Homemade Pot Roast!

Today we were traveling and had our two dogs with us as traveling companions.  The Texas heat prevents us from stopping along the way to eat at a restaurant when we have the dogs, so along with our lunches (that we always pack), I decided to cook dinner for the hotel room tonight. 

Yesterday, I cooked a homemade pot roast, carrots and mashed potatoes and put them all in Tupperware.  I made sure we would have a microwave in the hotel where we would be spending the night.

Due to some issues with our trailer we were pulling, we had to come back home tonight and take care of some unexpected things.  Bummer!  That was about 5 hours of wasted drive time but we are trying to smile through it.  So, our “travel food” traveled to Cisco and back home, only to be heated in our own microwave. 

We are heading back out around midnight to drive through the night.  We are in a time crunch now and need to get to Albuquerque or Gallup by tomorrow night.

So, I thought I would share my roast recipe that was quite a treat after our ordeal today.  There is enough left to put back in the cooler and have for tomorrow night.  

Homemade Traveling Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 1 rump roast (for a leaner roast) or chuck roast (for a moister one)
• 1 lb carrots (the big ones….not the baby ones)
• 1 onion
• 1 can Campbell’s Tomato Soup
• 1 can water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 12 oz of coffee (leftover from breakfast….and the amount can vary)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Sear the roast on both sides in the olive oil and add the onion on the sides to begin softening them.  They don’t need to completely caramelize, though that would add a nice flavor. 

Remove the roast and hit the hot Dutch oven with the cold coffee to de-glaze the pan.  This just means that you are using the liquid to loosen all the cooked on bits of roast from the bottom of the pan. 

Add the roast back in and spread the tomato soup on the top of it, letting about half of it run down into the liquid.  Add the water to the coffee on the sides, so as not to wash off the soup from the top of the roast. 

Add all your seasonings to the meat and sauce.  Add the carrots. 

Cook on the stove for about 1.5 hours and then remove the carrots.  My stove cooks hot because it is gas (and needs to be adjusted), so mine was cooking hire than a simmer.  Just make sure you don’t burn it…haha. 

Then, put the pan in the oven for about 4 hours on 300, or until the roast is tender.

Serve with your favorite mashed potatoes.  I make mine different every time and these are not particularly special but add the gravy from the roast and….ooh-la-la!  This recipe is very rich with flavor. 

Hi, my name is Susan and Permanent Posies (Creative Chaos) is my blog and my subject matter is…well, that depends on the day and the mood. But, for the most part, I love cooking, watching the Food Network, reading cookbooks and, of course, eating. I am also an artist and spend time each week in my studio (bedroom) oil painting. I am a mother of four and a grandmother to 5 and that, along with my husband and 2 dogs, take up my most of my time. I am a side-tracked Home Executive and I had the privilege of being a stay –at-home mom so, you might say that my passion is the home and making a haven for those I love.