Sunday Dinner with Arm Roast and Roasted Vegetables

     Smells and aroma's can make such a powerful impact on our emotions and evoke fond memories. Such is the case with home cooked fried chicken and slow roasted Arm Roast with Potato's . After 50 years on this earth when I smell meat roasting in the oven it takes me back to my youth.  Every Sunday my mother would make either Fried Chicken or a Roast.  I can still picture my mother standing in the kitchen with her back to me as she stood over the electric skillet frying her chicken in 3 inches of lard at the counter, with her plate of peppered flour next to her dressed in a kitchen apron protecting her from splattering grease. The Sundays she did her Arm Roast was specifically wonderful because when we came in from church the house was FILLED with the comforting familiarity of Sundays past . It meant home, family, love, security, togetherness and tradition. So, of course, these are the things that I have brought to my family from my youth. I have never fried a chicken ( or cut up a whole chicken, even though my mother insisted I learn as a young girl "because my husband would want fried chicken when I was married" ... to this day I do NOT know how to cut up a whole chicken nor will I ever learn ....even at the risk of losing a husband ...  )  Even though this is not the leanest, lowest calorie, or highest in protein it is still not horrible !!!  I try to stick to single ingredient foods and make the dessert on the lighter side. I also omit bread, gravy and jello salad ! HA  ( we always had jello mixed with cool whip, apples and bananas~another fond memory).  After church, a big lunch, and Sunday afternoon naps my Father would make a HUGE bowl of popcorn for dinner.  I remember the pale yellow plastic oversized Tupperware bowl he would fill with several batches til it was full.  I also remember the hole on the size that melted from the bowl touching the popcorn pan.  Yes, back then we actually cooked our popcorn on the stove in the biggest pot your family owned with oil, butter and salt ... no skimping on any of those ingredients and we were as happy as we could be over that !!! That was our family Sunday night dinner as we gathered to watch The Wonderful World of Disney on the family TV  ... after fixing the rabbit ears for better reception of course!

Ingredients:
3-5 pound Arm Roast ( you MUST buy Arm Roast, that's the only Roast my mother would use and it is by FAR the most tender Roast you can buy.  I have tried others and nothing compares to the Arm Roast in tenderness or flavor, it should fall apart after cooking)
Yukon Gold Potato's diced or small Baby Potato's
Sweet Potato's, diced
6 Stalks Celery, diced
Baby Carrots
Onion
1 Packet of dry Liptons Onion Soup Mix
1-2 Cups Chicken Broth
Gravy Packet

     In your largest Roasting pan, put your Arm Roast in the bottom, fill in the sides with your desired amount of Potato's and Carrots. Combine about a cup and a half of chicken broth with your brown gravy packet and pour into pan to make sure there is at least an inch or so of liquid in the bottom. Sprinkle packet of dry Liptons Onion Soup over the meat only.  Slice your onion and spread onion slices over top of meat and potato's. Top with diced celery and cover with aluminum foil tightly.  Roast in oven on 325 for approx. 4 hours or til meat is cooked and vegetables are fork tender. This is the best meal you will ever have with family and PERFECT for Sundays to put in the oven before you head off to church, then you will have the luxury of experiencing the smells of love hit you in the face as you walk in the back door too !!!  Enjoy  ;)