1 Beef Roast 3-5 lbs
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 packet Ranch dressing mix
1 packet Brown gravy mix
1 cup water
1 chopped onion (optional)

Mix packets with water. Add roast to crockpot and then pour the water over the top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Baste the roast several times with the drippings. You can serve with the au jus or thicken it in a sauce pan with some butter/flour/cornstarch to make gravy.

Commentary: this is the first time I've made this, so I'm using the actual packets they've shown. It's pretty ridiculous, though, to pay $2.50 for a paltry packet of spices. The others are no better; see the bill below. The Kroger brand equivalents cost about a third of the price of the brand names. If this works out well this time, I'll try the cheaper version next time. Of course, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

I didn't know what kind of roast to buy. The butcher said that if it's going in a crock pot, then it should be a chuck roast. I asked why. He said other roasts have too little fat, so they won't shred nicely at the end. Memorize that, Donald.

I used my Fry's card, which means my roast, which was priced at $21.39, only cost me $13.74. Can you believe that there is an essentially $8 penalty for not letting them track your data? It's ridiculous.

Source of recipe: Crock Pot Heaven.

Results: this turned out okay. No great shakes. I will eat it again when I'm hungry, and I wouldn't be ashamed to serve it to guests. But frankly the taste is just ok. The juice left over in the crockpot is tasty. I ran it through the blender to get rid of the onion chunks. Very good on both the meat and potatoes.

2013-11-21: Y'know, my first impression of this recipe is that it was entirely mediocre and white trash. But in reheating when you are desperate for something to eat, it is entirely tasty. I think that this means it is time to try the recipe again with generic equivalents of the packets.