Pot Roast

Ok, I know I haven't posted in a while, but there's a good reason!  Well, there's a reason, but it's actually kind of mediocre.  Between learning how to make our most commonly used cleaning products for cheaper than I could buy them, pulling from our food stores to cut our grocery budget, and finally getting financial aid in and not being quite so poor, I haven't really been trying new tips and tricks to cut our budget because it hasn't come up.  Oh, and I've been ridiculously busy planning my wedding.  That actually takes up most of my time now.  But, I promise to try to get back on the ball, and to kick start this I'm going to share a recipe for an inexpensive meal that can help stretch a budget.  Yeah, I know, everyone has a pot roast recipe and this isn't exactly a post that will grab a lot of attention.  On the bright side, soon I'll be posting gardening tips I try out and review!


Pot Roast

The Ingredients:
Any kind of roast works, but I like using a shoulder roast.  Try to find         something on sale; I shop the "bargain bin" of marked down meats.
Potatoes (I like using red or new potatoes)
Radishes
Carrots
Celery
Lipton Onion Soup mix (or whatever onion soup dry mix packets you like)

The Process:
Wash all the vegetables.
Cut potatoes in half or quarters.
Chop celery in long pieces that will fit flat in the bottom of your crock pot
Cut roots and stems/leaves off radishes
Peel carrots and chop ends off.  Depending on thickness and length of your carrots, you may want to cut them in half.  I like using the really fat carrots that have turned a little woody in the center that wouldn't have tasted as good raw, because slow cooking them around a roast softens them and they still impart a great flavor.

You can brown your meat first or not, I don't think it really makes much difference.  If you want to brown it, just sprinkle a little salt and pepper on it and cook it for a minute or so on each side in a pan on the stove top on medium to medium high heat.  If you're trying to "fast" cook this roast (in the crock pot on high for 4-6 hours), I suggest taking the time to brown it, but if you're "slow" cooking it (in the crock pot on low for 10-12 hours) I think this is unnecessary.

Place celery in bottom of crock pot.
Place roast on top of celery.
Fill in gap around roast with radishes, potatoes, and carrots.
Mix 1/2 to 3/4 cup water with soup mix and pour over roast and veggies.  If needed, use up to 1/4 cup more water to rinse cup and get last of soup mix seasoning/bits into crock pot.

Cover and cook on Low for 10-12 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours.  Your roast is done when you can stick a fork in it and turn it fairly easily and the meat just sort of shreds and yields.

Pull the roast out and let it REST on a cutting board or platter for 10-15 minutes.  This is the Most Important Step!!!  If you cut meat while it is hot, it will loose all of its juices.  If you want a tender and juicy roast, you have to let it cool a little bit so that the proteins can relax.  Here's a great article explaining resting meat.  They talk about steaks, but it really applies to all beef.

After 10-15 minutes, dig in!