Slow Cooker Pork Tinga Tacos

I happen to love my slow cooker.  It was such a great wedding gift -- I just love the idea of throwing things in a pot, going to work and then coming home to a complete meal.  Who wouldn't want that? So when I found this slow-cooker taco recipe, I couldn't wait to try it!  

This was a huge success, too! I only had pork tenderloin in our freezer instead of pork shoulder so I just cut down on the cooking time dramatically and it ended up being perfect - not too dry, which is usually the problem with using a lean cut of meat. The meat was so easy to shred with two forks.  I think one of my favorite things was that usually after work, my mind goes straight to cooking.  But for this meal, I threw it in the slow cooker at lunch time and forgot about it, had a great coffee date with Bryant after work and was still able to have dinner on the table within minutes of coming home.

We thought these tacos did have quite a bit of heat (even after removing most of the seeds in the chile); the avocado helps cool it down but I cooled it a bit further with some nonfat yogurt.  We served it with some homemade refried beans on the side to round out an easy weeknight meal.

Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos
Taken from: Elly Says Opa via Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

• 1 lb. redskin or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1″ pieces OR 1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin, fat removed
• 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted), including juice
• 3-4 chipotles in adobo, sliced (remove seeds for a milder dish)
• 1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4″ thick

For serving:

• 4 oz. fresh Mexican chorizo sausage (optional)
• 24 warm corn or whole wheat tortillas
• 1 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese, such as feta or goat cheese
• 2 large avocados, diced
• nonfat yogurt (optional)

1. Spread the potatoes over the bottom of a slow cooker and top with the pork.
2. In a large bowl, mix the (undrained) tomatoes with the chipotles, adobo sauce, Worcestershire, oregano, garlic, onion, and about 1 1/2 tsp. salt.  Pour the mixture evenly over the meat and potatoes.
3. Cover and slow cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 (if using pork tenderloin, cook on low for 5-6 hours - I had halved this recipe and the pork was perfect at 4 hours on low).
4. When you’re ready to eat, fry the optional chorizo and then stir everything together, breaking the pork into smaller pieces (with pork tenderloin, shred with two forks).  Taste and season with additional salt if necessary.
5. Serve with warm tortillas, cheese, avocados and optional yogurt for making soft tacos.

Mexican Pulled Chicken & Week's Menu Plan

Since we had Thanksgiving a little late this year so my sister could join us, I was able to use Thursday and Friday for prepping all things Thanksgiving.  However, I had also promised to bring Bryant and his co-workers dinner for Friday.  Since I was busy making cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole, pie dough, gravy, etc, etc, I didn't have much time to make an elaborate or complicated meal.  So I just sauteed some onions and dumped frozen chicken breast (I remove the fat and portion chicken breast before freezing it) and a few other ingredients into the slow cooker and cooked on low for 8 hours.  The result was surprisingly moist chicken that was great for burritos (and we used the leftovers in quesadillas the next day).

I highly recommend this recipe if you have time to throw the ingredients together in the morning to make an effortless meal that night.  Plus, when you serve it tons of extras - we had lettuce, cheddar cheese, black beans, guacamole, homemade salsa, and tortillas - it not only tastes great but it also looks like you worked a lot harder than you did!

Mexican Pulled Chicken
Taken from: Handle the Heat (great in burritos, tacos, quesadillas, etc)
Serves 4-6

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt and pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 cup salsa (homemade is better but jarred is fine for a quick dinner!)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 lime, juiced

-In a nonstick skillet, bring to a medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion, cumin, chili powder and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook onion, stirring regularly until it starts to soften (about 5 minutes). Add half a cup of chicken stock.
-Add skillet mixture to slow cooker.  Add chicken, salsa and the rest of the chicken stock.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
-Shred chicken in slow cooker with two forks (it should be tender enough to easily shred).  Continue cooking for 15 minutes or more or low. Add lime juice to chicken. Taste and adjust seasonings.


