I made this last night, served it with mashed potatoes. You can put your slow cooker out on the porch or the patio to keep the kitchen cooler.

This would have been good as a hot beef sandwich, just pile the meat and potatoes on a slice of bread and smother it with gravy. Serve it with a little dish of corn, and pretend you're at a diner.

Italian Style Beef

1 onion, sliced in wedges
Beef chuck roast
Italian dressing mix (recipe below)
Water

Put the onion in the bottom of a slow cooker. Rinse off the meat and rub the Italian dressing mix into it. Add water about halfway up the roast, and cook several hours until tender.

Gravy: remove the meat and strain the onions out of the cooking liquid. Chill it until the fat comes to the top, remove it, and heat the liquid in a pan and thicken with cornstarch dissolved in water.

Italian Dressing Mix

1 tbsp granulated or powdered garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp basil*
1 tbsp dried parsley*
1/4 tsp celery salt
2 tbsp salt

Combine all in a lidded container and shake well to combine. *I didn't have dried parsley or basil, so I used Italian Seasoning; do what you have to do.

Tonight I'm going to make southern style cabbage. No idea what we're having with it, maybe chicken.

Southern Cabbage

Cabbage cut into 2 - 3 inch pieces
2 - 3 slices bacon cut in thirds
1/2 onion, sliced in wedges
Pinch of white sugar
Water
Salt and pepper

Cook the bacon until the fat renders out. Put in the cabbage, onion, and pinch of sugar. Stir well, add a little bit of water and cover. Cook on low heat until tender, adding more water if needed. Season with salt and pepper.