The Quest for Roast and The Use of Leftovers

I want to make a really good, foolproof crockpot roast. I am not sure why this has been eluding me. "Everybody" says that it's one of the easiest, most basic meals to make. I've followed numerous recipes. I've tried putting the potatoes and carrots under and over the meat. (although now I hear also that some people don't put them in at all and cook them separately. I haven't tried that yet.) I've tried on low and high. I've tried cooking less and more than it calls for. I've tried different kinds of seasonings, different amounts of water/soup/beer, .... I'm tired. My family has eaten a bunch of roast that I'm just not happy with. I want the meat to be able to come apart with forks instead of a hacksaw. I want potatoes that are neither crunchy nor mushy. I want some gravy, but not too much, and I want it to taste good. Not too salty, not too boring.

Is this too much to ask?

The other night I got closer to what I'm looking for, following my friend Jenn's direction. She swore I could not mess it up and I did not believe her, since my track record is so bad. She is of the school who steams the veggies separately, but I didn't want to. So I put them in the bottom and plopped the meat on top. Then she said she always puts a package of Lipton onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup on it. I didn't have Lipton so I made some. I'm finding that pretty much every mix like that has a clone on the internet. It's a beautiful thing. Turns out onion soup mix is mostly dried onion and beef bouillon granules. I have those things. And Gluten Free Cafe has come out with a can of mushroom soup that I like enough to use in cooking. There is still a place in my heart for Campbell's, but oh well. Them's the breaks.

Then came the problem of cooking. My crockpot was a wedding present, so it's 14, and I think it doesn't get as hot as the newer ones. I put it in at 11:30 and was going to do it on high. Jenn said no, it would burn, and I should start on low. Hmm. I turned it to high at 3:30 and we didn't eat till 8 pm. But it tasted good!!!! So to recap:

potatoes, carrots, meat, cream of 'shroom soup, and onion soup mix. Mine went 4 hours on low and 4 1/2 hours on high.

Second day: ROAST SOUP. My mom made it with the leftovers the last time my roast went Horribly Wrong, and it was super tasty- WAY better than the original roast. She said her mom used to make it all the time after roast day, so I'm not sure how I made it to age 35 without knowing this trick. Maybe my mom makes good roast and there were never any leftovers? Dunno. Anyway. I made it again last night and I love it.

You cube up the leftover meat and throw it in a big pot with the veggies and any leftover gravy you've got. Then you start adding things from your fridge. :) It's a little different every time. This time I added:

2 mushrooms (who saves TWO mushrooms? I am a freak. But they were in a ziploc, so there you are.)
a 28 0z can of diced tomatoes, with the juice
2 stalks celery
part of a red onion
a can of corn
a baggie of leftover canned mixed veggies from the daycare kids' lunch the other day
the rest of a box of beef broth
about a cup of water

And then I heated it for the time it took to make cornbread, and it was AWESOME. I highly recommend it, even if you screw up your roast on a regular basis. The soup is forgiving. Eat it with cornbread and be happy.