I’m always looking for ways to make cooking easier and less labor-intensive. A few weeks ago, I had to buy a new slow cooker (the ceramic bowl of the previous one cracked through), and I ended up getting one that’s much larger. I keep on hand boxes of oven bags and slow-cooker liners (for easier cleanup, of course), so I wondered if I could kill two birds with one stone—or, in other words, cook two roasts in one slow cooker.

So, last night, before I went to bed, I pulled out of the freezer one relatively small beef chuck roast and the remaining half of a Boston butt pork roast.

Slow-Cooker Beef Pot Roast

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Place chuck roast in oven bag. Add all other ingredients. Place oven bag in slow cooker. Lay the top of the bag over the edge of the cooker so that the lid will “seal” it.

Slow-Cooker Pork Roast

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Season all sides of pork roast and place in oven bag. Add water and onion. Lay the top of the bag over the edge of the cooker so that the lid will “seal” it.

I prepared both pieces of meat while still frozen and placed both bags in the slow cooker overnight. Before leaving for work this morning, I turned on the slow cooker to the Low setting (both pieces of meat were still about 50% frozen). And then I went to work. And to the gym. And to the grocery store. Ten hours later, when I got home, I could smell the absolutely amazing aroma of roasted meat out on my front porch before I’d even unlocked the door!

Here’s what the slow-cooker looked like with both in-bag roasts cozied up in it:

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Then when removed from their respective cooking bags:

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And then, of course, I had to have some of both (with some roasted cabbage leaves) for supper:

(Looks like I accidentally got a greasy finger on the camera lens!)

Both were cooked to falling-apart perfection. Both tasted wonderful. And now I have cooked meat to be able to make some other quick-fix meals this week, since I have something going on every day after work. And it will be nice to take something for a hot lunch at work a couple of days, too, instead of just my standby “lunch-meat roll-up” that I eat most days.

There are 3 grams carbs for the garlic and Worcestershire sauce in the beef pot roast—so assuming 3 servings, count 1g carb per serving. Add whatever vegetables you like to it (just throw them in the bag for however long it takes them to cook through when you get home). Just be sure to account for those carbs.

For the pork roast, a small onion has about 8 grams net carbs. However, most of that remains behind in the cooking liquid. A 2-pound roast like this yields a good 4 servings. Also, track how much and what seasonings you use for the pork roast. Seasonings add carbs as well. I’m counting 1 gram per serving for this, too.