Crock Full of Beef

The crock pot is the busy person's best friend and right hand man (woman,) always working with you, never against you, and couldn't care less about what the weather's doing outside.

The beauty of the crock pot is that it can be stocked in the morning and left to its own devices all day. No babysitting required. And by the time you drag your sore body home at the end of a hectic day, your crock pot will greet you with a ready-to-serve home-cooked meal!

If you're curious to test the servitude of your crock pot, here's a quick (prep time wise) and easy recipe for barbecue beef.

Crock Full of Beef

4lb roast of beef


2 tbsp cooking oil


1 large onion, peeled and sliced


1/2 cup water


5 cloves of garlic, peeled


1tsp salt


1tsp ground black pepper


2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce

Add cooking oil to frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Remove from heat.

To stock your pot, add 1/2 of the sliced onion to the bottom of the pot. Place the browned roast on top of the onion. Add the water, garlic cloves, salt and pepper and the remaining onion.

Cover and set timer according to the length of your work day for a minimum 4-6 hours or maximum 8-10 hours. The longer you work, the better your roast will be!

Fast forward 6-10 hours ...

Welcome home! Supper's almost ready!

Remove the roast from your trusty crock pot and discard the juices. Shred the meat using a fork and return it to the crock pot.

Add the barbecue sauce and cook on high for another 30-60 minutes, or the amount of time it takes to change into something comfortable and check a day's worth of emails.

Once the last email is answered, you will have yourself one happy crock full of tasty beef!

Serve it over rice or pasta, or make a gourmet sloppy joe and serve it up on a fresh bun.

For an easy all-purpose barbecue sauce, which tastes great with beef, pork or chicken, here's one of my favorites from "Barbecue Secrets Revealed".

The sauce can be made ahead of time and stored either in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container.

Amazing All Purpose Barbecue Sauce

1 cup Catsup


1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce


2 dashes Bottled hot pepper sauce


1 cup Water


1/4 cup Vinegar


1 tbsp Brown sugar


1 tsp Salt


1 tsp Celery seed


1 tbsp Minced onions

Combine ingredients in slow-cooking pot. Cover and cook over low heat 2 to 3 hours.

Makes 2 to 2 1/4 cups sauce.

Happy crockin'!

Grilling Vegetables - Easy Dinner Ideas

Grilled Corn

Wrap shucked ears in foil. Sprinkle them with water and dot with butter before rolling up individually in generous squares of foil. Grill on high heat for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so. Corn will be blackened in places and delicious. You can also include a sprig of fresh herbs, a sprinkle of sea salt or a grind or two of fresh pepper.

Peppers

Grilled peppers are awesome. Leave the pepper whole and grill over high heat, turning often, until blackened and all over. Place the peppers in a bag or wrap in foil to cool and loosen the skin. After about 10 to 15 minutes the skin should peel off easily, then peppers can be cored, seeded and sliced or chopped as desired. Grilled peppers are great on an antipasto tray, in panini or served plain.

Grilled vegetables can be the basis of a great vegetarian meal. For more great vegetarian recipes and easy dinner recipes, visit http://www.dinnersinaflash.com

Portabella Mushrooms

Wash the portabellas and remove the gills with a spoon. Brush lightly with oil. Grill over high heat cap side down until very brown. The cap will fill with moisture. Turn the mushrooms, pressing down to expel as much moisture as possible. When done about 10 to 15 minutes, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Onions

Trim ends of the onion and slice into thick rounds. Secure the rings together by skewering the rounds with long metal skewers. Brush lightly with olive oil and season as desired. Grill onions over high heat about 15 minutes turning halfway through cooking time. Move the onions off to a cooler area of the grill for 10 more minutes or until tender.

Grilled vegetables are also great when camping. For more great grilling recipes and easy dinner recipes, visit http://www.dinnersinaflash.com

Tomatoes

Choose Tomatoes that are firm and not overripe. Slice them in half horizontally and remove seeds. Drain cut side down on paper towels. When ready to grill, season cut side generously with salt and pepper. Grill cut side down until softened and blistering. Turn tomatoes over and continue grilling a few minutes more. When tomatoes are done, drizzle them with vinaigrette or some pesto thinned with a bit of olive oil.