There's a recipe floating in youtubeland that everyone raves about. I decided to try it--again. I must have done something wrong last time as I really did not like the flavor. I'm still not sure I got it "right". I had ordered a loss leader el cheapo roast the other week (marked down to $3.47 a pound). I expected back something like $10 worth of meat. What I got was this little tiny 1.28 pound chuck roast. I had planned to can the beef, but I don't pull out that big ole canner for what would have been about 1 pint jar. No way. So, I wondered what to do with that cute little thing.
I finally decided to give that recipe another try. It's called Mississipi pot roast. Essentially you dump some french onion soup mix and some ranch dressing mix on top, add some butter and add some jarred pepperoncini and cook it up in the crockpot. I was doing a mini-roast so I adjusted amounts, but if you had a "real" roast, it would be one envelope of onion soup and ranch dressing, half a stick of butter and 4-5 pepperoncini (though some folks use a lot more than 4-5). It's then roasted on low for 6-8 hours. Anyway, I decided it tastes pretty darned good this time. But what puzzles me is that it didn't get tender enough to shred. I realize it was a cheap (tough) cut of meat, but, isn't that a specialty of the crockpot?
Anyway I don't know that I'll try it again. Maybe two disappointments is enough.........
I decided I want to make some butternut soup. I've made it before and enjoyed it. Went looking for my recipe and it's going to turn out to be pretty darned pricey for a meatless soup. The recipe calls for 2 leeks (they're $3.99 each!!!!!!!!!!), It also calls for 2 granny smith apples (they're on sale for $.90 each). And it calls for 6 cups of butternut squash. Butternut is $1.29 a pound. I own the other ingredients called for so no cost for them at the moment, but just what I'd have to buy is about $11, That would work out to about $1 a pint jar which is pretty stiff for a meatless soup, in my opinion. That's also about 20% of my week's food budget. However, I know it's delicious and I know I'll eat it with a smile on my face, so maybe worth it afterall.