Who Doesn't Love Meat and Potatoes?

 

When you think of Sunday dinner--especially in the winter--it's pretty easy for roast and mashed potatoes and gravy to come to mind. Here's one of our favorite and easiest versions. Oh, and if you don't have time to make mashed potatoes, maybe you should make them in a slow cooker. Check out that recipe below too.

Spade L Roast Beef

Ingredients:

1 beef roast (2-4 lbs)
Spade L Ranch Beef Seasoning
1/2 cup of water

Side dish suggestion: Serve with mashed potatoes. Use the roast drippings to make a gravy to pour over the roast and mashed potatoes.

Directions:

Place meat in slow cooker. Rub Spade L Ranch Beef Seasoning onto the roast, according to your taste. The more you use, the spicier your roast and gravy will be. Cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Source: I don't know. This is a recipe that my Mom has been making for years.

Notes: If you would like to use the roast drippings to make gravy, simply use 1-3 packaged beef gravy mixes and substitute the water called for on the package with the beef drippings. If you don't have enough drippings, supplement with water to get the amount of liquid called for on the gravy packet. This makes some spicy and tasty gravy!

I usually find Spade L Ranch Seasonings easily in the grocery store (I usually shop at Smith's). But if you can't find it, check out their website here.

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces (peeled or unpeeled, your preference)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Put potatoes into your slow cooker. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.

Add sour cream, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper. Use a hand mixer to blend together all ingredients (but be careful not to over mix). Or you can smash the potatoes for a chunkier texture. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.

Serve plain, or with any favorite toppings such as gravy, or cheese and bacon.

Source: Creme De La Crumb. You can find it here.

Notes: These are really easy and such a time saver. My personal suggestion is that most slow cookers will take longer than 2-3 hours on high to fully cook your potatoes to the point where they are soft enough to mash. I would suggest cooking these potatoes on low for 6-8 hours and adding in a little liquid (for instance, one can of chicken broth) to keep them from drying out or becoming rubbery.

We served ours as smashed potatoes rather than mashing them until they were smooth.

 

Above: Of course, you can top these however you like! Top them with gravy, or with shredded cheese and huge pieces of bacon!