Crock Pot Green Chile Roast

Okay...so here's something I ran across the other day that I knew IT Guy would love. As I was scrolling through my Pinterest, this recipe popped up. It had no permanent link and no official directions...not even a name....but I KNEW I had to make it. I tailored this to fit our preferences and it turned out VERY good! The nice thing about this is that you can eat it by the bowlful, wrapped in a flour tortilla or use it as a topping for nachos. It's SUPER simple and SUPER yummy....what's not to love?

Crock Pot Green Chile Roast



2 cups dry pinto beans
1 2-3 pound chuck roast
1 small onion ~ diced
1 10-ounce can Rotel tomatoes
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 teaspoons chili powder ~ divided use
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Water

Place dry beans in the crock pot.

Add the Rotel tomatoes, green chilies and diced onion.

Add 1 tablespoon of the cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the chili powder, 1 teaspoon of the garlic powder and the salt & pepper. Stir.

Place roast on top of beans and add enough water to almost cover the roast.

Season with the rest of the seasonings.

Cook on high for 6 - 8 hours until beans done and meat is tender.

Remove roast from the crock pot and shred. Return shredded roast to the beans and stir.

Serve in bowls or flour tortillas.

 

Here's the stuff!

 

Add the beans, Rotel tomatoes, 

green chilies and some of the 

spices to the crock pot. Stir.

 

Add the roast , the water and 

the rest of the spices. Cook!

 

Make sure the beans are done and 

the roast is tender enough to shred easily.

 

Serve it in a bowl, in flour tortillas or as nachos!!

Roast Beef with Homemade Dumplings

Usually when I make a roast, it's potatoes all the way but this time I switched things up with homemade dumplings! Ummm...soooo, yeah. Yum! If you've never made dumplings, then you're in for a real treat! Easy and so much more tasty than store bought! This recipe is homey and even the leftovers are good!!

Roast Beef with Homemade Noodles



1 2-3 pound chuck roast
1 medium onion
6 cups water ~ divided
1 tablespoon beef bullion (3 cubes)
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
5 tablespoons milk

Slice onion and place in the bottom of your crock pot. Add 1 cup of water. Sprinkle with bullion or place cubes in crockpot.

Place roast on top of onions. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.


For the noodles:**

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl.

Make a well in the center. Add eggs and milk and stir to form a stiff dough.

Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead a couple of minutes until smooth. Cut dough in half.

Roll each piece into a 15"x12" inch rectangle.

Cut into 1/8" strips. Place strips onto a plate in layers, giving each layer a light sprinkling of flour to help eliminate sticking.

Cover and chill until ready to cook.


When roast is done, pour liquid into a large saucepan.

Add remaining 5 cups water and bring to a boil.

Add noodles and cook about 10 minutes, until tender.

Drain noodles (save liquid for pouring over roast, if desired) and place on a platter. Add roast and serve! 


** Ready made egg noodles may be substituted for homemade

 
Okay...here's what you'll need.

 
Place the sliced onion, the bullion, 
water and roast in crock pot. Sprinkle 
with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours.

 
In a bowl, add flour and salt. Add beaten 
egg mixture in the center and mix.

 
Turn onto a lightly floured surface 
and knead a couple of minutes until smooth.

 
Roll out then cut into strips.

 
Layer cut dough on a plate with flour 
sprinkled between layers. Cover and 
chill until ready to boil

 
Drain roast liquid into a saucepan 
then add the rest of the water. 
Bring to a boil and cook dumplings until tender.

 
Serve it all up on a platter using some 
of the liquid to drizzle over the dish!!

Gyro Sandwiches

I don't make a lot of sandwiches around here. I'm not sure why because I love a good sandwich. Hey...I've even been known to chow down on a cookie spread and jam sandwich when I'm desperate for something sweet! These gyros were pretty fun. I didn't have the stuff to make a traditional Greek sauce to go with them...so I used ranch dressing for mine but they would be good drizzled with a little Italian dressing. You could also do these sandwiches with chicken if you're of the mind! These were different and fun and yummy!

Gyro Sandwiches



1 2-pound chuck roast
1 medium onion ~ sliced
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Place sliced onion in the bottom of the crock pot.

Place roast on top of onions.

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, oregano, lemon juice and salt & pepper.

Pour over roast.

Cook on low 8 hours until tender.

Remove roast from crock pot and shred into large chunks.

Serve on warmed pita bread with lettuce and tomato.

I used ranch dressing for a sauce but next time I'll make some tzatziki sauce.

Makes about 6 sandwiches.

The ingredients.

Slice the onion and put in the bottom 

of the crock pot. Then place your roast 

on top of the onions.

Mix up the olive oil, lemon juice 

and the salt and pepper and pour 

over the roast. Let it cook on low 

for 8 hours or until tender.

Remove the roast and shred into large chunks.

Assemble the sandwiches along 

with some lettuce and tomato!

Chuck Roast Chili

This chili is super easy and really good. We thought it was fun to use over chips for nachos. You can certainly add some pinto beans to this to make it a little thicker...also really good. Make sure to break out all the fixin's and you can spoon it over chips in a bowl, too. Cheese, lettuce, sour cream, salsa...you know the drill.

