Pot Roast and Potatoes

Pot Roast

I conquered pot roast last night and it turned out perfect! Do I dare say it? Maybe if I whisper it then it won't offend anyone. (Whisper) It was even better than Greg's mom's pot roast.

I have been afraid of pot roast for years, partially because it always seems so dry and partially because of gravy. In this life, I am afraid of heights, large spiders, and gravy. I DO NOT know how to make a good gravy, therefore, I avoid it altogether. I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com, but I changed it to my liking. So, here is the recipe with my alterations (and it was so succulent, it didn't even need gravy):

Mix together:
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 package Lipton dry onion soup mix
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (plus a few extra dashes just because it's fun to say and it adds so much flavor)
1 onion, quartered

Place roast in an oven bag and pour contents over meat. Place bag in roasting pan. Allow to marinate up to 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place meat in oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees. Cook for 3 hours.

*The original recipe called for 2 cups beef broth. However, it also called for carrots, celery, and potatoes to be added to the oven bag with the meat. If you are going to add the vegetables, I would increase the broth to the original amount. Without the vegetables, the 1 1/2 cups broth was still a ton. In the comments section on allrecipes.com, a few people mentioned that they added a can of Cream of Mushroom soup to the sauce in order to make a gravy (see above for my feelings on gravy).

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I got this recipe from a friend a few years ago, and it is hands down my favorite potato recipe. I like that you leave the skins on and it is chunky rather than traditional, smooth mashed potatoes. It makes a TON of potatoes though, so you may want to cut this one in half. Although, you could use the left-overs for Shepherds Pie and it would be fabulous, I bet.

12 cups red potatoes, cleaned and cut into 2" chunks
10 large cloves of garlic (I quarter these so the garlic distribution goes further)
5 Tablespoons salt (I thought this was too much last night, so I might cut it down to 4 Tbsp in the future)
1 cup milk
2 cubes butter (This is a lot of butter - which is probably why the potatoes are so fabulous. You could easily cut this down, although you may have to add more milk so they aren't dry.)

Place potatoes, garlic, and salt in a large pot. Add water until there the water level is about 1 inch above the potatoes. Boil for 18 minutes. Drain off all the liquid. Add the butter and milk, and mash with a potato masher.

Barbecue Beef Sandwiches

A new favorite since I can put it in my crockpot and walk away. I bought soft rolls from Kneaders, a small roast, and halved the sauces for the original recipe I found in The Essential Mormon Cookbook (listed below). It was just right for a small family.

Barbecue Beef Sandwiches

Ingredients from Mormon Cookbook
1 (6 lb) beef roast, sirloin tip works well
1 onion, chopped
2 tbl butter
2 c ketchup
1 c packed brown sugar
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c barbecue sauce
1 dozen large soft rolls

Alexie's directions for 3-lb Roast in Crockpot:
1- Saute chopped onion in butter. Move to crockpot.
2- Brown roast on each side then place in crockpot.
3- Turn crockpot on low. Cook roast and onions for 1-2 hours then combine ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce and pour into crockpot. Cover and let cook for about 4 hours (remember I used a small roast and 1/2 the sauce listed above).
4- Remove roast (leave sauces in pot) and cut or shred in very thin slices. Return to crockpot to soak up the sauces.
5- Serve on sliced rolls. Makes about 8 medium-sized sandwiches.

Marsha's Spaghetti

I think a lot of you might have this one, but I thought I'd post it because 1) I made it last night for my in-laws, and 2) it's a staple favorite at our house. It makes a lot for our little fam, so I can usually freeze half of it and get two meals out of one preparation.

2lbs ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce
2 cans (15 oz) tomato paste
1 can olives, sliced
1 large pkg Spaghetti Sauce Mix (Shillings-family size)
3 cups water
1 can mushrooms
1 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl oregano
1 Tbl garlic salt
1 crumbled bay leaf

Brown beef, onion, and green pepper. Drain. Add sauce, paste, dry mix, & olives. Add water, mushrooms, sugar, oregano, garlic salt, & bay leaf. Simnmer about 2 hours.

MY NOTES: I use 1 lb ground beef instead of 2, I add one can diced tomatoes (or a couple fresh if I have them), I use brown sugar, and I omit the mushrooms (Curtis is not a fan). Lastly, if I am short on time I'll just use a jar of bottled spaghetti sauce as my tomato base and then add all the other stuff.

Crock Pot Taco Soup

I got this recipe off of the internet when Greg and I first got married. We make it at least twice a month. It makes 8 servings, so we can easily have it two days in a row or for lunch the next day. My 15 month old loves it because he can feed himself and it doesn't get too messy if I drain off the liquid.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, with liquid
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, with liquid
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain.

Place the ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, green chile peppers and taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix to blend, and cook on low setting for 8 hours or high setting for 6 hours.

Variations: I don't like that much tomato in mine so I only do one can. Sometimes I like it more thick so I leave out the water. You can also add any kind of beans you have on hand and you can use chicken or ground turkey instead of beef. We also like to have cheese and tortilla chips with it.