Slow Cooker Chinese Orange Chicken- a great way of have take out at home. It’s made in the slow cooker so it’s as easy to make as it’s to call in an order.
My husband and I are going to see Dave Matthews Band tonight!!!!!!!!!
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Slow Cooker
Slow Cooker Sweet Spicy and Short Rib Tacos
I just started going back to work from maternity leave with Hunter. Man, it’s been a rough week. Oh shoot, it’s just been 3 days. Wahhhh!!
I am thankful that starting on Tuesday has meant that it is a short week for me. Same with next week with Labor Day. Starting off slow is much better than being thrown into the deep end.
Hunter has been great but I have been a useless mess. I have sobbed driving to work every morning.
I even ditched Price on the first day by dropping off Autumn and leaving him standing at the door to Hunter’s classroom with a puzzled look on his face as I ran our through the main doors waving a frantic bye among other kids trying to get out and get on a bus. I then followed that up with a text in the car apologizing but explaining how I couldn’t go in the room. Very much like the post it that Berger left for Carrie in SATC “I’m Sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me.”
I’m hoping for a better week next week, but lets be real, it will probably suck too. Gotta keep some realistic expectations over here.
Besides that, it’s all about adjusting to the new morning routine and how to get prepped for the day. I already had 1 issue with forgetting nipples for Hunter’s bottles and my neighbor saved the day by dropping off some at his daycare. It takes a village!
One of the things at makes life a bit easier is having dinner ready when I get home. I do love using my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker, but there is something so nice and familiar about using a slow cooker. Plus, it’s awesome to come home to a house that smells so good.
Short Ribs are my go to meat right now. I love them in tacos and in marinara sauce. Last year I shared another short rib taco recipe using a slow cooker, but I swear this one is different! I love finding new-to-me spices and ingredients so I was excited when I grabbed a bag of Chile Guajillo peppers. They are a mild to medium spiced chili that is often used in salsas, sauces, and rubs to flavor meats.
I wanted to try them with the short ribs by allowing them to flavor the meat as it cooked all day. To cut some of the heat, I used some orange juice for sweetness. And the beer is another great way to add some flavor. If you prefer, you can sub our the beer for stock as that is just as flavorful, in a different way. I think it worked out so well. yum!
Hoping you enjoy these tacos just as much as we did!
Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Short Rib Tacos
Makes 8 Tacos
Ingredients
For the Short Rib Filling
- 2 pounds of boneless short ribs
- 1 Cup Orange Juice
- 1 Cup light beer or beef stock
- 3 dried Guajillo chilies
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
For the Tacos
- Flour Tortillas
- desired fillings such as greens, avocado, tomato, diced onion, cheese
Process
- Combine all of the ingredients in a slow cooker.
- Cook for 8 hours on low.
- Discard the bay leaf and chilies.
- Shred the short rib meat, discarding pieces that are too fatty. Return short rib meat back to liquid in slow cooker.
- Assemble tacos with desired toppings.
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Slow Cooker Cheeseburgers
Cooking cheeseburgers in a slow cooker is an inventive way of preparing cheeseburgers. They are extra cheesy and are a fun, easy way to serve burgers to a crowd!
I am really over due for a haircut. But I don’t want to get it cut.
That’s a lame predicament right there. I need to suck it up and go since my hair is looking stringy and it needs some proper attention.
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Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken Soup
I’m thankful that Thanksgiving is over.
I’m thankful that November is almost over. It’s been a rough month.
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Slow Cooker Short Rib Tacos
So the person who created those YouTube videos of opening up kids toys and surprise eggs is a genius. GENIUS.
I never would have thought that would be ‘a thing’ but they realized how easily kids can get sucked into anything with their favorite character on it. They tapped into a great market of Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Bubble Guppies, and Mickey Mouse lovers.
We try to limit our daughter’s TT time (just morning before getting to daycare) and use of electronics (our phones), but there are times you 15 minutes, so you plop them in front of the computer and turn on those videos. Then you can get enough time to do important things, like shower or fold a load of clothes. It’s like a bizarre magic that over takes them.
Autumn was home yesterday with an upset stomach so I had to make use of these videos just so that I could have some time to do super fun, exciting things, like striping the beds and unloading and reloading the washer and dryer.
