Crockpot Barbacoa Beef w/ Cilantro Lime Rice & Corn Salsa

David may or may not have professed his love to me all over again after he took a bite of this dinner tonight.

I completely felt the same way.

Have you ever had the shredded beef at Chipotle? I actually never have, but apparently this is a recipe that is modified based off of that one. It's from none other than my new favorite blog - Skinny Taste - and it gave me my Weight Watcher points and everything.

I made the barbacoa beef this morning in my crockpot and it smelled so amazing all day. I used "eye of round beef roast" for my meat and I only used 2 chilis in adobo sauce so that it wasn't overly spicy. It was perfect. I am going to give you the link for the Barbacoa beef recipe, and then she has a link to both the cilantro lime rice and the corn salsa. You HAVE to make these two things with it. The rice was absolutely amazing. I used white Jasmine rice because I thought it would work well and it did. The corn salsa was so yummy on top of it all. As you can see in the pics - I just made it like a burrito bowl. I scooped David's into corn tortillas, but I liked mine all piled on top of each other on my plate.

I can promise you if you like Mexican food - this will make you happy in every way! Please try it and please tell me if you did and what you thought. I love to hear feedback!



I hope your night is a great one! I can't wait to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. :-)

Crockpot Creamy Potato Soup

Hello, and welcome to my horrible iPhone pictures that do absolutely NO JUSTICE to this wonderful soup. I haven't made potato soup in so long because, well, the carbs!! But - I've absolutely never made it in a crockpot and it was so easy that I may never go back to my stove - for this soup, that is.

I stumbled upon this soup on Pinterest (and, by the way - don't you love how you never feel like you have any original "findings" any more because you say you saw something on Pinterest and everyone you talk to tells you they saw it too and was getting ready to try it? Just me? I have pride issues.) So, I did see this on "P" (new code name) and I really wanted to give it a try to take to my life group friend that just had the most beautiful baby girl named Emily just a week ago. I had also seen this cute little site that gave you ideas of foods to take to new moms and I nabbed that idea as well and packaged her up the following grub and delivered it this afternoon.

I made her this lovely Crockpot Potato Soup.
A tub full of fresh blueberries, strawberries and grapes
Some fresh baguette rolls
and the BEST banana, caramel and pecan muffins I've ever had - well, if I do say so myself. I ate one to make sure I was only giving my friend the very best of course. :-) Recipe to follow this week!

I could've eaten my weight in this soup, but limited myself to 2 small bowls. It was windy and cold out today, so the day just seemed perfect for this soup. The crockpot part of this dish was so easy and a huge WIN in my book.

Parent's Review: We loved it. Loved the tangy-ness of the cream cheese in there and I simply added packaged crumbled bacon to the top out of laziness, and I actually liked it.

Kid's Review: My kids don't do potatoes unless they are a fry or a hash brown or a potato wedge. Something is wrong with them. They missed out.

Here's the recipe again if you missed it up top.

Beef Stroganoff - in the crockpot

This is a new recipe for me that I found online on one of my searches. This is how I tend to find a lot of the things I cook because I will have a craving and I just start searching until I find a recipe that looks like it will be a good one.

I loved the beef sirloin tip in this dish. So tender and tons of flavor. I bought the thinly sliced ones at my local grocery store. It called for 1 1/2 lbs. of meat, but I could only find packages that were either just a little over a pound, or 3 lbs or more. I opted to have a little less meat and I also skipped out on the mushrooms that this recipe called for. But if you like them, I'm sure it would give a lot more fullness to this dish. It was very rich and a bit tangy. It calls for 2 Tbsp of Mustard that you add at the end along with some flour, water and an 8 oz carton of sour cream (I opted for Light S.C.). So, I think that the Mustard and also the Worcestershire gives it some real zip. I really liked it at first, but couldn't decide if I loved it. It was a different flavor for me. But I think it kept growing on me because I couldn't keep out of it. I am craving the rich flavor and am REALLY looking forward to diving into my leftovers tomorrow.

