Look what I did with a ROAST

Growing up I hated having roasts for dinner. As a mom, they're the greatest ever. Just put them in the crock pot and let 'em go. One roast usually does a couple of meals.

Cooking the Roast:
I prefer the slow cooker, but you can you a roasting pan in the oven as well. Plan 4-6 hours to cook a good sized roast from frozen to fully cooked. I like to smother the roast with salt, pepper, garlic salt, minced onion, herbs. Pretty much whatever I can find in my spice shelf that sounds good that day.

Once cooked, here's some of my favorite options:

1. Sunday Dinner Roast, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Salad, etc.

2. French Dip Sandwiches: Put sliced beef on hoagie buns or rolls. Mix up a packet of Au Juis for the dip. You can also just use beef bouillon of beef flavoring to make your own dip.

3. BBQ Beef Sandwiches: Pour a half a bottle of BBQ sauce over the shredded beef, and serve on a roll or hoagie bun.

4. Stew: Use left over roast to make a stew with onion, potatoes, and carrots. For flavoring use beef bouillon and a little flour or a packet of Stew Seasoning.

Hint: Because I'm always running late on Sunday and I don't like spending my whole day cooking, I cook my roast on Saturday and have it for Saturday evening meal. That way, when we come home from church, I just have to pull a few things together or have leftovers from the night before. When I think ahead to do this, it makes my Sunday meal preparation much more enjoyable.

Fajitas or Tacos

Heat in a frying pan:
1 bottle canned chicken ... you can also use fresh chicken, cooked & shredded
1 pkg. fajita mix or taco seasoning ... depending what your in the mood for

Heat in saucepan:
Refried Beans ... I buy dehydrated ones from the family cannery--yummy too.

Spanish Rice: cooked in rice cooker or in saucepan
1 c. rice
3 c. water
1 t. salt
1/2-3/4 c. salsa

Serve with: chips, hard shell tacos or tortillas.

Top with: sour cream, cheese, lettuce, etc.

Variation: Use Beef Steaks or Elk Steaks: Cook in crock pot with seasonings, cut in strips when cooked thoroughly. Then saute green pepper and onion. Mix altogether with fajita seasoning.