Classic French Pot Roast

I bought my very own crock pot this week and was very excited! It was definitely worth the $19.99. I figured since I finally have my own crock pot now I should make the most classic meal of all: Pot Roast.

Classic French Pot Roast

For the Pot Roast:

2-3 pound eye of round (It's a fairly lean cut of beef)
3 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 celery stalks, trimmed & cut into 3 inch pieces 
1/2 bag of baby carrots
3-4 small potatoes
10.5 oz can of french onion soup, condensed 

To make the Pot Roast:

Mix flour, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.

Trim any fat on the sides off the roast and rinse with water. Pat dry with paper towels. Add flour mixture to cover the roast.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp of oil in a non-stick or cast iron skillet on medium to medium high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add roast to heated pan and heat to sear for 2-4 minutes on each side. (Add more oil if needed and lower heat if necessary.)

Add carrots and celery to the bottom of the slow cooker and add roast on top of the vegetables. Add french onion soup and 1/2 to 3/4 can of water to the slow cooker.

Cook roast in slow cooker on low for 10 hours or high for 5 hours.

This turned out delicious, but it definitely needed more salt added because the french onion taste is somewhat bitter. I also threw in a couple gloves of minced garlic just to add more flavor and let's get real, who doesn't love garlic?? It made about 6 servings which was more than enough for just me and my boyfriend.

Blueberry Pie

This week I attempted my first pie. Blueberry. Let's just say it was a success. 

My boyfriend came home from his deployment this week and I have been on a cooking craze. Earlier this week I made 2 different types of peanut butter brownies. Not to mention all of the regular meals that I have been making. But I figured a pie would be somewhat exciting to attempt because I've never made one before. 

My boyfriend and I ended up going next door to his friend's room and they were having a party. The pie was still in the oven, so I had to keep running between rooms in order to make sure it didn't burn. All of the guys in the other room asked why I kept leaving and once I said I was baking a pie, there were about 6 volunteers to try it.

Blueberry Pie

For the Pie:

1 Pie Crust (Store bought or home-made)

6 cups blueberries

½ cup flour

½ tsp. cinnamon

¾ cup sugar

Zest of 1 orange

 ½ Tb. orange juice

½ Tb. orange juice

2 Tb. butter, cut into cubes

1 egg


To make the Pie:

I used Pillsbury Pie Crust that was pre-made, so the first thing to do was let the crust come to room temperature.  Lay the first piece of crust into the pie tin. Roll the excess dough over itself and crimp or press the edges. After this, unroll the second piece of crust and cut whatever shapes you like into it. I chose hearts! 

Pour the berry filling into the pie crust and top with 2 tablespoons of butter cubes. Arrange the dough shapes over the filling. Whisk an egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the egg wash over the pie crust.

Place the pie on the lower rack and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 degrees F, and move the pie up to the middle rack. Bake another 35-45 minutes—until the crust is golden brown and the blueberry filling in bubbling. If the pie crust browns too quickly, cover it with foil.

 Make sure to let the pie rest for 2 hours after it comes out of the oven so it has the opportunity to thicken.

Once the pie had cooled for about 90 minutes, I let the beasts next door at the pie. Silence encompassed the room as they began devouring it. This recipe turned out incredibly delicious and there were no leftovers. That is always a good sign!!

Ombre Cake

I saw the idea for an ombre cake on stumbleupon and decided I needed to try to makes one for myself. An ombre cake has different colored layers that go from light to dark or in the opposite order.

My decorating skills are less than mediocre but I'm going to try to improve by baking more challenging things this year. I've just recently renewed my passion for baking again and think that this has to be my best tasting creation to date!

I used an almond sour cream cake recipe Amy's Cooking Adventures: Ombre Baby Shower Cake from and just added different amounts of food coloring to each layer. The frosting is buttercream and it has a blackberry jam filling in between every other layer.