A good start!

Well, as promised, here goes the first post on the new blog. I guess the first recipe I'm going to start with is the recipe I made last night. I'm slowly becoming acquainted with my slow cooker. I've had it for years but I haven't used it often for a couple reason, the main one being that I learned from my mom to be cautious about keeping appliances (especially heat sources) plugged in while I'm not home. Also, let's face it, with my hectic schedule it's difficult to solidly plan ahead a few hours, let alone 8 to 10 hrs. I'm very good at planning a weeks worth of meals and doing the lists, coupon clipping, and shopping that goes with that, but that still leaves a little wiggle room. If I plan on having something Monday night and it doesn't get made until Thursday night, no harm done. But, with the slow cooker, if I start a meal that morning... I'm pretty much locked into having that that night or it just becomes another set of leftovers. So therefore, the slow cooker has been one of my trouble areas. An area to improve on. I've slowly been doing this over the last few months and I'm very excited that this recipe was such a success since that means I can add it to my list of go tos.

So, what recipe have I been talking about. Last night I made German-Style Beef Roast. It was so tender and had a slight tang accompanied by some sweet and was very delicious and EASY and got thumbs up from my husband and I'm pretty sure my son approved also. I served it with my roasted asparagus and brown sugar & cinnamon carrots. Look forward to these recipes in the future.

This recipe also had appeal for another reason, it was written as a rollover meal. You cook extra meat and gravy one night, to make another meal for a second night that week and hopefully take the ho-hum out of leftovers. The recipe this rolls over into is Roast Beef with Chive Roasted Potatoes. Also look for this recipe in a future post.

But, now for what this is all about....

German-Style Beef Roast for the Slow Cooker

From Taste of Homes Simple & Delicious - October/November 2010
Prep Time: 10 min          Cook Time: 8 hrs

1 (4 lb) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed
1 tsp. pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (12 oz) bottle beer or nonalcoholic beer
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour, more if needed
1/4 cup cold water

1. Cut roast in half; sprinkle with pepper. Place onion and roast in a 5 qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the beer, ketchup, and brown sugar; pour over top. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hrs or until meat is tender.
2. Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. (I strained the onions from this liquid.) Bring liquid to a boil. In a small bowl, combine flour and water until smooth. Gradually stir into the pan. You may need more flour and water mixture depending on how much water your get from the roast and how thick you like your gravy. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 min or until thickened. Serve with roast.

Save leftover beef and gravy to roll over into Roast Beef with Chive Roasted Potatoes... recipe to follow in a future post.