Crock Pot & Pot Roast

Since we still haven't decided on a new range yet (we're REALLY REALLY close though) I've been depending on the crock pot for a lot of things. I love my crock pot. It is well loved and in good shape still. If you are looking into buying a crock pot for a gift or replacing yours I HIGHLY recommend and oval shaped one like the one I was given as a gift about 8 years ago. My mom had a round one that I grew up using and it was so frustrating trying to get things like a roast to fit in it. I also have smaller one that is round that works okay, but it is also 1 piece. Make sure you get one where the crock part comes out. It makes clean up and storage a lot easier. When I pulled the Pot Roast out of the crock pot last night, the crock went in the dishwasher. If you use a 1 piece, you have to hand wash it and make sure you don't submerge it which means you have to wrestle it a little bit.

Now about the roast recipe. My husband hates pot roast and of course I love it. He mostly hates it because of the mushy veggies and I will agree I really don't like the carrots, but I still like pot roast. I found this recipe and he loves it. This was last night's dinner and I realized it had been awhile since we had the pot roast. I just wish the roast itself had been better. I hate shopping for meats, especially roasts because you never know what's hidden. The top and sides of the roast looked great, but the inside was full of grissel and fat. It was still good, but we waisted a lot of meat and fed a lot to the dogs (they were very happy with it).

The best part of this roast is the gravy it makes. We have put it on baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and rice and it is great on all of them. I must warm you, at a few points in the cooking it doesn't look very appetizing, but trust me, it's good! It was hard to get the picture of the roast because of the fat and grissel, but I did find a few pieces that looked pretty good.

Pot Roast

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 (1 oz) package dry onion soup mix

2/3 cup water

Pepper (to taste)

2-3 pound pot roast

1. In a slow cooker, mix soup, onion soup mix, water and pepper. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.

2. Cook on high setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

3. Pour sauce into a pot and boil gravy until thick. You may have to add a thickener.

Serve with your choice of side dish, we really like rice with pot roast. For some reason the gravy just seems to go so much better with the rice. It's good with potatoes, too.

Enjoy!