Crock Pot- Pot Roast

Pot roast is definitely one of my rediscovered favorites.  I can't say I appreciated it much as a child, but I definitely do now.  It's soft and tender and has SO MUCH FLAVOR.  I've been working on using my Crock Pot more, so I decided to try this roast using that method!

What you'll need:

1.5-2 lbs. beef shoulder or butt (I got a nice lean shoulder cut)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 carrots, peeled and cut into pieces
2 celergy stalked, cut into pieces
1 small onion, sliced
A few garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 cups no sodium added beef broth (or no sodium beef bouillon with 3 cups water)
A sprinkle of sea salt and pepper
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
Thyme and Rosemary (I used a few sprigs of each)
1 bay leaf

Equipment you'll need

Crock Pot
A large pan

Okay, so.  Super easy.  Turn your crock pot to high and toss your veggies in while your pan comes to medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil to the pan and let it heat up.

 Dish your flour onto a large plate and coat your roast.  Add it to the hot pan and brown on all sides. (Save the flour)

Once the meat is browned on all sides, remove it from the pan.  If it looks oily you can pat it dry with some paper towels.  Then place the meat on top of your veggies.  Add the fresh herbs, bay leaf, wine and broth (you want to ALMOST cover the meat.  Use less or more then I suggested if you need to).  Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, cover the crock pot and let it go for 8 hours.

And that's almost it.  Once the roast is done, you can just remove the meat and eat it as it is with the veggies over some mashed potatoes (just try to fish out the stems from the herbs).  

If you want a thicker gravy, here's what I do. 

About an hour before I'm ready to serve, I remove the meat from the crock pot and set it aside.  Using a slotted spoon, I remove all the veggies and throw out any stems from the herbs and the bay leaf. 

Then I strain the cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl.  Add the liquid back into the crock pot and add one of two things. 1.) A few tbsp of your reserved flour mixed with a cup of water. or 2.) A tbsp of corn starch mixed with some cold water.  Then I whisk the mixture into the cooking liquid, add the meat and veggies back in and allow to finish cooking without the lid. 

Now, that's really it.  You can eat this with some yummy whole grain egg noodles, some mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes like I did.  

For the full recipe without photos, please see below. 

Tip- Don't feel like dirtying a pan and searing the meat?  Don't worry about it, just add all your ingredients to the crock pot, put the lid on and flip it to high.  I would let it go another hour, just to be safe. 

21 Day Fixers- I measured the meat into my red container, the veggies into my green and the sweet potatoes into the yellow.  You can include a tsp for the initial sear, but I don't think there was enough flour in the whole thing to add another yellow. 

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Crock Pot Pork Roast: 

1.5-2 lb. beef shoulder roast 

1/4 cup whole wheat flour 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

6 carrots, peeled and cut 

2 celery stalks, cut 

1 small onion, sliced 

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 cups no sodium beef stock

1/2 cup red wine (optional) 

A few sprigs each of thyme and rosemary

1 bay leaf 

Turn crock pot to high and add vegetables.  In a pan, heat the tbsp of olive oil.  Coat roast in flour, and add to the hot pan.  Sear to brown on all sides.  Remove from the pan (pat oil off if you want to) and add to the crock pot.  Add herbs, stock and wine. Cover and allow to cook on high for 8 hours. 

1 hour before serving, remove the meat from the crock pot and set aside.  Using a slotted spoon, remove vegetables (throwing away stems from the herbs and bay leaf) and set aside.  Pour the cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl.  Add the liquid back into the crock pot, along with 2 tbsp flour mixed well with 1 cup of water OR 1 tbsp corn starch mixed with a few tbsp cold water.  Mix well, add meat and veggies back in.  Allow to cook another hour with the lid off the crock pot. 

Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or mashed sweet potatoes! 

Enjoy!!