyone else was too busy scarfing this down!  The carrots turned out so tender, the celery melted away in our mouths, and the meat was so tender and juicy.  I can't wait to make this again.

Oh, and, FYI....this makes awesome leftover roast sandwiches!




I hope your family enjoys this dish as much as mine did.  If you try it, let me know!

Chicken Thighs and Veggies: Crockpot

I have seen several variations of this recipe online, so I adapted my own for our family.  Chicken thighs were on sale recently for 99c per pound.  Actually, had I waited, they had leg quarters this week for 60c per pound that just needed to be cut.  Can't pass up deals like that!

This was super easy to throw together in the crock pot, and my family LOVED it!  Everyone wanted seconds and asked could we make it again soon.  In a family of five...that is winning.

This also made the house smell REALLY good!

Ingredients:
6-8 chicken thighs (about 1 1/2-2 lb)
5-7 red potatoes (about 1 lb)
1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise
2 c. baby carrots
2 c. chicken broth
1-2 Tbsp Greek seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
paprika

Directions:
Place sliced onion into bottom of crock pot.  Layer in potato slices and carrots.  Sprinkle with half of the Greek seasoning and desired salt and pepper, then pour in chicken broth.  Coat chicken thighs with desired salt and pepper and remaining Greek seasoning.  Rub on paprika generously.  Add chicken to crock pot.  Cook on low 8 hours.  Serve hot & enjoy!

I hope your family enjoys this one as much as mine did.  I plan to prepare it again soon.  The chicken thighs were so fall apart tender that the bones literally slipped out and were in the bottom of the crock pot.

Once a Month Shopping, Episode 1: Crockpot Cooking

Welcome to the first edition of Once a Month Shopping on Menu-Plan Mondays!

I have been shopping once a week ever since my husband and I got married, three years ago.  With three kids in the house and multiple other obligations I started wondering if there was an easy way to cut back on trips to the store.  Walmart with two kids under two is NOT the most fun experience I can think of!  So from my idea I developed a plan.  I reorganized my pantry (pictured in last week's post) to include areas for four weeks of recipe ingredients.  Last month was my first official month on my new plan.  I selected random recipes that looked good, made a list, and went shopping.  Some meals were prepped and frozen, others the ingredients just put away.  It was a fantastic month, and --BONUS-- we shaved about $150 off our monthly budget by not being at the store every week picking up unnecessary items! 

This month, I am focusing completely on crock pot cooking.  All of the meals that will be used this month will be prepped, put into freezer bags, and frozen until the night before I plan to cook them.  Most of these are our adapted versions of recipes I have found all over the place and changed to suit our needs.  All of the recipes that will be used here make two meals for a family of four unless otherwise noted.

Step 1: Make a list of meals
List of Meals:
"YakaYaki" Chicken (as Silas says)
Stew's Stew (My husband's name is Stewart)
Yummy Chicken
Cheater Meatballs
Sausage 'n' Peppers
Baby Steps Beef Tips
Need-a Fajita
Pot Roast....just Pot Roast
Fiesta Chicken
Chicken Sortavera
Pepper Steak (the hubby's favorite)
Chicken Cacciatori
Taco Soup
Valencia Paella (from Momma and Baby Love's ecookbook)
Au Ju Hungry?

Print a copy of the recipes here.

Each recipe makes two separate meals. I prep these and freeze them all in one day. I start by chopping veggies and adding them to their corresponding bags. Then, add your meat. Next add your other ingredients. Squeeze out any extra air and lay flat to freeze.

When you are ready to use the meal, just set them out the night before to thaw and throw them in the crock pot!
Either use fresh meat to freeze or keep your meat frozen during the prep. Never thaw and refreeze raw meat.
Step 2: Make a grocery list
I'm going to let you make your own grocery list from the menus because you may not want to use all of my recipes at once or you may have some items already at your house like I did.

Step 3: Label Your Bags
Put the name of the dish on your bag along with prep instructions and serving suggestions.  I have included these on my recipe cards. I write on the bag the name and what I have listed under Cooking Directions.

Step 4: Chop All Vegetables
Dice, chop, slice, mince, strip, all veggies and add them to their corresponding bags.

Step 5: Add Meats
If the recipe calls for browned meat, I recommend browning it before step 4 so it can cool enough to not melt the bag.  Otherwise, toss all your meats into their corresponding bags.

I made hubby do it  :o)

Step 6: Add all other ingredients
Throw in any seasonings, sauces, or herbs the recipe calls for.  Make sure you don't throw in things that are to be added the day of cooking.

I had a few bags that wouldn't seal, so I threw the recipe over into these awesome containers

Step 7: Let out air, seal, lay flat to freeze

Step 8: Sit back, relax, and know that dinner is only a crockpot away.....