Birthday Roast

We rarely eat meat in our family, but birthdays are sometimes an occasion when we will eat meat. For my birthday, Natasha prepared a delicious pot roast in the crockpot, which is what we use to cook almost all meats. A crockpot will make meat so tender and juicy! Here is our secret recipe:

1 roast, any kind, preferably organic, free range, Soaked - what??? (directions below), all cover fat trimmed (large pieces of fat on the outside of the cut of meat) - put in bottom of crockpot
Cover with cut up potatoes, celery, carrots, and onions.
Cover whole thing with Amy's mushroom soup (secret ingredient!). If you want a thicker gravy, you can mix the soup with flour, cornstarch or tapioca.
Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Roast will be VERY tender. We just break it up and mix it into the vegetables to make it like a stew, but you can serve it like a roast as well.

One of our secrets is soaking the meat. Why and how do I soak the meat? In Leviticus 17, God had some instructions: 13 “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; 14 for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

I know we are no longer under the law, but one thing I have learned is that God had our physical health in mind every time He instructed the Israelites regarding food. It's interesting that God tells us that the life of the flesh is its blood. What do we find in the blood of animals? Toxins, parasites, viruses, waste material, etc. Not only is getting rid of the blood God's best for our bodies, this method also really tenderizes meats as well, including poultry.

Here's how: soak meat in cool water for at least half an hour. Sometimes I soak it all night; it doesn't really matter. Then put the meat someplace where it can drain. I use a small rack in the same pan I soaked the meat. Cover the outside of the meat with salt (Kosher salt is cheap and supposedly works best.) Cover. Let the blood drain for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and/or soak to get rid of the salt. Alternatively, a second-best method is to just soak the meat in salt water. Getting rid of any blood is better than eating the meat with the blood in it, and it really tastes so much better, too! You may have to get accustomed to the gray meat, rather than the bright red you are used to, but the grayer it is, the less blood it contains. It takes a little planning time, but it is well worth it!