My So-Called Homeschool

We’ve had roast in the crockpot for the last 3 Sundays, as well as once in-between, I think!  Kroger had them BOGO a couple of weeks ago, who can pass that up?!  Anyway, lacking some of the regular items I put in the crockpot with my roast, I threw in some random ingredients from the pantry and Viola! a new favorite was born.  The new secret ingredient, which makes a wonderful rich brown gravy when you’re done, is . . .  COKE!  It’s not sweet at all, tenderizes the roast beautifully and the juice thickens up nicely with some cornstarch.  The first week, I used a packet of onion soup mix (Kroger brand, of course) and thought I needed a bit of something to moisten it up.  I looked around, grabbed a Coke, and poured in about half a can.  I had Squid flip the roast over about half-way through the cooking time (total, about 4-5 hrs with a frozen roast, 3-4 with a thawed one) and it turned out wonderful.  The second time, I was out of onion soup mix, but had a green onion dip mix — not that different — and it was great, too.  This time, I -still- hadn’t picked up any onion soup mix, so threw on some McCormicks steak rub, poured on the Coke, and it was even more delicious!  As you can see, I don’t really have a set recipe, I just kind of go with the flow.  But Coke will be a staple from now on for sure.