Week's Menu Plan

 Monday: Grilled Mahi Mahi with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and quinoa

Tuesday: Thai chicken soup

Wednesday:  turkey mole

Thursday: Rice and Bean Casserole

Friday: Penne with Italian sausage & bell peppers

Saturday: ground beef wellington

Week's Menu Plan & Slow Cooker Chicken Broth

So it's back to the working world for me on Monday - which I'm quite excited about although quick weeknight meals will be a much bigger factor from now on!  I'm assuming that I'll be a bit drained after the first work week so I tried to pick things for this menu plan that are much easier to make or the prep work can be done ahead of time.  And we'll be celebrating on Friday with a little homemade pizza!

I'm especially looking forward to the skirt steak and blue cheese salad (Bryant loves blue cheese although I'll be topping mine with feta instead) because our farmers market just started carrying grass fed beef. And I'll be stocking up, too, as the end of farmers markets is rapidly approaching (it'll be goodbye to the farmers market, hello to CSA [Community Supported Agriculture] boxes!).

I've been wanted to make my own chicken broth for a while.  I've been shelling out for Trader Joe's chicken broth and while it's good, I figured making my own would be cheaper AND better.  At our local grocery store this week, free range, antibiotic-free whole chickens were only $1 a pound, so I jumped at the chance.  Bryant and I only really like white meat so I cut off the chicken breast and roasted it along with some vegetables last night.  The rest of the chicken was thrown into the pot for stock and simmered all day yesterday.  For a 5 pound chicken, we got a great meal (or two) AND tons of broth!  I haven't tried the broth yet but I'll be using it in the Vietnamese chicken pho that I'm finally making this week.


Week's Menu Plan

Saturday: marinated chicken skewers, tzatiki, Greek salad
Sunday: Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon Sauce with risotto
Monday: spaghetti with meatballs with sauteed vegetables
Tuesday: skirt steak and blue cheese salad
Wednesday: Spanish Tortilla with biscuits
Thursday: Vietnamese chicken pho
Friday:  homemade pizza


Slow Cooker Chicken Stock
Taken from: Ina Garten
Makes approx 4-6 cups of chicken stock (which can then be thinned with water, if desired)

• 1 (5-pound) roasting chickens (or the parts leftover that you didn't want to eat)
• 1 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
• 2 carrots, unpeeled and halved
• 1 stalks celery with leaves, cut into thirds
• 7 sprigs fresh parsley (all I had was dried so I just threw in probably about a teaspoon)
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme (again, only dried)
• 20 sprigs fresh dill (optional, I omitted)
• 1/3 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 crosswise
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (don't use ground as it'll be too spicy)
• 8 cups water

-Place the chicken/chicken parts, onion, carrots, celery, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, and seasonings in a large stockpot or slow cooker.
-Add approximately 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 4 hours over the stove OR place a slow cooker on low and cook 8-10 hours.
-Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids.
-Chill the stock overnight or at least 8 hours. The next day, remove the surface fat.
-Use immediately or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months (Bryant laughs but I package mine in 2 Tbsp. ice cubes and then freeze them that way.  This means 8 chicken broth cubes would be one cup. It's a lot easier to get the amount you want and a lot quicker to thaw!)

Weekly Menu Plan & Pulled Pork

With Bryant working long hours this month, I've been trying to do things to make his life easier and of course, taking pity on him and making his favorite meals. This is especially true when he works on the weekends so that's when I really try to make something special. And that something special this weekend is definitely pulled pork sandwiches. This recipe is so good! The spices give the pork a great flavor. And it's not just meant for BBQ pulled pork (although I didn't realize that fact last time). Once this recipe is cooked, it can be used in lots of other dishes - Chinese, Mexican, salads, etc. Of course, we'll be having BBQ pulled pork sandwiches tonight but I'll freeze the leftovers to use in other dishes.

