I come from a long line of women who have learned how to make do with what they’ve got, whether in life or in the kitchen. My grandmother has always been able to whip up pretty much anything from the things she finds in the fridge and cupboard, but not my mom. Don’t get me wrong - my mom is a wonderful cook. She makes a mean meal. The thing is though, she’s always been a busy lady so she’s had to make do by finding awesome, easy recipes that someone else came up with. Now some people might frown on that since this is, of course, the south. However, I’m embracing my momma’s method as a busy-bee of an adult. I ain’t got time for that fancy stuff.
This brings me to the best advice I’ll ever give you: check the back of your bottles. Condiments, soups, sauces - anything with a label, you better be checking for recipes. Let me tell you, this is a fail proof method of finding some seriously delicious recipes that don’t take that long to make. How do I know they’re all easy recipes? Simple. Think of the size of the label on the back of an A1 bottle or a Campbell’s soup can. You can’t fit some long fancy recipe on there. It’s got to be good and straight to the point.
I’ve used the check the bottle method for years now, and I can’t say I’ve ever found a recipe that wasn’t easy and wonderful. I’m sure there’s one out there, but for now, I’m blissfully ignorant to it.
Most recently, my husband and I were eating dinner and I was eating A1 with everything on my plate. Yes, I will eat A1 with any and everything. That stuff is dang good, and I buy it in bulk. That evening, I was enjoying some A1 with my steamed carrots (don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, it’s the culinary pairing of the century), and I decided to turn the bottle of A1 around to see what was listed on the side of it. See, I’m so used to employing the check the bottle method that I just do it naturally without even thinking about it. Lo-and-behold, glued to the side of that beautiful brown bottle there was a recipe for a slow cooker pot roast seasoned with A1. As an avid A1 enthusiast, I wanted to try this new recipe. And try it we did. My husband made this recipe because he was off on spring break, and I’m a 40-hour-a-week cog in the corporate machine. Plus, every so often I like when he’s my househusband. If I’m gonna work all day every day to put him through med-school, I like to be pampered housewife-style sometimes, too. Anyway, back on track. My husband, who hates to cook, actually said the recipe was easy peezy. In our household, “easy peezy” translates to “it wasn’t hard and I’d do it again”.
The best part though was the meal itself. The A1 pot roast was a huge success. The meat tasted great and the vegetables had this really great sweet and savory flavor to them. My husband and I both went back for seconds and scraped every ounce of it out of the crock pot for leftovers. Even better, the leftovers were great tasting, too! Reheating leftovers is like the culinary version of playing chicken: it’s you facing off against the leftovers in a battle of who’s going to get scared and give up first. Sometimes when you make something, it just doesn’t keep well. Some things get all congealed and the mere thought of eating it again is sickening, or sometimes you get the stuff that was great fresh but tastes like garbage once it’s been nuked for a few minutes. The icing on the cake for our A1 pot roast was that it kept great and fed the two of us for a week straight.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
½ cup A1 Original Steak Sauce
½ cup water
1 pkg onion soup mix (I used Lipton)
1 boneless beef chuck eye roast (2-2.5lbs)
1 lb. baby red potatoes (we just took 5-6 regular sized red potatoes, peeled and cut them up)
1 pkg baby carrots
1 onion, diced
Mix first 3 ingredients, place meat in slow cooker. Top with vegetables and sauce; cover. Cook on LOW 8-9 hours or on HIGH for 6-7 hours. After cooking, scoop out and enjoy!
The thing is, ladies, these recipes hide in plain sight. It’s just about training yourself to find them. And if you’re really desperate for a new meal idea, go to Walmart and scout out the back of the boxes, bottles and cans. If anyone asks what you’re doing, LIE. Tell them you’re on a diet and are checking the nutrition facts. When you find a recipe that peaks your interest, take a picture of it with your phone. Yes, I freely admit that I do this. It’s called southern resourcefulness.
What are y’alls favorite check the bottle recipes?
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