Southwestern Pot Roast

Jeff and Adrian while camping in Traverse City. Swings are a favorite.

I am quite possibly the worlds worst grocery/meal planner. This morning, I was trying to decide what to make for supper considering I would need to walk to the store before lunch to pick up whatever I would need. A brief flash of Mexican-style food crossed my mind so I flipped through the Magnolia Lane cookbook to find something suitable. I decided to make Southwest Pot Roast (recipe by my aunt, Tricia Johnson) since I already knew that it tastes good and that I had a roast in the freezer. Um, yeah, the freezer. About that...
Since it's a slow cooker recipe, I just put it in the slow cooker with the beef broth on low and ran to the store with my little man to get the rest of the ingredients. Everything else is now nestled in with the beef so I'm crossing my fingers that it's thawed and will cook splendidly!
In other news, I'm into my second trimester and I feel great! Adrian likes to randomly tell me he's going to be a 'big brudder' although I'm not sure he knows what that means. We talk about having a baby live here and he always acts like that's really cool and then goes and throws a doll or something. Okay, I might have made up that last part but he does play with dolls more often than he has in the past. He's learning to sing to them and give them kisses. He gets as far as 'Jesus loves me [mumble, mumble]...'  Aaah, so darn cute.
Well, I'm off to do something creative. I've been thinking about making a fall garland out of felt and I think today is the day!

I thought I had posted this recipe already but I can't seem to find it so, if you're interested (and you should be, it's really good!) here it is (with my notes included):


Southwestern Pot Roast

4 lbs lean roast, trimmed of visible fat (I have made this many times with pork and that also tastes amazing)
1 c. red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 c. [fat free] beef broth (I always use regular and to be honest, this time I used beef bouillon)
3 T. chili powder
1/4 tsp of cayenne (I'm a complete wimp when it comes to spicy foods so I always substitute paprika)
1 (16) oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I always use black beans because I love 'em and probably a lot more than this because, like I said, I love 'em!)
4 c. frozen corn kernels (I completely forgot to add this one time and it just wasn't the same, the corn adds a nice subtle sweetness.)
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp black pepper, to taste

Season roast with salt and pepper and sear in a frying pan. Put roast and all remaining ingredients except corn and kidney beans into a crock pot on low all day (8-10 hours). During the last 1-2 hours, add the corn and kidney beans.

Tricia's note: This is great with a baked potato on the side (the sauce tastes great on potatoes). For leftovers, it's also great wrapped in tortillas. This is the best pot roast I have tasted so far is healthy to boot.

My note: although this is a low fat recipe as is, we like to add a [rather large] dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheddar. Yum!