Heaven in a CrockPot!

I found this recipe over on a Year of Slow Cooking and I knew from the second that I saw it that I needed to try it.  Tonight I finally got around to making it and let me tell you it is delicious.  If you want a yummy, easy dessert, this is a real winner.

Only don't do what I did and make it on a night when there is no one to share it with.  I'm trying not to eat the whole thing myself.  A tough problem to have, I know.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

That looks great, right? Let me tell you it is just as delicious as it looks. And it is super easy with the use of my CrockPot and 3 packets (you know like you use to make dip) from the grocery store. It took me 10 minutes to prep the pot roast and 30 minutes to make the mashed potatoes including boil time.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast (adapted from Crockpot365)
2-3 lb Roast (pork or beef)
1 packet Ranch dip mix
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 packet au jus, gravy or beef stew mix
1 cup wine (or water if you prefer, I like wine)
1-2 cups water

Optional: carrots, onions, celery chopped

Directions:
Pour the packets into the bottom of the Crockpot. Put the roast in the Crockpot and turn the roast a couple times to coat the roast with the delicious seasoning. Then add your chopped veggies if you are going to add them. Pour the wine (or water if that's how you roll) over everything. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Mine took 6. The meat should fall apart when you try to separate it with a couple of forks. If it doesn't it needs more time. If it is not time to eat, just flip the crockpot to warm. 1 hour before eating, add the 1-2 cups water and put the crock on high. This makes the broth a little less salty and lets it thicken a bit. Start getting your potatoes ready about 30 minutes before you want to sit down to dinner.

Garlic-y Mashed Potatoes
5-6 medium potatoes, chopped into about 1 1/2 inch size pieces
1 cup broth (from your pot roast or a box)
1-2 T butter
1/4 cup half and half
2 cloves garlic

Directions:
Peel and chop the potatoes. Add them to cold water. Yes it has to be cold. I think Alton Brown once told me it leads to gummy potatoes. Something about the outsides cooking faster then the insides and then getting gummy. ANYWAY, throw the garlic into the pot too then boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes. Potatoes are done when they are fork tender (that means you can pierce them easily with a fork but they don't fall apart). Drain them then put them back in the pot. Add the broth and but and mash them up a bit. Then add the half and half and mash them a bit more. They will still be a bit chunky if you don't whip them but I like them that way.

The Verdict:
The meat was perfect. According to the boy, "The meat was tender but not so tender that it falls off your fork which is annoying." The potatoes were great (especially with the pot roast juices on top) but not as garlicy as I would have liked. I read somewhere that adding a couple cloves while the potatoes are boiling makes them garlicly but it wasn't as much as I would have liked. Over all it was delicious.

Meat Ball Subs

This recipe is easy to put together ahead of time and let it sit in the crockpot all day and it will be ready when you get home! I made it on a Friday and both the boy and the male roomie loved it.



Meat Ball Subs

Ingredients
1 lb ground meat (I used turkey this time but sometimes I use beef or a mixture of beef and pork)
1 cup bread crumbs (the kind you buy in the store)
1 egg
1 T Itailan Seasoning
2 T basil
1/2 t Red Pepper Flake (optional)
1 jar tomato sauce
4 sub rolls

Make It
Preheat oven to 400. Combine meat, bread crumbs, egg, spices and 1/2 cup sauce) in a bowl. I usually mix with my hands because it comes together easier. Form into golfball size balls and place on grease baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes you just want to brown the outside so that they don't fall apart in the crockpot. While they are baking, pour the rest of the jar of sauce into the crockpot, fill the empty jar about halfway with water and shake it up, then add the water to the crockpot. Add the meatballs to the crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Put 4-5 meatballs on each subroll. Serve with salad.

Feels Like Wednesday

So remember how I told you that I love menu planning because I don't worry about what to cook or have to go grocery shopping all week. Yeah well this week I am wishing I had listened to myself.

Sunday I decided to go visit a friend who is visiting her mother in Orange County. I love a day at the beach and I don't think that I had seen this girl in over 4 years so I was all about visiting. I said I would leave around 12 thinking it would be an hour drive at most and I would have time to menu plan, and go to the Farmer's Market before I left. Well it turns out I'm lazy and The Boy convinced me that we didn't need to go to the Farmer's Market and we should sleep instead. And I listened. I had a great time at the beach but I have been kicking myself all week for not shopping.

Then I said, well I don't work until late on Monday, so I will grocery shop after I go to the library to pick out books for all my lessons this week. This did not go well. I had an upset stomuch the whole time I was at the library and I came home and laid in bed all pathetic like for an hour or so hoping the my stomach would calm down. It didn't. I got worse (I'll spare you the details) so I called The Boy hoping he would go get me some ginger ale and crackers. He ended up taking off work and making me go to the doctors. The doctor chastised me for not coming in sooner (it was a really bad case of sinusitis and being a person with a ton of allergies and lots of experience with sinus headaches I should have come in earlier. I just hate taking anti-biotics. I'd rather be sick.). Then Tuesday was packed with work stuff. So long story short I didn't get around to a meal plan until Wednesday. And it was stressing me out.

Anyway, I made the most amazing Indian Curry in the CrockPot last night. The Boy even ate it (after he picked out the vegetables. lesigh...). And I already told you about how I invented CrockPot Queso and Mac with Sausage (amaaaazing!). Tonight is leftovers. Probably will have that Saturday too. I'm making some delicious food for the SuperBowl on Sunday. And I don't plan on cooking until then because the fridge is packed with leftovers. Does anyone want to come help eat them?