Here's a link to the recipe. Please let me know if you try this one. I love hearing feedback and if you guys loved or hated the dish and if you are enjoying the food I am posting. Interaction is my favorite part about blogging, so don't be silent out there. :-)



Parents Review: One thumb up. David was working tonight, so he hasn't had any yet, but I LOVE it. I think he will too!

Kids Review: Little Girl gagged and made all this drama when she half licked at it, but then I forced her to chew and swallow a real piece and she changed her tune and said, "MMMM. Now that was really great!" Such a stinker. Baby Boy gobbled it up. They both love red meat. We don't eat it all that often, but when we do, they both tend to be happy campers!

barbecue pork sandwiches

It's another Crockpot recipe! My friend Carli told me how to do this way back when and I loved how easy and tasty this one was. And when I see easy, I mean EAAAAAAAA-SY.

Throw your pork roast (I like Pork Sirloin Roast) into the crockpot on low and cook it in either apple juice or apple cider vinegar. The latter one stinks a little bit while cooking, but it totally moistens your meat and makes it tasty and juicy. Let it cook all day and the last hour - throw in your favorite barbecue sauce after shredding your meat up with 2 forks. Let it get all warmed up and yummy and throw it on top of your favorite bun or bread.

I served mine with potato wedges and broccoli and loved it.


Parents Review: I have only tried it with the vinegar and would really like to try the apple juice next time. It is very tasty and it's fun because it's different than what I usually make.

Kids Review: They both really liked it!

Easy Chicken Taco Night - Crock pot style

I love Easy.

I love chicken.

I love taco Night.

I love my crockpot.

This recipe is a total home-run in my book. I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite sites - A year of Slow Cooking. It's all crockpot - all the time. Love this site!!

Here's a pic of the results in your crock pot after slaving away cooking for several hours on your countertop.

I literally threw a couple of half frozen chicken breasts in the crock with all the ingredients. I also threw in about 1/4 cup of taco seasoning too. I know the recipe has that as an option and I just thought it would be more flavorful that way. After it cooked for about 5 or 6 hours - I just opened it up and shredded the chicken with a fork and stirred it all up.

Here's a link to the recipe

Parents review: We enjoyed it. It was so easy and I just added some of my Trader Joe's salsa verde on top, along with sour cream, cheese and guacamole or avocado. Really great.

Kids Review: Baby Boy loved it and gobbled it up. Little Girl hated that it was "all mixed together". She took 3 bites and then ate chips with it, which was good enough for me that night.

Pepperoncini Roast

I love a meal that requires minimal work, as in, you only have to throw like 3 things in your crock pot and let it cook all day and BAM, you're done.

The smell alone from this dish as it bubbles on your counter top will make you want to cook it every week.

I like to serve this roast shredded up on a kaiser roll with a slice of cheese -cheddar or provolone. Tonight I was running late and literally just ate that as my meal and for the kids they had that plus some applesauce. No veggie. I am a bad chef.

Oh and if you don't know what these peppers are. They are those little peppers in your salad at Olive Garden.

Here's the type of jar you are looking for at the store - over by the pickles.


Here's the difficult recipe.

Pepperoncini Roast.

2 1/2 - 3 lb. Bottom Round Roast
1 jar pepporoncini's - juice and all
1 can beef broth

Throw all these things in your crockpot. Put the lid on. Turn it on low. Let it cook alllllll day long, 7-8 hours. Take the roast out and shred it. It will be falling apart. Serve it up on a kaiser roll, with cheese if you desire and serve it with veggies or a salad or whatever. David and I like to serve it up with some of the juice from the peppers on the side and dip our sandwich in it. It definitely gives it a kick and a little extra spice, but we love it.



Parents Review: Easy, tastes awesome, yummy
Kids Review: Little Girl always grumbles, but she eats it. Baby Boy seems to really like it.

