Pot Roast with Onion Gravy

It was cooler and rainy here today...the perfect day for a crockpot meal. (And, Jack was still sick and needed my attention most of the day.) I made Pot Roast with Onion Gravy for dinner tonight. I served it with mashed potatoes, and just a boxed stuffing. I have tried various other roast recipes in the crockpot...with different seasonings and ingredients; but, I have never found one that I like (or that Jason likes) as well as this one. I typically prefer to make everything from scratch...I just like to be able to control the salt and use fresh ingredients. This recipe uses packaged soup mix and concentrated canned soup, but the flavor is delicious. If you're a newbie cook, this is a great meal to try. It's basically fool-proof!

Pot Roast with Onion Gravy
slightly adapted from various recipes...

1 (2-3 pound) chuck roast, trimmed
2 large onions, quartered
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package onion soup mix
2 cups water
freshly ground pepper
1 cup water (optional)
2 beef bouillon cubes (optional)

Chop onions and place in bottom of crockpot. Place roast on top of onions and sprinkle with pepper. Add mushroom soup, then onion soup mix. Cook on high for 6 hours, or on low for 10 hours. Remove meat from crockpot and place on cutting board. Trim any remaining fat, and separate into chunks. Skim fat from top of gravy, and stir. If more gravy is needed, add one cup of water and beef bouillon cubes and stir until gravy is warm. Serve gravy over meat and with mashed potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes
my own recipe...

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon salt

Peel, then chop potatoes into large chunks. Add to medium stockpot and add water to cover potatoes. Place lid on pot and bring to boil. Once potatoes reach a boil, boil covered for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat, and drain potatoes. Place butter in bottom of large mixing bowl and add potatoes. Using a stand mixer, beat with flat beater on low until potatoes are mashed. Add milk, sour cream and salt. Beat on medium high until potatoes are smooth, approximately 3 minutes. Add more milk, if necessary, to bring to desired consistency. Serve immediately.