Italian Crock Pot Roast

3# beef roast
Salt and pepper

1 small bag baby carrots
5 potatoes, medium cubed (about 1")
1 large onion, sliced vertically in large wedges
1 can diced tomatoes, Italian style
1/2 can dry red wine
Package of Italian salad dressing mix
Italian seasoning


6 ounces red wine
2 tsp. flour

Buy any type of roast that suits your fancy, usually I buy whatever is on sale. Cheaper cuts of meats do especially well cooking low and slow so it won't matter. Trim the roast of any excess fat, some fat at this point is okay, just gristle and large amounts hanging on the meat need to be removed. Once the roast is prepped, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan, salt and pepper the roast. Sear all sides of the roast until a nice brown crust develops. The roast doesn't need to be cooked all the way, you are just trying to brown the outside.

Put potatoes in the bottom of a LARGE crock pot. Then layer carrots and onions. Nestle the seared roast in the vegetables, leaving the potatoes touching the bottom of crock pot. Vegetables should be touching the sides of the crock pot and the roast should be surrounded by vegetables. Pour can of tomatoes over the roast and vegetables. In tomato can, pour in wine, add Italian salad dressing mix and stir. Pour into crock pot. (At this point, it's also okay to add a little water or wine back to the can to make sure you get all the seasonings out).

Cook on high for 6-8 hours or low overnight. About halfway through, taste gravy and add Italian seasoning to taste. You may need to add more liquid depending on the size of your pot and how much liquid develops. I did not need to add any, but I certainly would not have complained with more gravy.

Thirty minutes before serving, pour wine into a coffee cup (that's how I estimated 6 ounces, clever, no?) and add flour. Whisk until no flour lumps are present. Add to crock pot and turn heat to high. Gravy will thicken and be ready to serve with roast and veggies.

Roast should fall apart when you are ready to eat. Serve in a bowl with some nice hearty multi-grain bread. It's a meal in a bowl!

**Forgive me for the lack of pictures. There wasn't really any time for pictures before it got eaten up. I would assume that roast really doesn't photograph that well. But I guess that just means I'll have to make it again to test that theory!

Crock Pot BBQ Beef Ribs & Sausage

Sweet and melt in your mouth good without all the fuss. Need I say more?

2(ish) lbs beef ribs
Tex-Joy BBQ Seasoning

1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. coarse grain mustard
3T. liquid smoke
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt/pepper

1 onion, sliced

1/2 c. Dr. Pepper

1 lb. sausage, sliced on the bias

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

Trim ribs of skin and excess fat. Sprinkle on seasoning of your choice. Mix next group of ingredients together. Coat ribs with glaze. Layer ribs and onions in crock pot. Pour Dr. Pepper over the top. (I accidentally forgot to pull in my crock pot and it sat for an hour. I think it might have helped.) After that I realized I wasn't smelling my food like I should have, I went to check on it and then plugged in it. :D Let this cook on high for three hours.

After three hours, I pulled the ribs out and poured on BBQ sauce on the ribs and added the sausage. I then cooked for another two hours on low.

Next time, I would cook the sausage a little to lessen the fat. (And be more cautious when I trim the fat too). Either that or cook it the day before I wanted it, stick it in the refrigerator and then remove the fat and reheat the next day. I would also drain about half of the first liquid off before I added the BBQ sauce. I am assuming this would result in a thicker sauce that could top the BBQ. Don't get me wrong, the flavor was awesome! I will definitely make this again!