Both sides of my family loved to cook. My nonno was a wonderful cook and my mom’s mom was a proud housewife who made homemade bread every day and the world’s best lefse. My parents were both cooked for and never really learned how until they were on their own and became adults. It was also a different era where technological advances made cooking more convenient. When I was growing up, we had the staples (chicken, pasta, steak, hamburger), but my favorite meal was when my mom would make a roast in the Crock Pot. I always used to think that was her “fancy meal” because it would be cooking all day, so I thought it was a complicated recipe. Now that I am on my own and have my own Crock Pot, I have learned that is far from the truth. I have made this beef roast so many times because it reminds me of my childhood, but also because it’s soooo yummy! (can adults get away with using the word yummy?)
This recipe comes from my Crock Pot Cookbook that I have had for a few years. It was a gift to me by a fellow teacher who heard I bought my first house and wanted to try cooking more often.
The recipe is called So Simple Supper and the name makes sense for this meal; it is so simple to make and the recipe is EASY!!!!
The ingredients you’ll need:
1 beef chuck shoulder roast (3 to 4 pounds)
1 package (1 oz) of Au Jus gravy mix
1 package (1 oz) onion soup mix
1 package (1 oz) of mushroom gravy mix
3 cups of water
Any Assorted vegetables (For mine, I like baby red potatoes and baby carrots)
The first thing I do is turn my Crock Pot on high and put the roast in. Then in a medium mixing bowl, I pour the contents of the au jus gravy mix, mushroom gravy mix, and onion soup mix. Then I add three cups of water and mix the ingredients together. Once they are all mixed together, I pour the mixture over the roast in the Crock Pot.
I put the lid on the Crock Pot and let it cook on LOW for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, I then cut up my baby red potatoes into 1/4 chunks. I cut up about 6 potatoes. I add the potato chunks and about 15 baby carrots into the Crock Pot. I stir them around to make sure all of the vegetables are covered in the liquid in the Crock Pot. I put the lid back on and let it cook for another 4 hours. (after 4 hours, check to make sure your vegetables are cooked thoroughly, soft yet firm, without any crunch to them).
Once the vegetables are tender, your roast is ready to serve. The meat just falls apart without any effort with two forks. I usually like to pull the roast apart and then let people serve themselves (some like more/fewer carrots, potatoes, beef, juice).
I like to serve the roast and vegetables in a bowl because then you can keep it all in the juice.
Even writing this blog post and adding the photos of my meal makes my mouth water. Once it is in the bowl, it is ready to enjoy! Bon Appetit!
For more great recipes visit Cooking with Jeanna