Beef Dip

1 three or four pound beef pot roast

1 14 oz can beef broth 

1 single serving size M&M Meats French onion soup

1 12 oz can or bottle of beer

1 loaf of bread - ciabatta is best cut into thick slices

Trim fat from the meat. Place meat in your crock pot. Add broth, beer and soup. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 to 10 hours.

Remove the meat from the slow cooker. Using two forks, shred the meat. Serve the meat on the bread. Pour remaining juices into individual serving bowls to serve with the sandwiches for dipping.

Crockpot Roast Beef

3/4 cup Root beer (not diet!)

1/3 cup hickory-flavored barbecue sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger root

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp each ground cumin and chili powder

1 sirloin tip roast (3 to 3.5 pounds)

salt and pepper

2 tsp olive oil or veg oil

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

2 tbsp cornstarch

To make sauce, combine root beer, barbecue sauce, tomato paste, lemon juice, ginger root, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cumin and chili powder in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and let sauce boil gently for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. The sauce is very strong and concentrated at this point - don't worry it will mellow out once it's cooked in the beef juices.

Pat roast dry and paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add roast and brown it on all sides.

Place browned roast in a slow cooker. Arrange onion wedged around it. Pour sauce over roast. cover with lid and cook on low heat for 8 hours. 

Remove the roast and onions from the slow cooker (use a slotted spoon to scoop out the onions) Pour sauce from the crock pot into a medium saucepan. Skim off as much fat as possible. in a small bowl, mix cornstarch with an equal amount of water and stir until smooth. Add to sauce and bring to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly, until sauce has thickened slightly.

To serve, slice roast thinly.  Spoon the sauce over top.

Crockpot Mashed Potatoes

5 pounds of potatoes
1 block of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 cup of water, reserved from boiling the potatoes
1 tsp garlic powder (or 6 cloves of roasted garlic)
1 T dried parsley

Directions.

Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut in quarters to quicken boiling time. Put the pieces into a large pot and cover completely with water.

Bring the potatoes to a boil on the stove top. Boil rapidly for 10-20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.

Scoop out 1/2 cup of the water from the pot. Add the bouillon cube to the water. Drain the potatoes, and return to pot.

Add the cream cheese and sour cream to the pot with the hot potatoes. Pour in the water with the bouillon cube. Add the parsley and garlic powder and, in my case, the roasted garlic.

Mash with a potato masher until they are smooth.

After smashing well, scoop the potatoes out of the pot and place into a 4 to 6 quart crockpot. Cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for 4. Can be kept on warm indefinitely.