So thank you lady with the weird voice for that awesome 15 minute Peppa Pig toy video!
Anyway, Happy Taco Tuesday!!!
These Slow Cooker Short Rib Tacos will quickly become a favorite in your house. I swear.
They are so tender and flavorful from their day in the slow cooker. And since you make them in the slow cooker it’s a meal that is very easy to prepare. Give them a quick sear, set them in your slow cooker, and come back at the end of the day to pull the tender meat off the bone. All you have to do after that is assemble your tacos. So simple, so good!
Short ribs are so flavorful since they are meaty, fatty, and on the bone. I swear that when you cook with a meat on a bone it’s extra tasty. This might not be the case, but I think it’s true so let’s go with it. ha! The short ribs just make such a wonderful cut of meat so you should totally enjoy them in your tacos.
Be sure to double your batch of short rib tacos for plenty of leftovers since you will love them so much!
Slow Cooker Short Rib Tacos
Makes 8 Tacos
Ingredients
- 2- 2 1/2 pounds short ribs, evenly sized
- 1 Cup beer
- 1 Cup beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 flour tortillas
- For serving: slices of avocado, pickled onions, crumbled cotija/goat cheese, thinly sliced radishes, salsa, sliced jalapenos, chopped cilantro, etc
Process
- Sprinkler salt and pepper all over the short ribs.
- In a medium sized pot over medium-high heat, sear all sides of the short ribs.
- Place in a slow cooker. Add the beer, stock, and bay leaf. Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Remove the shrot ribs and let cool until you can handle them.
- Remove the bones and excess fat while you shred the meat. Return the meat to the liquid in the slow cooker until you are ready to serve the tacos.
- Assembly the tacos by warming the tortillas in a dry skillet.
- Divide the meat evenly and then top the tacos with your favorite toppings like avocado, cilantro, pickled onions and cheese.
Slow Cooker Tacos Al Pastor
So I did my first Facebook Live cooking demo this weekend!!!!
Gah I was so nervous! But it was fun.
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Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
You know all those ECards that summarize something so perfectly that you crack up reading while on the train into work? I feel like someone is stalking my life and then writing ECards based upon what they saw. Some of them really hit the nail on the head about me.
Like this one
And this one.
And def this one.
And let’s not forget this one.
Okay last one.
I think that if I made my own ECard I’d have to do something about how ‘sleeping in’ on the weekend means getting up at 6am. Ouch.
We are naturally early risers but it still seems that we should sleep in a bit on the weekends. Well, tell Autumn that. To her, it doesn’t matter that it’s Saturday or Sunday. She still gets up between 5 and 5.23, magically. So that means by 8.30 she is ready for her morning nap. And so are we!
So that is why I was down right giddy when I saw the fabulous recipes for this month’s Secret Recipe Club post. I found the perfect breakfast recipe for the weekends. Perfect!
For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was assigned Taci’s blog, Burnt Apple. Over the past dozen or so years Traci has really become the masterful home cook, far from her days of wall breaking rock hard muffins. She now focuses on healthy, budget friendly recipes that her family will enjoy. She balances a busy life with 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a traveling husband well, like how she balances out her healthy recipes with a few sweet treats in the mix. Hey we all have a sweet tooth!
I enjoyed checking out her extensive recipe collection. She offered so many different recipes, and I liked that she identified them as gluten free, vegan, and other dietary restrictions. It makes browsing a breeze! You can find the perfect appetizer, bread, dessert, drink, or kid-friendly dish!
I picked this Crockpot Breakfast Casserole recipe from the Burnt Apple because it would be ready for us when we stumbled downstairs in the morning at the break of dawn. It meant we just had to flip on the prepped coffee maker, grab some plates, and dig in. Perfectly low maintenance when you’re exhausted from the work week and you know you have a full day ahead of you.
Plus, it seemed like something that I could adapt to be a Whole30 recipe. I made it prior to kicking off this latest (3rd) Whole30 of the year so it still has all the yummy goodness like cheese and breakfast sausage. But I am definitely going to make it again soon in a compliant way.
The size and ease makes it for a great breakfast or brunch to serve to a crowd, like at the holiday’s or while on a family vacation. Awesome!