Chuck Roast Chili



4 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
1 32-ounce container beef broth
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 teaspoons garlic  powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground oregano
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
Place meat in your crock pot.

Whisk together the tomato paste, tomato sauce and broth. Pour over meat.

In a small bowl, combine all the spices and seasonings. Sprinkle over meat in the crock pot and stir until combined.

Cook on low for 8 hours until meat in tender, stirring occasionally.

Here's what you need. And pinto 

beans if you want to use those.

Mix the broth, tomato paste and tomato sauce.

Mix the spices.

Add the cut meat to the crock pot, 

then the liquid then the spice mixture. 

Mix to combine. Cook 6 - 8 hours.

Serve it up! In a bowl, over chips,

 in a tortilla...whatever!

Roast, Potatoes and Gravy ~ Homestyle

I know I say on here about lots of recipes "this is IT Guy's favorite whatever",  but roast, potatoes and gravy ranks right up there in the top two, I'd say. When I make this and he walks in the door at the end of the day, he will almost always say something like "Ohhhh..it smells GOOD in here". And he's right. I think there's almost nothing as wonderful as a roast that's been cooking all day and the aroma that has permeated the whole house. The door to our house from the garage is right by the kitchen and this smell even takes over the garage. Cooking a roast in the crock pot is so easy and so nice to do on a hot summer day. No need to heat up the oven...just pop the roast and potatoes in the crock pot early in the morning and let it go. Whip up some gravy...and you're done! I use just a cheap chuck roast and it always come out fork tender. It's comfort food at its best!

Roast, Potatoes and Gravy ~ Homestyle



1 2-pound chuck roast
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup water
4 - 6 potatoes - peeled
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
salt & pepper
Kitchen Bouquet

Place roast in the crock pot. Pour in half cup water. This is where a lot of purists might disagree with me. Some cooks don't put a drop of water in with their roast...but I'm such a rebel. I've always done it this way. I feel like it makes more gravy. ( And if you knew IT Guy like I know IT Guy, the more gravy the better. In fact....I've got a funny story about IT Guy and gravy that I'll post at the end of this recipe.)

Sprinkle the dry onion soup mix over roast. Place peeled potatoes around the walls of the crock pot. After cooking all day, the sides of the potatoes that are touching the sides of the crock pot, will result in a golden brown almost-crust. SO good!

Place lid on crock pot and turn on low and allow to cook for 8 hours or so.

Remove roast and potatoes from crock pot and place on a plate into a warm oven.

Pour liquid from crock pot into a medium saucepan. In a small mixing bowl, mix cornstarch and 1/2 cup water together until smooth. Pour into saucepan and cook on medium until thick and bubbly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then pour in a tablespoon or so of Kitchen Bouquet. Stir to combine.

The best way to serve this is to shred the roast, chunk/mash the potatoes and pour gravy over the whole thing!

 
This is what you need.

 
Put the roast in your crock pot. 
You can even put it in frozen, 
did you know that? Same results.

 
Nestle the potatoes in there so they 
are touching the sides of the crock pot.

 
Let 'er rip for about 8 hours or so. 
This is what you get! Dreamy, huh?

 
Here's the liquid from the roast 
that's been cooking all day.

 
And here's the ingredients 
for my gravy. Some people 
use flour which is fine. My MIL 
uses Wondra flour. Good stuff, right there.

 
Mix up the cornstarch and water 
then pour into the drippings.

 
Add the Kitchen Bouquet. Ever used it? 
Also...good stuff, right there.

 
Mmmm...can you smell it yet?

 
I had a few pieces of roast leftover 
and IT Guy got it in some sandwiches 
for his lunch the next day. I dipped 
the sliced bread in some of the gravy...
slapped the roast on there...added some cheese and voila!

Funny gravy story:

I met IT Guy when I was 16. He was 19. It was immediate infatuation for us both. He was a college student and I was in high school. He lived 120 miles from home and like any college student far from home, he craved home cooked meals. So one Sunday after church, I invited him over for a Sunday pot roast dinner.  A home cooked meal AND time with the new girlfriend?  He couldn't accept fast enough. My mom had made a roast dinner similar to this recipe, not knowing IT Guy was a gravy addict. Frankly, neither did I. But in his family, gravy was considered a beverage. After my mom had dinner on the table we all sat down to eat. With IT Guy being the guest, he was the first one served. Roast, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, some bread...it all came around the table. Then it was time for the gravy. IT Guy drowned his plate with the brown liquid gold and passed the gravy boat to my dad. My dad looked inside, then looked at IT Guy's plate and asked my mom for more gravy. She looked at my dad like he was from another planet and then informed him that what was in the gravy boat was all there was. I glanced at IT Guy and watched a look of horror cross his face. He was absolutely mortified. Here he was...a guest in our home....having dinner with us for the first time...and he had inadvertently taken all the gravy. Fortunately for IT Guy, my parents liked him well enough that they forgave him this small indiscretion and allowed him to marry me a year later. The lesson learned here is that the women in our family, now make LOTS of gravy when they know IT Guy is coming over for dinner.