Week 3: Bavarian Pot Roast

Yummy! Not only is this easy to make, the side dish that I will also include is delicious with chicken breasts or a pulled pork. The Cabbage Noodle sidedish, can be prepared the night before and warmed to make dinner prep. easier. My crockpot is one of my favorite kitchen small appliance. The best part of this recipe is that you can eat half the dish tonight, then us the other for a second meal, I suggest as a beef sandwich with onions, mushrooms and provolone cheese.

Bavarian Crock Pot Roast Serves 12

1 boneless top round roast, 4 pounds, cut in half
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2 T. white vinegar
2 - 3 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. apple juice
1 small onion, chopped
1 T. salt
1 T. ground ginger
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. water

1. In a Dutch oven heat a small amount of vegetable oil, brown the meat on all sides over medium high heat. Transfer the meat to a 5 quart slow cooker. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients with the exception of the cornstarch and water, pour over roast. Cook on high 5 - 7 hours.

2. 1 hour before serving the roast, combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir into the cooking juices, cover and continue cooking for 1 more hour or until the meat is tender and the juices have thickened.


Cabbage Noodles Serves 12

1 head of cabbage
1 medium to large onion
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 t. curry powder
2 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1 bag of wide egg noodles

1. Chop cabbage and onion. I usually chop into larger pieces. If you're cooking the next day, I would place these two items into a large bowl and place into the refrigerator. If you're cooking right away, place the butter into a large skillet, melt (if using butter, do not allow it to brown or burn); place as much of the cabbage and onion as you can into the skillet over medium high heat. Continue to add cabbage and onion until all is in the skillet.

2. Stir and coat the cabbage and onions in butter/margarine. Sweat the cabbage and onion to almost tender (about 1/2 an hour). Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles to directions.

3. When cabbage and onion are cooked, place some of the noodles into the pan, stir, continue adding until all the noodles are incorporated. Season cabbage noodles with curry powder, salt and pepper.

** You could really veggie this side dish up; add some grated carrots, chopped celery, sweet colored pepper strips, whatever you like that can become tender.

Week 3: Crockpot Stuffing

Week 3's menu looks like this:

Steak
Ham and Potatoes
French Bread Pizza
Turkey Breast with Stuffing
Crock Pot Roast
Honey Chicken
Burritoes (this week beef)

Instead of giving you the recipe for "turkey breast", which is an easy this to cook, I am giving you a really good crockpot stuffing recipe. There are 2 groups of stuffing people, those who say they ONLY use the breast cavity for stuffing and those who say it's not a good idea to stuff a turkey with stuffing. I personally prefer the "stuffed breast" type, but I use this with a breast only turkey, mainly because everyone in my house LOVES stuffing and we never have enough if I only stuff the breast. This can be frozen, so I would suggest eating enough for 2 meals and then putting the rest in a large freezer bag for a later time. So, here it is:

Crock Pot Stuffing Makes 20 servings

1 c. chopped onion, finely chopped
1 c. chopped celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely grated (optional, but adds extra vitamins)
1/4 c. butter
6 c. cubed day-old white bread
6 c. cubed day-old wheat bread
1 t. salt
1 t. poultry seasoning
1 t. rubbed sage
1/2 t. pepper
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) chicken broth
2 eggs

1. In a small non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook onion, celery (and optional carrots) in butter until tender. In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, salt, poultry seasoning, sage and pepper. Stir in onion mixture. combine broth and eggs, add to bread mixture, toss to coat.

2. Transfer to a 3 quart slow cooker coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and cook on low for 3 - 4 hours or until heated through.

** If you family prefers a more "crusty" stuffing, remove the crock from your crockpot, place into a 350 degree oven, uncovered for 10 - 15 minutes or until top of stuffing is brown.