A Weekend in Virginia and Impossibly Easy Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

Happy Friday! I’m blogging to you live from on board a Virgin America flight . My husband and I are spending the weekend in Virginia for a friend’s wedding. I love the fact that Virgin offers WiFi for $21.00, but I must say that it’s too slow to use apps like Picmonkey. When you go to load the image for edit, it times out– but grateful I am able to blog at all.

Who else loves the people watching airports? It’s a kind of like being a sociologist and observing your subjects. If I were a Hollywood screen writer I would get all kinds of material by sitting and watching the behavior of human beings. Speaking of human beings, Leann Rimes is on this flight. I’m not one who gets star struck, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I do like her voice, but not a crazy fan. One thing that might be kind of difficult about being a star would be things like trying to take a flight without being recognized or bothered. I really don’t feel all that sorry for her, but it is one of the perils of being a public figure.

As some of you know, we used to live in Northern Virginia, so this is a little like going home for us, plus we will be seeing families members, so should be a really nice weekend. I read that it will be in the 90’s this weekend– yeah for melting in the humid sun! Good thing I brought plenty of hairspray for my thin frizzy mop- I’m thinking the hair is going up in a bun for the good part of this trip. Someone please tell me how to style very thin frizzy hair in humidity!

I can’t believe myself, but I packed incredibly light. I have only a carry on for the entire weekend– so proud of myself! I managed to bring a few items that can be hand washed and dry quick so I can wear the same thing twice and I am wearing the temporary tattoo jewelry that looks incredibly real and amazing, so I didn’t need to pack accessories– clever huh? Some may be aghast at my little trick, but I love it and am at the age that I am unfazed by other’s judgement of me. I love not having to check baggage more than I care about how I look! How’s that for being practical? I am turning into my grandmother.

A Weekend in Virginia and Impossibly Easy Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches #fitfluential Click To Tweet

So, as I fly over Salt Lake City on my way to DC I thought I’d give you a little recipe I made last week that turned out really good and was so very easy for busy parents or working peeps. My family liked it so much my kids insisted that I take a picture and put it on the blog. We try not to eat too much meat– we are primarily a vegetarian house, but we do eat the occasional chicken and even more rare… beef. There is very little prep other than browning the meat ( I think this gives a nice rich flavor), and who doesn’t love the Crock Pot for a weeknight dinner? I use mine a lot in the summer and winter! It makes life much easier.

What You’ll Need

1 – 4 lb. chuck roast
1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce
1 can of low sodium beef broth
1 T. of Seasoning Salt or plain Sea Salt
1 t. of pepper
1 T. Grape seed oil
Soft Sandwich Rolls

How to Make It

Heat a large dutch oven or pan to medium high heat on the stove top. Add grapeseed oil and to pan. Rub roast with seasoning and pepper and brown on all sides in the pan. Be sure to develop a nice, deep brown color on all sides as this is what will give the au jus sauce a rich flavor. Once you have browned the roast, put it in the crock pot with the broth and soy sauce and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Remove from slow cooker and slice or shred the meat. Serve on it’s own or on crusty rolls. Spoon au jus into cups to serve with sandwiches for dipping. It’s that simple and easy!

I’ll be back here on Monday with all of the juicy details from our weekend travel and wedding fun. If you’d like to follow along sooner than that follow along on Instagram or Snap Chat.