Easy Crock-Pot Beef Roast

A tender beef roast is one of my favorite comfort foods.  I remember being SO excited when my mom would bring out a roast with carrots and potatoes!  My brother and I ate as many of the carrots as we could - my poor parents probably never got any.  I guess that's the plight of the parent...if your kids are excited about eating carrots...you let them eat all the carrots.

This past weekend, we made a roast while Travis' parents were in town.  Now that I'm involved in the cookin', it's important for the preparation to be quick (since we have Owen).  That's why the Crock-Pot is your best friend.

This roast takes about 10 minutes to prep (it's all "open and dump") and 5 hours to cook.  Can't get much easier than that!

Ingredients

Beef roast
1 pound baby carrots
18 ounces sliced mushrooms
Large onion, chopped
Large red pepper, chopped
2 pouches Lipton dry onion soup mix
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (10.5 ounces)
1 can Cream of Onion soup (10.5 ounces)
1-2 cans water (use empty soup cans), depending on how much you need
Salt & Pepper


Directions

Place beef roast in bottom of Crock-Pot.
Add carrots, sliced mushrooms, chopped onion, and chopped red pepper.
Add Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Onion Soups.
Sprinkle in 2 pouches of dry onion soup mix, salt and pepper.
Pour in 1-2 cans of water, depending on how much liquid you need.  (Start with one and see if more is needed later.)
Cook on high for 5 hours or until beef is cooked through.
If serving directly from Crock-Pot, cut beef into slices and return to pot.


We served ours with half a baked potato (it's yummy to spoon over the potato!) and broccoli!

Enjoy!

Chicken with Tomato and Mushrooms

This weekend I went to Costco and stumbled upon a giant container of beautiful cherry tomatoes.  I couldn't wait to get home and make something with them.  What I came up with is super quick and full of flavor...and only uses a few ingredients!

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2.5 cups cherry tomatoes
8 ounces mushrooms
Italian dressing
Water
Olive oil
Basil
Garlic powder

Directions
Season chicken breasts with garlic powder and basil and cook in a little olive oil until just done.  I decided to cut my breasts in half so they were thin.  I started with about 1 tablespoon olive oil.  When more needed to be added to the pan, I substituted the Italian dressing for oo, and finished cooking the chicken that way!

Once your chicken breasts are just done, remove them from the pan.  Add tomatoes, mushrooms, 1/4 cup Italian dressing, and 1/4 cup water to the pan, and cook over medium until tomatoes break down (about 10-15 minutes).

Once you've got a nice looking sauce, add chicken breasts back to the pan and cook for another few minutes to finish cooking.

Then serve!

Enjoy!

Mushroom Stuffed Sirloin

Last May I went home for my brother's graduation from Pharmacy School.  After graduation, everyone went to Sullivan's in Raleigh for a celebratory dinner.  As I was looking over the menu, I couldn't move past the fillet mignon stuffed with mushrooms - YUM!  Turns out it was even more delicious than I could have imagined, so I knew I had to try to recreate it at home.

The best part is this isn't a dinner that takes hours to prep and cook.  This took us about 45 minutes from fridge to plate.  You must try this soon - you won't be sorry!

Ingredients

Mushrooms
8 oz mushrooms
1 cup low sodium beef broth
1/4 cup parsley
2 teaspoons garlic powder
butter
olive oil
salt

Steak
2 sirloins
butter
garlic powder
salt

Directions

Saute mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and a dash of salt.  When they begin to soften (about 6-8 minutes), add beef broth, parsley, and garlic powder.  Simmer on medium, stirring every few minutes, until broth mostly cooks off (about 10-15 minutes).

While mushrooms are cooking, season each side of your steaks with salt and garlic powder.  Cook steaks 6-8 minutes on each side, or until they are about half done (to your liking).  I added 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to the pan for each side.

Remove steaks from pan and butterfly each about 3/4 of the way through, then return them to the pan and sear the inside of each steak for 30 seconds.

Transfer 2/3 of your mushrooms to a cutting board and dice.  Divide mushrooms and fill the inside of each steak.

Carefully transfer steaks to an oven-safe baking dish, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Our steaks were cooked medium-well, so depending on your "done" preference or thickness of steaks, cook time may vary.

I added another splash of beef broth to the remaining mushrooms, and topped the steaks before serving.

You will BLOW your family away.  I served mine with Parmesan mashed potatoes and green beans.  Husband was "Mmmmmm'ing" so loudly I thought he was kidding at first.

Enjoy!