Pulled pork is traditionally made with a cheaper cut of pork called pork shoulder or Boston butt. However, once you remove the tons of extra fat, a 4-lb shoulder is suddenly much closer to 3 pounds. I've started buying a slightly more costly, leaner cut of pork but since it's leaner, I can buy a small quantity (since you don't have to remove as much fat). While I still haven't found a perfect cut of pork for pulled pork, I've tried pork loin chops before which worked well.

Week's Menu Plan

Saturday: slow cooker pulled pork, salad, Bryant's award-winning cookies

Sunday: Jamaican Jerk Chicken with corn on the cob

Monday: pad see ew (thanks to lots of leftovers from a lovely lunch I had with my grandma on Friday) with baby bok choy and red peppers

Tuesday: beef enchiladas from last week (I've actually already made the meat and frozen it so all I have to do is bake the enchiladas) with restaurant style salsa

Wednesday: Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Thursday: shrimp and grits

Friday: Vietnamese chicken pho (it never was made last week)


Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Taken from: Life's Ambrosia

• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (5 pound) bone-in pork shoulder OR 3 pounds of pork loin chops or whatever cut you've chosen (again, if you go with a leaner cut of meat, you won't need as much)
  
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water

-Remove as much fat as possible from the pork.
-Combine salt, chili powder, cumin, granulated garlic, pepper and oregano in a small bowl.
-Rub spice mixture all over the pork. Cover and refrigerate over night or for several hours.
-Slice the onion and lay it on the bottom of a 5 quart slow cooker. Place the pork on top of the onions. Pour beef broth and water over the top. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low (or 4 hours on high).
-Remove from slow cooker. Allow to cool slightly. Discard bone and pan juices. Using a fork and spoon shred meat (removing any visible fat).
-If making BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, return shredded pork to slow cooker and add good bottled BBQ sauce or homemade sauce. Cook on low for 1-2 hours.

Homemade Marinara Sauce & Ways to Save Money

I love tomato sauce. Love it. I use loads of any tomato-based sauce like salsa, pico de gallo and marinara whenever I can (I don't, however, like plain tomatoes which I find weird). As my friend Becca says, "I could eat salsa with a spoon." And I'm right next to her, spoon in hand.

However, while I've made fresh salsa, for some reason, I've never tried making my own marinara sauce. I don't know why it's taken me so much time! It's delicious. Bryant thought this was a great "summertime" marinara sauce. Light and fresh. We still have leftovers and I froze half so we'll be enjoying this for quite some time!

A couple changes I made: I used both fresh tomatoes from the farmers market as well as canned whole tomatoes in this sauce although you could use 2 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes (Cook's Illustrated recommends Muir Glen brand for crushed tomatoes). Another difference was that I cooked mine in a slow cooker although the original recipe is on the stove. Finally, I added more spices and 1/4 cup of red wine to give a bit more richness to the sauce.

Also, before I share the recipe, I wanted to share a way to save money on groceries! I'm always looking for ways to save - I look at grocery circulars, compare prices (my dad and I sometime discuss milk prices at grocery stores), cut coupons, print internet coupons...you get the point. However, one way that is a GREAT way to save money in the kitchen is your local co-operative. A co-op has the BEST prices on spices, hands down. I recently refilled my bay leaf container for 26 CENTS and my dried oregano container for 25 cents. They're typically $2-3 at the grocery store. That really adds up! Also, you can buy as much or as little as you like. So, for example, I had been putting off trying recipes because you only needed a teaspoon of dried ginger and I just couldn't justify shelling out a few bucks for an entire container. However, at a co-op I could get just a tiny amount of these lesser-used spices. They also have cheap bulk foods with different kinds of oats, flours, dried fruit, trail mix, nuts, etc. I even found REAL maple syrup in bulk - grade B, of course. (My family is a bunch of maple syrup snobs. Seriously. We bring our own to restaurants.)

One thing about co-ops is that I believe they are often in cities so just check the internet for the closest one to you. The closest one for us is 45 minutes away so I don't go there a lot. Instead, I save up a list and pair it with some other shopping or errands to do in the city anyway.

