Mom's Pot Roast

I think the first time I made this it was actually better than the second time, but I'm tweaking the recipe each time to see if I can get it to taste just like mom's! You would think that since it's her recipe, it'd always taste just like hers, but I haven't been able to duplicate it yet. I hear the third time's a charm, so here's hoping I nail it on the next fix.

But here's the recipe (as of the second time I prepared it), and I especially love this one since it's a crock pot dish...you know, "FIAFI"...fix it and forget it!

• 2 - 2 & 1/2 lbs chuck roast (shoulder)
• 1 pkg Lipton onion soup
• 2 small red (or white) potatoes
• 1 bunch of carrots (or use a small pkg of baby carrots)
• 1 can Campbell's beef broth
• 2 Tbsp garlic powder

Slice the carrots and peel and cut the potatoes into small pieces. Add to crock pot along with Lipton onion soup (dry). Mix well. Turn crock pot on low (6-8 hrs).

Meanwhile, heat a pan over high heat. Coat each side of roast with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. (Season to taste.) Brown each side--even the edges--in pan, no longer than 1 minute on each side. (A cast iron pan works beautifully for this! Thankfully, I got a few of 'em for Christmas.) Add browned roast to crock pot (on top of veggies) and pour beef broth over roast.

Cover...wait patiently while the smell fills your kitchen and house...then enjoy in about 8 hours!

If you want to make extra gravy, remove the roast from crock pot when finished, along with the veggies. Strain the remaining "juice" into the same pan you used before. Mix up a slurry of cold water (about 1/2 cup) and flour (a heaping tablespoon) and whisk into pan over medium heat. Whisk until thick (continuous whisking eliminates lumps), adding more water if desired, then pour over roast and veggies or keep separate to pour over rice or mashed potatoes.

Mmmm-mmmm...now that's how mama would do it!

**You can also add 1 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup to the crock pot when you add the veggies and dry onion soup mix. Be sure to stir well, coating the veggies with the soup mixture.