Hurrah!!! Tender Beef

Before Christmas we could only dream of tender roast beef. The beef in Chile is tough, chewy and dry -- no matter how it is cooked. I longed for the days of melt in your mouth pot roast, or "cut it with a butter knife" steak. Leland and I had resigned ourselves to eating only chicken for three years. (And believe me, the chicken is nothing to write home about.) I dreamed of my childhood of Swanson's Roast Beef TV Dinners because they were always tender.


And then the Christmas packages arrived and a wonderful surprise gift: The Fix It and Forget It Big Cookbook of Crock Pot Recipes. Fortunately I brought three crock pots with me down to Chile because they are unheard of and unavailable here. So last night I browsed through the book and discovered pages and pages of roast beef recipes.

The secret ingredient in many of these recipes is:

I prepared the Zippy Roast Beef recipe and it was so delicious. The gravy that was created with the meat was so good. I made rice and topped it with the gravy. I challenge everyone to get out their crock pots and make this recipe next Sunday (if you can wait that long).

Zippy Beef Roast

3-4 lb. roast

12-oz. can cola

1 can Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 envelope of dry onion soup mix

4 oz can sliced mushrooms

Season and brown the roast. (I used my 2nd favorite appliance: the electric skillet). Place in the crockpot. In a small bowl, blend the cola and mushroom soup together. Add the mushrooms. Pour over the roast. Sprinkle with dry onion soup mix. Cover and cook on Low for 10 hours or on High for 5 hours, or until the meat is tender but not dry.

I'll keep you posted on other great crock pot recipes...