Easy Crock pot Roast

Here is mine...........
It is from the top of my head and my memory so, forgive me.

Easy Sunday Roast

Get a roast, (Say, 4 lbs.).
Brown it in the skillet on all sides.
Put in the bottom of the crock pot.
Add potatoes (halved), carrots (baby, so you don't have to peel then), and some onion, chopped.
Pour one can of Cream of Mushroom soup over roast and veggies, then add one can of water.
Don't stir.
Sprinkle one envelope of Lipton onion soup on the top.
Don't stir.
Cook on low on Saturday night for 12-14 hours and it will be ready for Sundee lunch.
OR cook on high for 6-8 hours for weeknight dinner.
YUM!

My first roast!

So any meat besides chicken breasts, steaks, pork chops, and ground beef is generally a little frightening to me. Whole chickens, big roasts or hams, no way. Too high maintenance! All that basting and gravy-making and stuffing--not for me. So I took a baby step this weekend to making a roast: I took a small arm roast (cows have arms?) and made a gravy of water, soy sauce, onion soup mix, garlic, and sauteed onions, and cooked it for a couple hours after browning the meat on the stove. Then I put the meat and onion mixture on French bread, put mozzarella cheese on top, and used the juice for au jus! Roast beef sandwiches! They were delicious. The recipe is on Taste of Home, but it's a subscriber-only recipe, so I don't think you'll be able to see it. Here's the link, nonetheless, and I pasted the recipe here:


INGREDIENTS
1 boneless beef rump roast (4 pounds)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large sweet onions, cut into 1/4-inch slices
6 tablespoons butter, softened, divided
5 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon browning sauce, optional
1 loaf (1 pound) French bread
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown roast on all sides in oil; drain. In a large skillet, saute onions in 2 tablespoons of butter until tender. Add the water, soy sauce, soup mix, garlic and browning sauce if desired. Pour over roast. Cover and bake at 325° for 2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Return meat to pan juices. Slice bread in half lengthwise; cut into 3-in. sections. Spread remaining butter over bread. Place on a baking sheet. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Top with beef and onions; sprinkle with cheese. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with pan juices. Yield: 12 servings.

Audrey or readers, if you have a great recipe for roast that actually keeps the meat moist and flavorful, please post it!

Corn bread Ranch chicken

This one came from Taste of Home somewhere...

Mix one box Jiffy cornbread mix and one packet of Ranch seasoning in a big Ziploc. Dip chicken breasts in milk, and then toss in Ziploc bag. Cook in olive oil four minutes on each side, or until juices run clear.

Very fast, and tastes sweet and tangy at the same time! I do this recipe or a similar one about once a week; Jay calls it my specialty. The other way to do it is to mix 2/3 Italian or plain bread crumbs and 1/3 Parmesan cheese (these are ratios, not amounts), and dip your meat in egg, then this mixture, then cook the same as above. It would probably be healthier to bake it, but I've never tried that.

Believe it or not, my first beef-vegetable stew!

That's right, I'd never made beef-vegetable stew on my own before now! I have great taco soup, potato soup, and chicken tortilla soup recipes, and had never gotten around to fiddling with beef-vegetable. But the wind had a bit of a bite to it Tuesday, so I tried my hand at--and it was great! Here's what I did:

1 lb hamburger meat
1 lb frozen corn
2 sm. cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (mine were basil and oregano flavored)
3 cups diced potatoes
2 cups frozen green beans
1 packet Lipton onion soup mix

Brown hamburger meat while you bring all the other ingredients to a boil in a soup pot (add water until soup reaches desired consistency). Then add hamburger meat, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 30mins or so. Meanwhile, bake a pan of cornbread.

YUM!

Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It's melt in your mouth delicious with tortilla chips, and I don't even really like artichokes!

UPDATE: Make the dip in a smaller pan than 9 x 13; it got a little dry in such a thin layer. Also, it needs a bit more of tangy flavor or spice to it--perhaps more garlic? Some chopped onions? Chopped green onions on top, maybe? Must consider...

UPDATE: Frozen spinach! You can't find the fresh stuff anywhere, although I hear it's safe again now.

Best fruit dip

1 8-oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs. maple syrup

Whip it all together and chill for an hour or so. I find the whipped cream cheese to make the smoothest mixture. Feel free to adjust amounts to your taste. I always taste the brown sugar and maple syrup bit out. Serve with slices/chunks of apples, bananas, strawberries, and pineapples. This is what I'll be taking to the OU/Texas watch party this weekend, along with Hot Artichoke Spinach dip, which is AMAZING! Coming soon.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

4 boneless chicken breasts, thawed
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chilies
1 C. frozen corn
1 C. enchilada sauce
4 green onions, sliced

Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle with taco seasoning and brown sugar, toss to coat. Add green chilies, corn, and enchilada sauce. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours (Or high 3-4). Stir chicken mixture with fork until chicken breaks apart and shreds. Stir in green onions. Cook an additional 15 minutes. Serve in taco shells with desired toppings. Enjoy!

This recipe is from Heather Stone. Okay Kim, your turn!