$0.88 per serving ~ Bottom Round Pot Roast with Onion Gravy, Sheri's Roasted Carrots, and Mashed Potatoes

Every now and then my supermarket runs a bottom round special... a 2-3 lb. roast, a pound of stew cubes, and 2 pounds of sirloin steak at 99 cents a pound!!! That is just too good to pass up, but I rarely get to actually use the roast as is because a good roast takes a long time. It's been dreary, cold, and rainy this weekend, and I'm not going out, so I get to experiment! My girl Sheri, whom I've never met but know online for nearly 5 years, talked about this fantastic recipe for carrots as well, so I decided to try them too!

Bottom Round Pot Roast with Onion Gravy~ $5.00 total cost
1 3 lb. bottom round roast ($3.00)
Kosher salt
black pepper
crushed bay leaves
rosemary
salt-free steak seasoning
1 cup beef stock ($1.50)
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 large onions, sliced ($0.50)
4 tbsp minced garlic
more spices to taste
1-2 tbsp cornstarch
1-2 tbsp water

1. Mix the salt, pepper, and spices together in a small bowl (eyeball it, you need about 1/3 cup of the mixture.) Rub the mixture onto all sides of the roast. Brown the roast on all sides in a dutch oven or deep coverable stock pot.
2. Remove the roast to a plate. Deglaze the pot with stock and vinegar. Add more spices if desired (I added more rosemary and bay), sliced onions and minced garlic. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Place the roast on top of onion mixture, cover and reduce heat to low.
3. Simmer over low heat for 3 hours. Remove roast to platter and tent with foil, let stand 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch into water and then add to pot drippings. Stir until thickened. If desired, use immersion blender to puree onions.
4. Slice roast against the grain and serve topped with pan gravy.

Sheri's Roasted Carrots ~ $1.00 total cost
1 pound baby carrots ($1.00 at the Acme "buck a bag" sale!)
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss carrots with olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Roast at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes, tossing once while cooking.

The Verdict
Josh did not speak until his plate was emptied. Jim pronounced it "fantastic", Jim's mom said it was delicious, and Julia said "yummy", disregarded her fork and proceeded to shovel it into her mouth with her fingers. I served it with Idahoan Four Cheese Mashed Potatoes (they are so good and so fast) for a total meal cost of $8.00! We had at least 4 leftover helpings, so I'm calling this a 9 serving meal though I may use the leftover roast and onions for something else.