Let's Make a Meal Mondays - Slow Cooker BBQ beef.

Recently I was asked what I thought the Mom trends were going to be in 2009. I responded with the top 6 trends I felt we would see surface this year. One of these is family dinner time. I explained that I felt family dinner time will be back IN. Families will be back sitting and connecting at the dinner table, thus causing the busy family to look for solutions to simplify their meals, using prepared grocery store foods such as rotisserie chickens or cooking philosophies such as cook once eat twice or make ahead freezer meals. Along with the use of outside meal preparation sources such as Dream Dinners to prepare a month worth of meals, I believe we will definitely see slow cooker sales increase in 2009.

I’ve been a BIG slow cooker user for years with a busy household of seven crazy schedules. I t has often been the only way I have been able to consistently have family dinners in our home. The only problem is that my family is in need of new recipes. Yes, I have worn them out on the ones I’ve been cooking. So, I have pulled out my pile of cookbooks and begun searching through them for a few new recipes to try out.

One of the cookbooks I have ear-marked several recipes in is Dream Dinners, by Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna. They have a nice selection of slow cooker recipes along with many others.


And the WINNER recipe so far from my Dream Dinners cookbook is:


Slow-Cooked Barbecued Beef


Serves 6

2 pounds beef chuck roast, fat trimmed
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Putting the dinner together
Place the roast in a crock pot/slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. If you are preparing a triple batch, pour equal amounts over the three roasts.

For dinner tonight
Cook the roast in the crock pot/slow cooker on the low setting for 6 to 8 hours, until meat falls apart easily. Shred the meat with a fork and serve over hamburger buns or baked potatoes.

To Freeze
Label, date, freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before cooking as directed above.


Do you have a WINNER slow cooker recipe to share with the 24/7 MOMS? Email to trisha@247moms.com


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