Tomato Dill Pot Roast

Slow cooked pot roast is a common meal in our house. The main reason is because of how easy it is. You buy a rump roast or two, throw them in the crockpot with a few other ingredients and let it cook... all day!

I usually make a traditional roast with carrots and onions, but I wanted to use up some left over dill. I made this pot roast with carrots, onions, stewed tomatoes and fresh dill. The finished product was juicy, tender and tasty. Next time I will add more dill. The flavor didn't come through as much as I hoped it would.

Tomato Dill Pot Roast

1 -2 Rump roast (or whatever cut you like best)
3 cups water or low sodium beef broth
Worcestershire sauce
1 cup baby carrots, uncut
1 large onion, sliced
1 15 oz stewed tomato
5 strands of fresh dill

Add all of the ingredients together in a crockpot (for the Worcestershire sauce, I sprinkle it over the meat, I use approximately 3-4 tbsp). Turn crockpot to low and cook for 6-8 hours.

I served mine with rice pilaf. It's super easy!

Rice Pilaf (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375.

In the skillet, begin melting the butter. Add onions and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir in rice, cook for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle in salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer rice mixture to a baking dish. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until the broth is mostly absorbed. Fluff with fork.

Have leftovers? Try these ideas:

Pulled Beef BBQ Sandwiches
Hot Beef Sandwiches with gravy and mashed potatoes
Pulled Beef Nachos
Pulled Beef Quesadillas or Enchiladas

Homey Mac 'n Cheese

I know, I know, kids LOVE Kraft macaroni and cheese and its SO easy to make but here's a recipe to make a homemade version sans the preservatives and icky chemicals that are in the blue box.  No offense to Kraft and I know sales will remain constant probably forever despite what I say here, but I do like making healthier homemade versions of things and that packet of orange powder sort of freaks me out.  That is not cheese, people.  I admit, we do keep it in stock but my goal this year is to make more homemade foods.  Remember I'm the one here that likes pain in the ass recipes.  Mel is the more practical and realistic one (and she has a few more kids than I do).

I do have fancier mac 'n cheese recipes that are super good but the other night I was searching for a quick side dish, thought of mac 'n cheese, didn't see any blue boxes in the cupboard, so looked over some recipes on the interwebs for a basic recipe with as few ingredients as possible, and no Velveeta (another thing I definitely grew up with but am trying to avoid).

Easy Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

Revised from Simply Recipes

Ingredients
2 quarts water
1 T salt
2 cups uncooked pasta of choice
2 T butter
2 cups grated cheese
1 t corn starch
2 T flour
1 cup milk, warmed

Instructions
In a bowl, coat the cheese with the corn starch to help stop it from getting stringy.  Boil the water with salt added.  Cook the pasta al dente (2 minutes less than instructions).  While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat.  Whisk in the flour.  Slowly add the milk while whisking, creating a smooth sauce.  Slowly whisk in the cheese until melted.  Do not overcook.  Mix in the cooked pasta.

So of course the real test is when your kids try it.   Mine were excited by the shell pasta I used and it looked really cheesy.  The 6 yr old thought it was too cheesy after tasting it so next time I'll add less cheese.  I used cheddar and a little bit of pepperjack that we had.  We could really taste the pepperjack.  Studmuffin loved it.  Next time I may use colby or add some Gruyère to the cheddar.

Give it a try and see what your family thinks!