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I like to add a good cup of red wine to mine (and less stock) and a half a head of garlic, 1 bay leaf and 1 stalk of celery cut in 3 pieces. So much flavor from aromatics why leave them out? Leeks are in season and one or two of them and minus the onion would be so nice.
That liquid that is there makes great gravy, which I do not see directions for.
So I will give them. Take 2-3 tbsps butter and mash that into 2-3 (equal amount) of sifted flour. Drain the liquid into a pan and bring to a boil then simmer and add your mashed butter/flour mixture and whisk till smooth and thickened to your liking.
Pot roast needs gravy especially with mashed potatoes.

I tried this and I had a few problems I'm hoping someone can correct...
1. My pan got WAY hot on the burner and turned ashen in the middle. The burner coil coating flaked off when I removed the pan to put it under the broiler. Maybe I left it on too long (25 minutes or so)?
2. The dough was really difficult to manage being so thin and flimsy. It was hard to maneuver accurately, and dealing with such extreme heat, I decided to put the pie on the upside down skillet before placing it under the broiler. It cooked while I was holding it.
3. 1 minute 35 seconds under the broiler was maybe too long as the bottom turned to coal.
4. Have to say, all this aside, that was one delicious pie. Willing to try again with a few adjustments, provided I didn't ruin my pan or my stove coil.

I just saw this posting yesterday and tried it tonight. I used Mark Bittman's Basic Pizza Dough. I used 2 cups KA bread flour and 1 cup KA white whole wheat flour. I heated my cast iron skillet in the oven while it was preheating (I don't quite understand why you would put it on the stove and then put it in the oven). Then I slid my pizza in and my gosh! This was gorgeous. Thin in the middle with a nice thick brown crust. The bottom could hold its own and it was cooked so fast. I will never go back to cooking pizza on a cold pan again at a low heat!

Just a note: you can buy griddles designed to cover two eyes of the stove at once. They are reversible, with grill marks on one side and a flat surface on the other. If you used one of these, you could do 2 8-inch pies at once!!! Search "cast iron griddle double reversible" on Amazon, and you'll see some good results. Many are also available for about $20 at Macy's and the like during specials. You can find them at ross and other discounters also.

Homemade dough is *not* a pain. I use Mark Bittman's recipe/technique (I found it in "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"), which uses a food processor to knead the dough. If you can measure ingredients and push the button on a food processor, you can have excellent dough in as little as an hour. The actual dough-making takes all of 5 minutes, then you just let it rise for an hour (or more, if you can spare it). Roll it out and throw it into the oven, and voila, a damn tasty, perfectly textured crust as thick or thin as you like it.

Try it and I swear you'll never want to buy a pre-made crust (or pizza) again. And it's at least as pain-free as the skillet/broiler finagling.

Try to get your hands on Finnish salmiakki - salty licorice, essentially (in Australia it's sold as 'Dutch licorice'). There are all sorts of varieties, all of an acquired taste. My personal favourites are witch sticks, apothecary salmiakki and Turkish Peppers - although I'd love to hear your take on any variety!

k_d: you should go and stock up! my batch was unfortunate (a one-off, hopefully), but i've never had a problem with these guys shriveling up on me before!

beckyquan: i promise they won't hurt you =)

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I make a large beef roast on Sunday and we eat leftovers at least twice after.

cut n freeze -- and buy frozen when you can -- especially veggies since they tend to be fresher frozen

Make weekly menus for dinner, so there is no rushing to put something together for dinner last minute.

Make a menu weekly, planning each daily meal. That way you're not confused about what to fix for dinner that evening.