Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Roast

How do you make a roast?

Growing up Mom always had a roast in the crock pot first thing in the morning, then on her lunch hour (or mine when I was old enough to get to leave school for lunch) one of us would put cut up carrots, onions & potatoes in around the meat & it would cook all day & be hot & ready when we got home for supper.  We were probably married about 3 years before I decided to finally try one. (if I tried one before that, it must not have turned out because I don't remember it)  finding it an easy meal, I started to make it way too often & we both tired of it.  One day I happened upon a 'new' way to cook a roast, you put a can of pop & onion soup mix in with it, & you could either put the veggies in at the beginning or mid-way through.  So I did that method for a few years.  Until I started focusing on eating healthier. I attended a training sponsored by my childcare food program & learned JUST how much sodium is in those little bitty packets. (I had already cut pop out of my diet but would use one of Tim's pops just for roast)  At this training, she had several things made up ahead for us to try, a couple we made on site & others we just talked about.  Thankfully, we each got THIS cookbook w/14 recipes inside.  Some recipes for homemade mixes & some for dishes.  Each dish recipe has 3 sets of directions: East NOW, Freeze for LATER, & to serve LATER.

My version of Bold Beef from the cookbook:

  1. 1 1/4 c water w/1/3 c cream soup mix in the microwave 2 minutes(yes I do use my mic for this as I am usually throwing it together last minute upstairs before my first kiddos arrive or I have remembered it & run up to throw it in quickly while they are otherwise being entertained)
  2. 1/2c water w/1/3 c onion soup mix w/1tsp Worcestershire sauce
  3. mix 2 together & pour over roast, chuck steak or stew beef chunks in crock pot
  4. cook on low 8-10 hours will fall apart when done
the recipe says you can also put onion slices & mushrooms in with it but we don't do 'shrooms & there is plenty of onion in the mixes that I felt it was a waste to add fresh.

Today I was at a loss for what to do with the chuck steak I had thawed out, its a bit too much work to grill right now, we have had pan seared, oven baked steaks once a week for almost a month & realized I hadn't done a 'normal' roast in a while -remember I tried the Mississippi pot roast from pinterest a couple of weeks ago & it wasn't a hit, so I went with this, which really is my go-to when we are at a loss for a meal. 

the cream soup mix & the onion soup mix recipes are both included in the book & include side by side nutrition facts comparisons that are mind boggling to me! the sodium in the onion soup mix comparison especially:  homemade - 5.7 mg, store bought - 3560 mg!!!!!!!!!! that is NOT a typo!  NO WONDER we no longer go through a gallon of water or milk with our supper when we have roast. holy toledo batman. So I checked the sodium in the other 2 mixes for you:
taco seasoning homemade - 30.6  mg vs store bought -  2328.7 mg 
cream soup mix homemade - 111 mg vs store bought - 2110 mg 

Seriously. crazy. I am going to mix some of these up for my grandparents to have on hand & take all of their store bought versions out of their home. back story: My grandma just had a stroke last fall that may or may not have been caused by high sodium levels & I don't want a repeat. (haha-if you know my grandparents, you know, I could bring in my mixes but I am not going to be allowed to take out & 'waste' their store bought items :) but it was a good plan in my head... )  These recipes can be used in anything that calls for the store bought versions; onion soup mix + hamburger = savory hamburger patties on the grill, I have been known to sprinkle it in hamburger I am browning to serve the kiddos for lunch, or in french onion soup.  The cream soup is a little more tricky as it has to be mixed with water, then 'cooked' before using but still healthier than the canned version.  

so, now after my little sodium rant, are you watching yours?
How do you make a roast?



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