Crockpot Chicken Parmesan

Here comes Comfort Food!!

I love this recipe for so many reasons, but mainly because it's so easy and it tastes so good and the whole family gobbles it up. You would think that chicken parmesan in a crockpot would be a big mushy mess, but it's really, really good. It falls a part and has a different consistency than your typical dish you would find at a restaurant and it's definitely a little lower in calories too.

This is one of the fav's from A Year of Slow Cooking Blog. Here's the recipe..

Now, here's a tip. I have made this recipe on low for about 5 or 6 hours before and it was really good, but tonight I put it on high for only 3 hours and it was even better. David asked me to do it this way all the time because he liked the texture and flavors better. Plus - my crock can tend to overcook things, so this seemed just right.

I served it with whole wheat penne pasta and some green beans. It was a winner.



Parents Review: Great meal to come home too in the evening.
Kids Review: My kids like me to just chop up the chicken on their plate, put the plain pasta on the side and then the veggie and they loved it.

Apple, Cheddar, Cranberry and Turkey Meatballs

I am fully aware that this dish looks both burnt and un-appetizing. The first part could be partially true because my slow cooker cooks like lightening speed and I forget that sometimes with dishes like this, but the second part is SO NOT TRUE.

These meatballs are beyond yummy. David and I even ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning with our eggs. They were tasty then too.

I am not usually a fruit in my meat kind of girl, but this combo works. I think my friend Shauna said she baked these one time and I would love to hear how those turned out and how long she cooked them and everything. That would be a good option if you don't get these in your crock in time.

My crockpot is so big that I have inserted a small casserole dish inside to cook these in so they will cook a little more slowly. It does help, but I still could've shaved an hour or more off of my cooking time and they would've been a bit better. But, even a little overcooked - we enjoy these alot.

I am going to give credit where credit is due for this one, because this is yet another recipe from over at A Year of Slow Cooking Blog that I love so dearly. Here's the recipe. Enjoy.


I made mine with Risotto with carmelized leeks and bell pepper. I will post the recipes for this side dish tomorrow. You can serve them with anything from pasta to rice to any kind of carb and then a veggie.

Side note: I usually use raisins because I don't often have cranberries on hand and they are still awesome!

Parents Review: So wonderfully flavorful!
Kids Review: Baby Boy likes them, Little Girl gave them 2 thumbs down....just because she likes to torture me. I think she is enjoying giving me the thumbs down on most of my recipes now if they aren't plain and lacking in flavor. :-)

Pepper Steak over Rice

It was so fun doing the GIVEAWAY last week. I can't wait to hear what Lynn thinks of her cookie tin she received from Carol's Cookies. I hope they are a yummy treat for her (and her family if she should share!).

Sorry the recipes have been slow this past week, I mentioned the hubs is doing The Daniel's Fast with our church and therefore he eats very little, which means the cooking has been minimal. I did, however, whip up something last week while he was gone one night because I love it and he does not.

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe back when I was a newlywed and I love it because it is so easy and so flavorful! Plus - It's a crockpot dish and you know how I love my crockpot!!




Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 lbs. Cube Steak
2 Tbsp. Oil (I use Canola)
1/4 C Soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
1 tsp. Sugar
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2 Large Green Bell Pepper (or whatever kind you like)

Pour oil in the bottom of the crock pot and add your cube steak. Just throw it in. Then add all the rest of your ingredients. Let cook on low all day (my big crock pot can cook it in about 4 hours though - it's fast).

**Add 1/2 Cup cold water and 1 Tbsp. cornstarch to thicken. I only do this half of the time. It's a little runnier if you don't, but I actually don't mind because the rice soaks it up. Chop up the meat mixture with a spoon and serve it over some brown rice.

Easy-Peezy. My kinda meal.

Parents Review: I LOVE it. David hates it and always has. He has issues with it not being thick enough. Whatev-ah
Kids Review: Little Girl tolerates it and Baby Boy loves it.

Give it a try and enjoy!