Slow Cooker Pot Roast

I stated earlier that I like to collect recipes. I have this box in one of my kitchen cabinets with thousands of recipes taken from magazines, copied from the internet or odd cookbooks. I'm that guy at the doctor's office who pulls out pages from Good Houskeeping, Gourmet and Southern Living magazines. My goal here is to start using those recipes and posting the results here. Sharing my foul ups and my ideas for making the recipe better or just reporting the great results of a perfect recipe.
This past Sunday I found a recipe in the coupon insert for Slow Cooker Pot Roast. The recipe looked simple enough, but I thought it could be made better. I will reprint the recipe as they had it in the paper and then relate my changes after. The add was for Lipton Recipe Secrets Soup & Dip Mixes.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast
8 servings
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Hours

1 Tbsp. oil
3 to 3 1/2 lb. boneless beef pot roast(rump,chuck or round)
4 carrots, sliced
4 medium all-purpose potatoes(about 2 lbs.), cut into 1-inch pieces
2 envelopes Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup water

1. In large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown roast.
2. In slow cooker, arrange carrots and potatoes; top with roast;set aside.
3. In glass measuring cup, combine Lipton recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix with water. Add to skillet, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of pan. Add soup mixture to slow cooker. Cook covered on LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 4 to 6 hours. Remove roast and vegetables to serving platter.
4. Thicken gravy, if desired, by combining 1/4 water with 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Cook on HIGH 15 minutes or until thickened.

Instead fo using Onion Soup Mix, I used Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Mushroom. I used 4 carrots as called for in the recipe, but that was not enough for 2 people let alone 8. I did not put potatoes in mine, I just don't like the way they taste in the crock pot, I prefer to roast them with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. As for the oil, I used olive oil to brown the roast, which I salted and peppered before browning. I added 6 peeled cloves of garlic to the crock pot. And as for the water soup mixture, I also added a 1/2 cup of red wine.
The roast was excellent and was fork tender. The house smelled incredible. And there was enough leftover for the next night.
I prepped all of this the night before. I use a Rival Crock Pot that has a removable crock. After I pepped it, I placed the crock in the fridge until the next morning. What a great meal on a chilly Kansas City evening, with little work involved.
Also, I used a 2 1/2 lb. Beef Chuck Boneless Pot Roast. That was plenty for 2 people , with leftovers to be had.