Dinner: Wednesday, January 21

Classic Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes
Crusty Peasant Loaf
Total Cost: $4.75

Beef was on sale this week. I'm not much of a meat eater, but I do love the flavor that meat imparts to the food it mingles with.

Rule #1 (The only beef rule) Never cook a slab of beef in the oven--it ends up dry and tough. Just ask your mother-in-law. The only way to cook beef is in a crockpot, with lots of onions, carrots, potatoes, and celery. And a squirt of ketchup. Let that cook on high for a few hours (or on low for a few more hours) and you'll have perfectly done meat, perfectly cooked veggies and a dinner that took you all of three and a half minutes to whip together.

All you need to top it off is a loaf of crusty peasant bread. Serve the bread whole at the table and rip off hunks to dip in the pot roast drippings. This isn't low fat, but who cares?