I cooked up a Trader Joe’s Cabernet Beef Pot Roast in the crock pot for the SEC championship game. I woke up 5am to do this and it had better be worth it. First I browned the pre-marinated pot roast on a skillet with some olive oil. Then layered the bottom of the crock pot with sliced onions (I hear this is good so the meat isn’t directly touching the surface of the crock pot and it avoids it from sitting in the fat while it cooks). Dropped in the pot roast and surrounded it by potatoes and carrots and added a 1/2 cup of water. Left it on the LOW setting and promised that I wouldn’t touch it until 5pm. I went back to bed smelling like cooked seasoned meat (from when I browned it). It was good.
Game time came and I broke my promise. I opened it up about an hour and half early. Well Russ first opened the lid, then I said screw it. The meat just fell apart to the touch and there was so much juice from it breaking down. It’s weird thinking how most of it is water, including us. Everyone praised the pot roast and I took the credit. They didn’t have to know Trader Joe’s and the crock pot did most of the work.
As far as breaking my crock pot promise, it was sad seeing Tebow break his as well. Russ added an amendment to the Promise (see photo). You can’t blame Tebow. We now know he is human. I did feel like blaming ourselves throughout the game though. Maybe it was because I didn’t cook the lucky bacon that they were losing. There was also a five minute discussion on how the cardboard Promise on our wall was bad luck. I think I yelled at Russ for something he did that was unlucky –as if he was the reason Alabama scored.
I suppose we all learned lessons from this game. Maybe our superstition can’t affect something that is happening hundreds of miles away. Maybe there is no reason to beat ourselves up. It’s just a game. We are the same now as we were before. And while Coach Meyers taught Carlos Dunlap a lesson in responsibility by suspending him, perhaps Meyers learned the lesson that he’s supposed to win, not teach lessons. The ultimate lesson: God taught Tebow a lesson in humility. Go Gators!
…maybe it was the open umbrellas in the hallway.
Man, that looks good. I am gonna have to try this. I always wondered about the those Trader Joe’s pre-pack meats.
Bacon definitely would have helped…
We tried the Trader Joe’s Peppercorn pot roast (or beef roast…I forgot exactly what it is called), not sure exactly what to expect, but we have not been disappointed by Trader Joe’s so far. Their Trader Giotti’s Family Style Meat Lasagna is fabulous…I could hardly believe I was eating lasagna from a store…it is that good! Anyway, back to the roast, I sprayed the bottom of the roasting pan, then added a little water and put the roast in for 45 minutes, covered. This made a lot of liquid for gravy and was that gravy EVER good! Yum! I added flour, just a little bit of mashed potatoes (sounds odd, but try it…makes the gravy wonderful!). I used all of the liquid. The roast was perfect. 45 minutes is for medium rare and we both loved it. I usually never like pot roast from a store, but this is the exception. Well worth it, and enough for three or four people as long as one of them is not a piggy. 🙂
Glad to hear it!
This is great. I was simply googling what to do with the Trader Joes Cabernet Beef Pot Roast and came across this blog. I was intrigued you had mentioned it was for the SEC Championship game. Looked at the date and realized you were either a Gator or with the Tide.
Im a Florida Alum – class of ’99. Fun to pick up a recipe from a fellow Gator that was first prepared during a moment we shared.
That was a tough, tough game…the last game we’ve played that mattered in a long time and ironically McElwain was on the other side of the field. But lets hope McElwain can pick us up. Looking forward to this recipe and the upcoming season. Go Gators!