Crock Pot Roast

I have a love/hate relationship with my crock pot.  Well, my crock pots.  I have 3.  I love that I can just throw ingredients in the crock pot and forget about it.  But I hate that if I don't plan it right, it takes a long time to cook.  I love that I can have serve hot appitizers and they stay warm (as long as I leave the crock pot turned on/plugged in.)  But I hate that meat becomes so overcooked that it shreds when I try and cut it....which is a good thing for some recipes, but not so good for others.  I love that I can throw in apples and it a few hours, I have applesauce.  I love that during the summer, I don't have to turn on the oven, but I hate that when a crock pot is on for many hours, it still heats up my kitchen.  I could go on and on, but I guess that over all, I love my crock pot...  ok, crock pots.

I made a roast in the crock pot a few days ago.  It's yummy, it's easy, it's wholesome, and the whole family loved it.

Crock Pot Roast
1 3-4 pound roast (any kind...I usually buy the cheapest roast I can find)


1 packet Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing mix
2 T. dry Ranch salad dressing mix
1/2 c. flour
1 beef bullion cube, crumbled
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed


1-1/2 c. water
1 c. white wine
1 can crushed tomatoes, undrained

4-5 potatoes, peeled and quartered
4-5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/3rds
1 onion, cut into 1/8ths, or 5-6 pearl onions, peeled
1/2 cabbage, cored and cut into 2 pieces (optional)


Spray the crock pot with non stick cooking spray.  Trim the roast of excess fat and place in crock pot.  Mix the Italian and Ranch mixes together with the flour, bullion cube, onion and garlic.  Add the water, wine and crushed tomatoes.  Mix well.  Pour over the roast.


Cook on medium for 4-5 hours.


Remove the roast from the crock pot.  Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, and cabbage (if using) to the liquid.  Place the roast on top of the veggies.  Cook on high 3-4 hours, or until fork tender.  Remove the roast and slice into pieces.  Serve with the cooked veggies and the "gravy."  Enjoy~

Review:  JP told me that the roast was the best roast ever.  Enough said.

Easy-Peasy Ribs

Jeff is in the top right corner walking in

Welcome Home!

Jeff's been home from Iraq for about 10 days...we're slowly getting into the family rhythm again.  For those of you who aren't military spouses, it's kind of a hard period to explain...  it's like you're on vacation, but not really.  You're so glad that he's home and you want to spend all of your time together, but don't want to suffocate him.  It's a honeymoon period, but not really.  You want to go back to the way things were last year before the deployment began, but all 3 of us have grown and changed in 12 months.  I'm not in charge of the remote anymore (which is fine with me) and I have to share my stuff again.  But I wouldn't change it for anything.  It's a time of adjustments, assimilation and re-figuring of roles.  It's also a time of growth, change and adjustment. 

A Welcome Home Hug

Two Happy Boys!

With all the excitement of Jeff being home, life is starting speed up again...my some-what lazy summer is fading away quickly and the busy-craziness is about to begin again.  Jeff is back to work, JP started 3rd grade on Monday and school starts for me next week.  I will be insanely busy again teaching 2 classes, taking 2 classes, studying for my preliminary exams and writing my dissertation proposal.  But I will have Jeff around as my biggest cheerleader. 

And I have crock pot recipes like Easy-Peasy Ribs that will make my life just a little bit easier!

Easy-Peasy Ribs in the Crock Pot

1 rack of baby back ribs
2 T. liquid smoke

1 c. ketchup
1 T. molasses
1 T. brown sugar
1/4 t. liquid smoke
1 T. BBQ spice mix (Penzey's makes a few nice BBQ mixes...I like BBQ of the Americas)

Prepare the ribs by removing the thin membrane on the back (bone) side of the rack of ribs.  Cut the ribs into 3 or 4 pieces.  Each piece should contain 3-4 ribs.  Place the ribs in a crock pot that has been sprayed by cooking spray.  Pour the liquid smoke in the bottom of the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  

Mix the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, liquid smoke and BBQ spice mix together.  Remove the ribs and drain the liquid.  Place the ribs back into the crock pot 1 piece at a time.  Slather each piece with the prepared BBQ sauce.  Continue until all of the ribs are sauced and in the crock pot.  Continue to cook the ribs on high for 30-60 minutes more to "bake" on the sauce.  Remove and enjoy!

You may want to double the BBQ sauce if you like your ribs saucy.  Also, instead of placing the sauced ribs back into the crock pot, you can place the ribs on a heated grill, brush on the sauce and cook for 10-15 minutes. 

BBQ Beef from Kelli

I made BBQ Beef on Friday night for my inlaws.  It was a new recipe and it was good!

For those of you who don't know, I am a full time grad student.  I'm also a full time GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistant), a full time mama and a full time military wife.  Those of you who are military wives (or military husbands) know what I mean when I say I'm a military wife...you get what all of that implies.  And yes, I'm very busy!  Soooo anyways, in my research class, we had a potluck on the last night of class.  Cassie brought Black Bean & Corn Salsa.  Check out her recipe on her blog, Thoughts from Casablanca.  It was good!  Kelli brought the BBQ Beef.  As soon as I took a bite, I knew I'd need the recipe.  It was good.  It was better than my BBQ Beef and as soon as there was a break during class, I asked her for the recipe.  And so Kelli sent out an email to everyone in the class with her recipe for BBQ Beef.  It's easy!  It's good!  It's easy!  It's good!  Make it this week!  You'll be glad you did!


BBQ Beef
1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 3 lbs)
1/2 c. ketchup
4 T. brown sugar
4 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1/4 t. black pepper

Place the beef in a crock pot.  Mix the sauce together and pour over the beef.  Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.  Shred the meat and serve with crusty rolls for a BBQ beef sandwich.  Easy Peasy.

Kelli suggested not to use the bigger crock pots because it doesn't cook the same.  So I stuffed the beef into my medium sized crock pot.  Kelli also said that she mixes up the sauce the night before, so she can just put everything together quickly in the morning.

Review:  It was good!  The meat was very tender.  The sauce was a little watery, but still flavorful.  I didn't use a beef chuck roast...I used a rump roast instead and it was fine.  Next time:  Before I shred the meat, I'm going to drain most of the sauce/liquid.  I will make another batch of the sauce and add it to the shredded beef, stick it back in the crock pot and voila!  This is an quick and easy recipe to put together, and oh, so good!  Enjoy~