Pot Roast using Sauer's Bag & Seasoning Mix

I usually cook my pot roast for hours in the oven. I decided to try a Sauer's Pot Roast Bag & Seasoning packet that I picked up at the store. The cooking bag is supposed to save time in the kitchen. The package suggests only cooking the roast for 1 and 1/2 hours. 

I used about a 4 pound beef chuck roast. First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, place the bag in a 9x13 baking dish. Place the roast inside the bag. The packages says to add 3-4 cups of chopped vegetables. I used onions and potatoes. I would have used some carrots but this roast took up quite a bit of space in the bag and I didn't think I would have enough room and didn't want to over pack the bag.

 Then, you mix the seasoning with about 1/4 cup of water. Then you pour the mixture over the roast and vegetables in the bag. 

 Here's a glimpse inside the bag. It's looking pretty good at this point. 

 Next, you close up the bag with a little tie they include in the package. 

 Place the roast in the oven and bake for about an hour and a half.

 After baking I pulled the roast out of the oven and let it rest there on top of the stove for a few minutes. Be careful when cutting the bag open as you could burn yourself on the escaping steam. 

In the end, it turned out pretty good. The seasoning had a nice flavor to it. Those little charred bits on the top were from some green pepper pieces that were in the seasoning mix. I didn't really noticed that it altered the flavor any. The potatoes were wonderfully cooked and yummy. Overall, I think this was a good product. If you don't have time to cook a roast for hours you should give the Sauer's Bag & Seasoning a try.

If you can not find Sauer's brand seasonings in your local store they are available online at www.cfsauer.com

Biscuit Topped Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Here is an easy and tasty dinner you can make for you family. I tried to make this from a recipe I found on the internet. I quickly figured out that I didn't have all the ingredients that the recipe called for. The recipe called for 2 cans of cream of chicken soup which I didn't have. So I had to improvise and make my own gravy from scratch. So, basically I just winged it! In the end it turned pretty good and my kids liked it.

What you'll need:

• 1 pound of chicken breast ( I used the chicken tenderloins because they are easy to cut up)
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 can or box of chicken stock
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 Tbsp of flour
• 1/4 cup of chopped onion
• 1/4 cup of chopped celery
• Half pound of carrots chopped or you can you canned carrots 
• 1 can of sweet peas
• 1 roll of Grands Biscuits or 2 rolls of smaller biscuits

First, do all of you prep work - cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, chop your onion, celery and carrots (if using fresh carrots).
Then, heat up a large pot on the stove using medium heat ( I used a 5qt pot).
Next, place the stick of butter in the pot and start melting it.
Add the chicken, onions, celery and carrots (if fresh carrots, if canned wait til the end to add)
Add Salt and Pepper (about 1 teaspoon or so of each)
Cook everything together in the butter until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink

Then I sprinkled the 2 Tbsp of flour over the mixture and stirred it in to coat everything
Next, Add milk to the pot.
Stir this mixture until the flour dissolves and the gravy starts to thicken.

When the mixture starts looking too thick thin it out a little with a few cups of chicken stock.
At this point add in the can of peas, drained (and carrots if you are using canned)
Incorporate all this together and if needed add more salt and pepper to taste

Transfer the mixture to a glass 9x13 baking dish (be careful this mixture is Hot!)

Bake this at 375 for about 20 minutes
Then pull it out of the oven and place biscuits on top (I stirred the mixture around a little before I put the biscuits on since the butter had floated to the top) ,
I used the Grands biscuits whole but some friends have suggested that it's better to use the smaller biscuits or cut up the larger pieces into chunks and place on the top.

Put the casserole back in the over and continue cooking for about 15 minutes or until the biscuits have turned golden brown.

Voila! There you have it, Biscuit-topped Chicken Pot Pie Casserole.