By Tawra Kellam

Ahhh! Can you smell it? Roast beef and potatoes cooking in the Crock-Pot. What a yummy smell and even yummier to eat -- but then what do you do with the leftovers? Here are some ways to make it taste just as good the second, third and fourth time around.

Purchase a large roast (5-10 lbs.) on sale. Slow cook it and eat it as-is the first night. Then use any of these ideas to make quick meals. If you want to freeze some, just put ½- 1 lb. per freezer bag in the freezer after it’s been cooked.

Use in:

• Beef Stroganoff
• Fajitas
• Pepper Steak
• Pocket Sandwiches
• Stir Fry
• Shepard’s Pie
• Swiss Steak
• Roast Beef Sandwiches- with lettuce and may

Slow Cook Roast

1 beef roast, 3-5 lbs.
1 onion, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Place roast in pan. Pour cream of mushroom soup and onion on top. Cover tightly. Bake at 250° for 1 hour. Then turn down to 225° and cook for 15 or more hours; 10 hours for roasts smaller than 3 pounds.

*This is excellent for inexpensive roasts. It makes them so tender they fall off the bone and are almost impossible to lift out of the pan. Excellent for Sunday after church or for guests, because it can cook for 2 or 3 hours longer without overcooking. Since no meat is left on the bone you get more for your money. Serves 4.

* Use a meat thermometer to make sure internal temperature reaches 145°.

 

Brown Gravy

Meat Broth
1 cup cold water
2 Tbsp. flour or 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
salt and pepper

Add at least one or two cups of water to the roasting pan of your roast, pork or chicken while the meat is cooking. Remove the meat when done and skim off the fat. Put the pan on a stove top burner on medium heat. Put flour or cornstarch in a jar. Add cold water (¼ cup dry milk could also be added), cap and shake until all the lumps are gone. Pour the flour mixture slowly into the simmering broth and stir constantly until thickened. If there is a lot of liquid you may need to use more flour. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

 

Barbecued Beef

leftover roast beef
barbecue sauce
3 Tbsp. water

Put leftover beef in a saucepan and add water. Heat until warmed through on medium. Add enough barbecue sauce to coat beef and simmer for 3 minutes. Serve on buns, bread or toast.

Beef and Noodles

1 lb. leftover roast
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 cup water
1 tsp. garlic powder
¼ cup flour
1 lb. egg noodles, cooked

Mix water and flour in a jar and shake well. Pour into saucepan and boil until it starts to thicken. Add roast. Cook until roast is heated though. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Serve over cooked noodles or on toast. Serves 6.

 

Steak and Mushroom Gravy

1 Tbsp. margarine
2 cups water
½ onion, chopped
1-2 cups leftover beef
5 Tbsp. flour
1 small can mushroom pieces
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 tsp. beef bouillon powder
5 Tbsp. dry milk

Melt margarine in a large skillet and saute onion. Mix flour, salt and pepper and dry milk in a jar. Add water and shake. Stir into onions until simmering and thickened. Add beef, bouillon powder and drained mushrooms. Reduce the heat. Simmer, stirring constantly, until heated through. Serve over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes or toast.
Serves 4.

---

From Tawra's Inbox:

Hello ladies,

I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU for your recipe for slow cooked roast! It has been a joke in my family how truly BAD my roasts taste. My loved ones dutifully eat it because they see how hard I've worked on dinner ( plus they are nearly starved to death by the time dinner is served ) and they see the strained smile on my face as I bring their plates to the table. But even I can barely swallow the roast.

I always followed my "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook faithfully and would try different cuts of meat, all to no avail; it still turned out so dry and tough.

Enter your help. I have been enjoying flitting about your website and finding all sorts of nuggets of advice. Then I found your recipe! This was the answer I've been searching for, lo these many years! I had been cooking it all wrong. I thought I was doomed to buying the pre-cooked roasts-in-a-bag at my local grocery store.

Now my family smiles when they smell the roast cooking as they come home from school. And I feel great knowing I have mastered one of the basic requirements of motherhood... cooking the perfect roast.

Thank you for all your great "tips" !

Sincerely,

Becky H.