Homemade Marinara Sauce
Taken from: AllRecipes (also, the meatball part of this recipe is excellent although I didn't use it this time)

• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (Muir Glen recommended by Cook's Illustrated) OR 56 oz. of fresh tomatoes crushed in a food processor (6-7 large tomatoes)
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup red wine
  

-In a skillet over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
-Add cooked onions and garlic to a slow cooker. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaves.
-Cover, set on low (you can change to high if pressed for time) and cook 5-6 hours (2 hours on high). Stir in tomato paste, dried spices, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and red wine and cook on high for 30 min (or set to low and let simmer until you're ready for dinner).
-If you like a smoother marinara sauce, take about 1/4 -1/2 of the sauce and add to a blender. Blend on high for a few seconds. Add back to slow cooker. Serve with pasta (I HIGHLY recommended Ronzoni Smart Taste spaghetti. Tastes like white spaghetti but has the nutrition of whole wheat (more protein and fiber than regular spaghetti). Also, you can find a 75 cent off coupon here: Smart Taste coupon.

Moo Shu Pork with Vegetables, Homemade Crepes

We don't go out to eat often but when we go out, I often find myself wondering if I could recreate the meals we like. We visited my grandmother about a month ago and went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. We decided to have the food "family-style" and split everything. The best thing was definitely the moo shu pork that my grandmother ordered. It was so good and also made me wonder if it was possible to make it at home.

After some online searching, I found a moo shu pork recipe but it didn't seem like enough. Then I found a moo shu vegetable recipe, so I combined the 2 recipes to make one dish. Also, moo shu is served with Chinese pancakes and on several reviews, it was recommended to actually serve crepes because it most closely mimics the Chinese pancakes! I found a great recipe for crepes (which I made whole wheat, of course!) to complete the dish.

Altogether, the meal worked REALLY well. It was a create-your-own dinner so we put the crepes, vegetables and pork all on the table so both Bryant and I could make them as we'd like (plus, it made it really easy to go back for seconds!). Bryant actually declared this better than the delicious moo shu we had at the Chinese restaurant! The only thing I would change was that we didn't have plum sauce, the traditional sauce served with moo shu (I'm currently looking for a recipe for that!).

The crepe recipe was wonderful with the meal but it would also be easy to use for either sweet or savory fillings. We'll definitely make this again!

Moo Shu Pork
Loosely adapted from: AllRecipes
Is a slow cooker recipe so allow 2-6 hours to cook.

• 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 5 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops, cut into thin strips
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce (if you don't have hoisin, some people recommend replacing with BBQ sauce but I've actually never tried that myself)
  

-Trim all visible fat off pork.
-In a slow cooker, add all ingredients. boneless pork chops, chicken broth, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Slather hoisin on pork. Cook on low for 6 hours (you could also try cooking on high for 2-3 hours if you're more pressed for time).
-Serve both pork and sauce.

Moo Shu Vegetables
Taken from: Eating Well
**If you want to make this recipe simple and save time, buy a bad of shredded mixed vegetables. If you want to go cheaper, I shredded red cabbage, grated carrots and cucumbers.

• 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, divided
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 12-ounce bag shredded mixed vegetables, such as “rainbow salad” or “broccoli slaw” OR chop up and core red or Napa cabbage head, grate 2-3 carrots, bean sprouts (if you'd like)
  
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced, divided
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

-Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add eggs; cook, stirring gently, until set, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a plate.
-Wipe out the pan and heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, 1 minute.
-Add shredded vegetables, half the sliced scallions, soy sauce and vinegar. Stir to combine. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are just tender, about 3 minutes.
-Add the reserved eggs and hoisin; cook, uncovered, stirring and breaking up the scrambled eggs, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining scallions and remove from the heat.

