On Friday, our family attended three open house events. Three. I took Elizabeth to her new school to meet her teachers from 2-4. Michael took Christopher to his new school to do the same from 3-6. And I had to be at my own school from 4:30-6:30.
Elizabeth left her open house feeling much better about the impending doom of middle school. At least she knows now how to get to all of her classes. She knows what all of her teachers look like. She knows that she has classes with several friends. And I now know what it feels like to attend an open house when it’s a MILLION DEGREES outside! Seriously. It was so hot! And her classes are in four different buildings, so we were outside a lot.
I had to take her with me to my open house – which she was thrilled about because now she’s an alumni at my school. Since I teach music and art, I don’t have a homeroom, so I was one of the teachers who stood in the front lobby and directed traffic. Parents came in, they told me their child’s last name and the grade he will be in. I looked at my lists and told them which teacher they have and how to get to her classroom. Although it’s a bit chaotic since we have so many families at our school, it’s actually nice to be a friendly face to parents and kids who are a little apprehensive about meeting a new teacher. The best part was all of my former students who came to give me hugs and tell me about their summers. I was shocked that several of my former students were actually there with their own kids! Really? How did that happen?
“Mrs. Pate, do you remember me?” And, of course, I do! Brandy, Jamal, Sarah, Michael, Kiesha. It is always so great to see my babies all grown up and happy!
After that evening, I was good for nothing on Saturday. My feet and ankles were stiff and sore. And my brain is in the advanced stages of denial when it comes to going back to school. So I got up and put something yummy in the crock pot, planned this week’s meals, and went grocery shopping – before either of the kids were even out of bed! I’ve been trying to let them sleep late because I know that once school starts, that will be a luxury they won’t see again for a while.
This roast smelled so good all day long! Don’t you just love crock pots?
This isn’t a totally new recipe. I’ve seen it – or variations of it – all over Pinterest for years. I’ve seen it called “Mississippi Roast” (even though none of my friends from Mississippi have ever heard of it!) and “Slap Your Mama Roast” (which I would never do!) and other catchy names. But there are really only so many ways to cook a roast, so there aren’t very many original recipes out there. Usually these recipes only have 4 or 5 ingredients – and that’s great because when you spend a pretty big chunk of change on a large slab of meat, you’d really like the flavor of the meat to shine through! Anyway, you use a lot of butter in this recipe, so I just call it what it is: Butter-Baked Roast.
The flavor of this roast is incredible! Savory and buttery – without being too heavy or greasy as you might expect from the fact that there’s butter involved. It’s one of the best roasts I’ve cooked in a long time.
Butter-Baked Roast
- 5-pound chuck roast
- 2 packages of au jus gravy mix
- 2 packages of dry ranch dressing mix
- 1 1/2 sticks of butter
- whole pepperoncinis (optional)
Lay the roast in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Pour dry gravy mix and dressing mix onto the roast. Lay butter on top of meat. Place as many pepperoncinis around and on the roast as you’d like. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Well Duh #1: I couldn’t find a 5-pound roast, so I used two 2.5-pound roasts. I can add! Yay!
Well Duh #2: The au jus gravy mix is with the other gravy mixes. I used this kind:
Well Duh #3: You really don’t have to use the pepperoncinis, if you don’t want to. I am not a fan of peppers in most cases, but these really aren’t hot. They do, however, give a nice flavor to the roast. Even Christopher – who is very sensitive to jalapenos and other hot peppers, ate some of the pepperoncinis after they had cooked with the roast. I used about a dozen of them.
Well Duh #4: This roast completely fell apart when I tried to take it out of the slow cooker. That was perfect for me because I planned to shred it anyway. If you’re someone who prefers your roast in big pieces, I would assume you could do that if you cooked it for less time.
Well Duh #5: I removed the roast from the slow cooker, shredded it using tongs and a meat fork and then put it back in the slow cooker so the juices would keep it moist. When it was time to serve it, I used tongs, and let most of the juice drip off before plating. My plan next time though is to thicken the juices while I have the meat out shredding it. I’ll just crank the heat up on the slow cooker, add a slurry of 1/2 cup of water and 3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch, and cook and whisk until it’s thick like gravy. It broke my heart to have to leave all of that yummy goodness in the bottom of the slow cooker!
The tribe was in love at first bite! Michael couldn’t say enough about it. Christopher ate it up. Elizabeth didn’t care for it, but that’s natural. She only likes beef in hamburger form. My only requirement is that she try everything. She tried it and wasn’t a fan. She loved the flavor. She just doesn’t enjoy the texture of most meats. She chose to fill up on the sides. I made Rosemary Parmesan Potatoes and roasted some baby carrots in salt and olive oil.
I had a lot left over – which I was hoping for. We’re going to see the leftovers later in the week when I use them to make tostadas. I will warm the meat and layer it onto tostada shells with shedded lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and chipotle dressing. I can’t wait!
No matter what you call this roast, it’s delicious!
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