Turn-key Potroast Dinner

Fitting Everything in on a Busy Day

Since we clean the house and do homeschooling in the morning, we usually don't get out of the house to run errands until the afternoon. After shopping with four kids, I usually don't feel like cooking dinner. Sometimes I'll pick up fried or roasted chicken from the deli department on the days of the week that it goes on sale, but other times I plan ahead by starting something cooking in the crock-pot in the morning.

Preparing a Roast and a Couple of Sides

Today I have to send a fax for my husband and pick up a few things at Walmart. I want to have the option of making some other stops, so I started a roast in the crock-pot this morning. I put about a cup of water in with the roast and sprinkled it with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder. I'm going to boil some gold potatoes in a pot on the stove and also put some some frozen veggies in a saucepan with some butter, water, and black pepper. Once the potatoes are done, I'll turn off the burner and cover both the potato pot and the vegetable saucepan with foil. Another option would be to use a second crock-pot for the potatoes, or if you don't mind combining flavors, you could put them in the crock-pot with the meat and then throw in some carrots and onions for the vegetable. Personally, I prefer to cook each course separately. If you want to serve bread with the meal, set out a stick of butter so that it will be soft when you get home.


The Finishing Touches of the Meal

When I get home at around 5:00 p.m., the roast will be done and I'll simply turn on the two burners to heat the vegetables and the potatoes. This will only take a few minutes. I can simply serve the boiled potatoes with butter or if I feel up to it, I can mash them and make a brown gravy from the liquid in the crock-pot.