This was a hit in our house as Autumn ate 2 big plates of it. That is a big seal of approval!
The recipe called for 2 pounds of shredded potatoes, but I could only find a 1 pound 10 ounce package of shredded potatoes so I used that. I don’t think that it effected the end result so if you can only find that as well, then just use that.
There are so many ways for you to make this your own by trying different meats in it like bacon, chorizo, or ham. And then you can try different combinations of cheese. Or add some other veggies in it too.
I can’t wait to make this again really soon.
Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
Makes 8-10 servings
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 pound 10 ounce- 2 pounds of shredded potatoes (frozen or fresh)
- 1 pound of cooked and chopped bacon, ham or breakfast sausage
- 1 cup diced onions
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper per layer of potatoes
Process
- In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, garlic powder and mustard. Set aside for later use.
- Thoroughly grease a crockpot.
- Layer 1/3 of the potatoes in the crockpot. Sprinkle the seasoning salt and pepper on top, then 1/3 of the meat, onions, and cheese. Repeat layers.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the layers.
- Set crockpot to low. For fresh hash browns, cook for 6-7 hours. For frozen hash browns, cook for 8-9 hours. Casserole is finished when eggs are set.
Adapted from The Burnt Apple
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Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!
And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!
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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken will quickly become one of your weekly recipes when you realize how easy it is to make at home.
Every month there I have Pricer pick out a recipe he would want me to make for my Secret Recipe Club post. Sometimes I give him a few suggests or restictions, like I’m not feeling like making cookie or pizza then, but other than that he gets pick. I love having him involved and I love to see what intersts him.
Well, this month I sent him over to check out the recipe index for Erin’s blog called the The Spiffy Cookie and he picked her Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken. It sounded good to me so I was looking forward to when I’d make it. We love to get Chinese food take out but 99% of the time I order shrimp as I do not like the quality of chicken dishes at Chinese food places so this would give me the chance to have some good Honey Sesame Chicken. Plus much cheaper, fresher, and healthier than take out.
This recipe was so super easy. There was very little prep and active cook time and the rest of it was just letting it do its own thing in the slow cooker. I got it all started by mixing up the sauce, adding it to the chicken, and let it be for about 3 hours. Around that time I cut up my brocolli and got my rice going in my rice cooker. When I needed to take the chicken out I added some corn stach to the sauce to thicken it and while I was cutting up the chicken I added my broccoli in my steamer basket to my rice cooker. Perfect for a great Sunday night dinner. Plus, I had very little clean up which is always a win as well.
I just about made the recipe exactly as Erin wrote it, with the exception that i steamed the broccoli instead of sauteeing it, and it came out exactly as described. Don’t you just love when that happens?! Plus it was super tasty. Overall, I think it was a little sweet to me but I typically LOVE really spicy Chinese food. If you do then maybe you can increase the amount of red pepper flakes or add some Siracha to the sauce. While this is a slow cooker meal I think it can be converted into a week night super meal by cutting up the chicken and cooking it in the sauce in a skillet while you cooke the rice.
I only wish I made a double batch so I would have had leftovers for all week. This def beats spending too much money on a sandwich or salad for lunch.
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1.25 lbs)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2-1/2 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp sesame seed oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced, pressed or grated
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 cup dry brown/white rice
- 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb broccoli florets
Directions:
- Put the chicken breasts in crock pot.
- In a small bowl, combine the honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic, and redpepper flakes. Pour over chicken in the slow cooker.
- Cook the chicken on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through.
- Cook the rice according to package directions.
- Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet until hot. Add broccoli and saute 5-6 minutes or until cooked but tender. Or steam the broccoli instead of sauteeing.
- Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Whisk the cornstarch into liquid in the crock pot. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Shred chicken or cut into bite size pieces, then return to pot and coat with sauce. Serve chicken over rice with broccoli, garnish with sesame seeds.
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Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!
Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts
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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
This Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili will keep you warm & cozy all winter long. It’s hearty & healthy, but without all the fuss. The perfect, easy dinner!
Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE
I love our slow cooker. We use it all the time!
Do you have a slow cooker? If not, you need one!!! It’s so awesome.
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