It's a good day for a pot roast

This week marks a new beginning.  I was offered a job today.  Very exciting news, and also a change to the way I do things!  The crock pot will now be my friend, and freezer meals will be essential!  So, today to celebrate I decided to make a pot roast!  It's a new recipe, Balsamic Onion Pot Roast, and yes I have an obsession with Balsamic Vinegar.  Maybe one day I will be able to afford the super expensive sweet stuff to use on desserts!

Start browning the roast

Cut up the onion and line the bottom of the crock pot

Wash the mushrooms and set aside

In a sauce pan boil the 1 cup of broth to reduce

Once meat is browned, place in the crock pot on top of the onions, surround with the mushrooms and I added some carrots.

Pour sauce over the top and cook on Low for 6-8 hours.

While I'm waiting I'm going to make some Croutons, and an Enchilada Casserole.

After 6-8 hours, remove meat, and vegetables, scoop out as much of the fat that you can, and put the liquid in a pan, reduce and thicken if you want, serve on the side, or pour right on top of the meat!

Enjoy!

Can't go wrong with Pork!

The heat has invaded again, well temporarily anyway.  Tomorrow is supposed to cool down again.  In the meantime I’m ready to mix up some magic in the kitchen!  Today’s offering is BrownSugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin. It is luckily for me done in the crock pot!  So minimal house heating!

Put your spices in a small bowl to mix

Open your pork loin and rinse it

Rub with the spices

Put it in the crock pot with 1/2 cup of water

Cook 6-8 hours!

About an hour before the time is up combine the remaining ingredients in a sauce pan and stir and heat until thick. It will have a syrupy consistency.

Brush the loin 2-3 times during the last hour with the glaze.

I’m serving with fresh cast iron rolls, mashed potatoes, and leftover sauce as the gravy!

ENJOY! 

Balsamic and Onions and Mushrooms! OH MY!

Sundays are a great time for pot roast.  Especially since mother nature has decided to give us an ACTUAL winter, at least a weeks worth of winter weather.  So this morning while I am making fresh blueberry muffins I'm also starting tonight's dinner!

My DH loves blueberries.  And as luck would have it his parents brought us a Valentines bag of fresh fruit, which included a pint of blueberries!!!  The muffins I made came directly from the 1976 Betty Crocker cookbook, the orange one.  I love this cookbook, my mom has it, and when I found it for $12 I had to buy one too!  The consistency was dense, but overall good flavor and super yummy still warm!

On to the main event! Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast!

I tried to follow the recipe as closely as I could, but bottom round roast was much cheaper than chuck roast, so I am using the round roast.  All of my other changes are noted in the recipe.  (see above link)

I have also decided that I need a sous chef...because trying to do all of the steps, and photograph is next to impossible for some recipes...this one is included.  I did manage to get a picture of everything IN the Crock-pot.

Dinner was wonderful, I am glad I added the extra tomato sauce, the balsamic was almost overpowering, also could be that my balsamic isn't the highest quality...But in the end this recipe recieved the thumbs up from DH.  And a "you can make this again" too!

**Last night after eating this delicious meal complete with garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, we both almost passed out on the couch from overeating...which is why I'm posting this now...