Slow Cooked Vegetable Pork Roast

This is one of the easiest meals to put together and by the end of its cooking time it's completely irresistible. I'm not a huge meat eater, but I was in love with this. Kevin went back for seconds and thirds--which only happens if he's totally crazy about the meal. 

Slow Cooker Vegetable Pork Roast

serves 4 

Ingredients

3-4 lb pork loin roast 

4-5 small potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, sliced (1/2" slices)

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1--14.5oz can cream of mushroom soup

      plus one can of water

salt

pepper

1 cup chopped kale, options

Directions

Fill your 4-5 qt. crockpot with potatoes, carrots, and half of the onions. Pour the mushroom soup and one can of water onto the potatoes and stir to combine. Generously salt and pepper the pork roast--patting the spices into the meat. Place meat on top of potato mixture and top with remaining onions. Cook on high 4 hours or on low 6-8 hours. Fifteen minutes prior to serving, stir in chopped kale. 

Barbeque Pot Roast & Zesty BBQ Sauce

We have had a pork roast in the freezer for...well...way too long now so I took it out to defrost in the fridge and hopefully forcing myself to use it. I asked Kevin for his opinions/cravings on how I should prepare and he said "barbeque." Now, I've never heard of a barbeque pork roast, but I figured it had been done before. Sure enough, my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook came through with both a barbeque pot roast recipe and a zesty barbeque sauce recipe.

This was surprisingly quick and easy to throw together. Kevin absolutely loved how this turned out and we plan on experimenting with our own barbeque sauce until we have a "signature" recipe. I hope you will try this meal sometime.


Barbeque Pot Roast
1. Begin by heating a dry 12 inch skillet to medium heat. Cook beef on all sides until brown (to sear in the juices).
2. Meanwhile, in a 1 qt. sauce pan, heat all sauce ingredients to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Zesty Barbeque Sauce--Ingredients
1/2 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp vinegar (calls for white, I used apple cider)
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground dry mustard
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3. When meat is finished searing and sauce is simmering, place prepared vegetables in the bottom of your greased crockpot:

4 potatoes, chopped
1/2 bag baby carrots
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

4. Place seared meat on top of the vegetables and pour prepared bbq sauce over top.
5. Cook in crockpot on high for 4-5 hours.

Pot Roast

Kevin had one request for dinner this week--pot roast. I think after 2 weeks of being without me or my homecooked meals, he was really needing some comfort food. Now, I have to admit this is one of the quickest and easiest meals to put together and it comes out so delicious! There are probably thousands of ways to prepare a roast, but this is my mom's way so this is how I do it!

To serve 3-4 people:

2 lb. pork shoulder (or any other cut of meat you prefer)

4 small Idaho potatoes, chopped

1/2 lb (half of the bag) of baby carrots

1/2 small onion, sliced

After sprayed the 4 qt. crock pot with cooking spray, pour in the chopped potatoes and carrots. Place the roast on top of the veggies. Arrange onion rings on top of veggies and meat. Sprinkle half a package of Onion Soup Mix over the roast and veggies. Add salt and pepper as desired. Fill with water to the level of the potatoes and carrots. Cook on high 4-5 hours or until meat and veggies are tender.