Crock Pot = Not A Success (yet)

When I got a crock pot for Christmas, I was so excited because all I had ever heard about them were that they were so easy and everything comes out great! So I was really looking forward to Sunday because I made plans to use it for the first time. I found a recipe in the book that was given with the crock pot for pot roast. It looked fairly simple so I decided to give it a try. The recipe called for me to put all the extras (sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms) in first and then place the seasoned meat on top. Then the beef broth was poured in afterwards. So it looked a little something like this:



My first instinct was to think that something was off and the meat should be in the beef broth to soak in all the moisture and flavor. But because I'm a rule follower, I went with what the recipe said and turned it on for slow cooking for 10 hours. I went to work and when I got home my apartment smelled wonderful. The meal looked like this:



I was still skeptical because I don't have the greatest confidence in my cooking abilities but I was hopeful. When it came time to eat, I cut pieces of the meat for Nelson and I and put some of the extras on our plates with the meat.

Final Result: The meat was dry and not very flavorful. But the extras were good! Probably because they were cooking in the broth all day...lesson learned.

But I'm not discouraged. I'm thinking it may take a couple tries before I get it right. I'm open to any recipes you all use!