Crepes
Taken from: AllRecipes
I had never made crepes before but this was an incredibly simple and delicious recipe! It was perfect for the moo shu but after dinner, we had 2 leftover crepes which we turned into dessert! Extremely versatile and if you were going to use them for sweet crepes, you could probably add in vanilla or almond extract and/or some spices like cinnamon or nutmeg.

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk (I used skim which worked really well)
  
• 2/3 cup white whole wheat or all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil or canola oil
  

-In a blender combine eggs, milk, flour, salt and oil. Process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
-Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Once the skillet is hot (if you flicked a drop or two of water on the surface, the water should sizzle), pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into pan, tilting to completely coat the surface of the pan. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden (mine took about 1 minute per side). Repeat with remaining batter.

Minestrone Soup and How to Cook Dried Beans

So many recipes to share, so little time. It was a serious debate with Bryant which of the past weekend's meals to share. We decided on the minestrone soup but the blueberry scone and the quiche recipes are sure to follow.

Minestrone soup is probably my favorite soup. Whenever I see it at a restaurant, I always want to get it (but often balk at paying $5 for a cup of soup). So of course, making it at home is a lot cheaper! Also, it has so many fresh vegetables that summer is the best season for it.

This recipe makes a lot of meals. It says that it serves 8 but I think we're going to get more than that out of it. We had it for dinner Saturday night, then I had it for lunch 3 days in a row and I still froze about half of it for a future meal! Definitely worth all the chopping.

Minestrone Soup
Taken from: Allrecipes

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 2 cups celery, chopped
  
• 5 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups tomato sauce OR 4 cups crushed tomatoes OR 6 fresh tomatoes (crushed in the food processor)
  
• 1/2 cup red wine (optional)
• 1 cup kidney beans, drained
• 1 cup white beans, drained (I used canario)
  
• 2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
• 3 zucchinis, quartered and sliced
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano OR 1 tsp. dried oregano
  
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil OR 1 Tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried thyme (optional)
  
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
  
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup whole wheat short pasta (I used rotini)
  
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese for topping

-In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
-Add chicken broth, water, tomatoes and red wine, bring to boil, stirring frequently.
-Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, white beans, spinach, zucchini, oregano, basil, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, the longer the better.
-Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain water and set aside.
-Once pasta is cooked and soup is heated through place 2 tablespoons cooked pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top to taste.

Cooking Dried Beans

Also, I've finally figured out how to cook dried beans! Sad, but true. Bryant and I had a black bean fiasco a couple months ago where we soaked the beans overnight, all day and STILL they weren't ready to eat! I had also decided to soak the entire bag about 3 weeks before we moved to California. Needless to say, we had a lot of black beans before we left. I definitely had to get creative to use those up...and probably cleared out our systems in the process!

So I hadn't bought dried beans since...until they had some at the farmers market on Saturday and was going to make minestrone soup that night. Bryant reminded me of "the incident" so after searching the internet, I found that you some easy directions to follow AND they don't require overnight soaking.

Also, since dried beans are cheaper than canned, it always helps our budget (Bryant lovingly calls me "the budget nazi" thanks to my extensive excel sheet, large collection of coupons and money-saving tips). Cooked beans can also be frozen so unless you're moving in 3 weeks, you could always make a few cups at a time and freeze them for easy future uses (as I mention below, dried beans will typically triple in volume). Finally, any time you can get away from added sodium and preservatives, found in canned beans, is always a benefit!

-Rinse beans to be cooked (dried beans will typically triple in volume so 1 cup of dried beans makes 3 cups of cooked) and pick out any bad ones.
-In a large pot halfway full of water (do not add salt), bring them to a boil and boil for at LEAST 10 minutes. (Apparently, dried beans have low levels of a toxin so you need to boil for 10 minutes to make sure the toxin is removed.)
-Drain beans. Place beans in slow cooker and add 3 cups of water for every one cup of beans. Cook on high for 2-4 hours or on low for approximately 4-6 hours. Cooking times can vary by bean type.