Crockpot meals for a lazy weekend

It’s been a crockpot weekend. We didn’t have too much planned this weekend – Annyka’s last soccer game some grocery getting and picking up my sister at the airport. My sister, lives in Montana most of the year. She works in Yellowstone National Park, but in the fall she gets about a month and half off and she usually comes home to Indiana for that time. Annyka has been excited to her Aunt Leigh Ann for a while and I like her being home as well even if I don’t see her that much (because she stays at my parents while she's home). 

Annyka and I decided to hit the Aldi and see how much of our groceries we could get there. I stocked up for about a month on our staple canned goods (tomatoes, beans and a few veggies), snacks, cereal, lunches for Annyka and a few other fun items too – like garlic and pepper infused olive oil. In a couple weeks, I’m going to do a vegan challenge, but in the meantime I have a few meatier meals planned so I bought a roast and a turkey breast. 

Yesterday I made “refried” beans (a misnomer since they are friend even once, let alone refried) in the crockpot. And today – Italian beef. I was happy to find a good 3-lb roast and mild peppers at Aldi. This morning I put the roast in the oven and this evening I’ll probably broil some polenta to go with it. 

Italian Beef

2 Tbsp Italian seasonings*

1 Tbsp white sugar*

1 Tbsp salt (add more to taste) *

1 Tbsp onion powder*

1 tsp black pepper*

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 oz mild peppers

6 oz sweet roasted red peppers

1 small onion, diced

Place onions in the slow cooker. Place roast on top of onions, fat side up. Pour peppers, with the liquid over roast. Sprinkle seasonings over the roast. Pour a little water – about a cup, over the roast. Place lid on slow cooker. Cook on low about 6-8 hours. Turn off slow cooker and let roast sit for about 30 minutes before slicing or shredding. Makes great sandwiches on good Italian bread…which I will not be doing! This is a great meal to make for a crowd. 

*The original recipe I used to use called for a packet of dry Italian dressing mix, however, many of them have undesirable ingredients so I had to figure out what combination of seasonings worked instead. You can always use a packet of dressing if you prefer.