Fall Comfort Foods are on the Menu..

So fall is here! This is my favorite time of year. The leaves are going to change and it will finally cool down. This is also my favorite time to cook. I love oven cooked meals but, especially, crock-pot meals. I am a full time student and have three small kids and I sometimes don’t have time to cook. I have been able to get pretty creative with the crock-pot meals and my family loves it.

After talking to a girlfriend, I realized not a lot of people know how to use a crock-pot. I am going to give you ladies a few tips to make your lives a little easier. First, keep your pantry and freezer stocked with the staples. Frozen veggies, frozen meat, canned cream soup, dried onion soup mix, and beef/chicken broth are some basics to keep on hand. Just remember, when cooking with a crock-pot you need liquid. It can be broth, soup, water, wine, or whatever you want. Today I am going to give you two recipes that are to die for. One is my own crock pot recipe for Pot Roast. The second is bacon wrapped green beans. These are amazing! So here we go…

Classic Pot Roast
3-4 pound pot roast
1 can beef stock
1 onion diced
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups diced celery
1 packet dried onion soup mix
4 tbsp gravy master browning and seasoning mix
2 packets dried gravy mix


1.Take pot-roast and brown in a large skillet on both sides.
2.Place pot-roast in crock-pot with beef stock, onion, dried onion mix,
and browning mix.
3.Turn on low for 8 hours.
4.Place vegetables in crock-pot 2 hours before serving.
5.When ready to serve, place gravy packets in crock-pot and stir. This will thicken sauce into gravy. Cook for 5 minutes.
6.Serve with mash potatoes and warm bread.
7.Enjoy!

Tips: If you are in a hurry and forgot to turn on the crock pot in the morning, you can cook the roast on high for 4-6 hours. You know when it is done when you can shred it.

Other great cuts of meat to use are Beef Brisket; Stew cut meat, chicken, and even a pork rump roast. I will add recipes with these cuts of meat in the future.

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Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

3/4 pound of fresh green beans
4 bacon strips
3 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cups packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon soy sauce

1.Place beans in a large sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, for 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.
2.Meanwhile, in skillet, cook bacon until cooked through but now crispy. About 3 minutes. Remove to paper towels.
3.Drain beans; place 12 beans on each bacon strip. Wrap bacon around beans and secure with a toothpick. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4.In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic salt; brush over green beans.
5.Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until bacon is crisp.
6.Enjoy!