Crock Pot Beef Burritos

School is about to start and my days are getting busier.  I like anything that make my weekday meals a little more simple, but still tasty! I found this blog on Pinterest that shows you how to spend 1-2 hours in the kitchen one day and make 5 different meals to freeze and just throw in the crock pot when ready to make it. It really is a great idea and I love the days I can just wake up and turn my crock pot on and dinner is ready at night! Here is the recipe for the first one I made. Check out Saving You Dinero's Blog for tips on 5-1 Freezer meals! (Make sure it freezes in a size/shape that will fit in your crock pot!)

I really liked these burrito's. We used the meat to make Chipotle style burrito's. I made a side of cilantro lime rice and heated up a can of pinto beans. We all liked this a lot and will definitely make it again!!

Here are all the ingredients that went into this bag. On the bag itself I write:
1. What the meal is called
2. The date I assembled
3. Cooking Directions
4. What to do (if anything) after it's done cooking to prepare the dinner
5. I also list any other ingredients I need during the day I will be serving (ex: tortillas and cheese for burritos)

Ingredients:

• 1 London Broil or top round roast (about 2 lbs)
• 1 diced onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce – Use just 1 pepper!! (It’s in a can.)
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder (you can adjust this according to your taste)

Ingredients to use on the day you make this- Large Flour Tortillas, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, pico or diced tomato, and cilantro lime rice (white sticky rice mixed with cilantro, lime juice and a little salt). Also, warm up a can of pinto or black beans.

1. Add all the above ingredients into a freezer bag. Put in freezer till ready to make. 
2. When you are ready to cook the meal, dump the contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
3. When the meat is cooked, you will need to strain the juices and add the juice back to the slow cooker. (You want to remove the peppercorns and onions.) Shred the meat and add back to the juice in the slow cooker for about 30 minutes.  Add the meat, some of the rice and come of the beans and toppings of your choice into the tortilla and roll into a burrito. Enjoy!! I always serve with a variety of hot sauces too!! This is one of our favorite recipes. My kids eat it as long as we have leftovers.

Gallon size freezer bag... write on it before you fill it

Once everything is in bag, seal and freeze. (Make sure it doesn't freeze in a shape that is too big to fit in your crock pot)

Half way done

Remove all juices. Take meat and shred back in crock pot

Strain juices removing the whole peppercorns and onions, just letting the juices back in with the meat.

Place all your ingredients in middle of large tortilla

Roll

Enjoy!

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Italian Meatballs... Great for freezing

This recipe makes a huge batch. I halved the recipe and had enough to feed 4 adults and 2 kids and also had enough to freeze for another meal. I found this recipe on pinterest and they originated from the blog The Yummy Life. I made the meatballs during the day and put them in the fridge till later that night. I made a homemade sauce (you can use any sauce you prefer) and I simmered the meatballs in the sauce for 20 minutes until fully warm. I served over thin spaghetti and shredded fresh parmesan cheese over the top. The meatballs were moist and flavorful. I will definitely make these again, maybe next time I'll make a whole batch to freeze more for later use! These are great over pasta or on italian rolls as a sub!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1-1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs (I use whole wheat)
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 medium onion, finely minced or grated
• 1 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1-1/2 lbs. ground pork
• 3 lbs. ground beef

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine eggs, water, buttermilk, and breadcrumbs in a bowl; let rest for 10 minutes. The mixture will thicken as the bread crumbs absorb the liquid. To this thickened mixture, add garlic, onion, parsley, cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper; stir until combined. In separate large bowl, combine ground pork and beef. Mix meats with fingers or a large fork using a light touch until 2 meats are combined throughout. Add bread crumb mixture to meats. Mix these together, again using a light touch with fingers or large fork. Combine ingredients well, but do not overmix. Form meatballs with hands, or use a scoop. For larger meatballs, use 1/4 cup meat per meatball or use a generous 2" scoop. For mini meatballs, use 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons per meatball or a generous 1-1/4" scoop. Place meatballs on baking sheets. Bake large meatballs for 30 minutes and mini meatballs for 15 minutes, until no longer pink in center.

Mixture of beaten eggs, water, buttermilk and breadcrumbs

I used cheese grater on onion and minced garlic

Chopped parsley

Add all to bread crumb mixture

Combine beef and pork

Add breadcrumb mixture to the meat and mix with hands well.

Form into meatballs. I made some bigger ones and some smaller ones. Key is to put all the same size on the same cookie sheet. So I did one sheet of big and one sheet of small. They cook for different amounts of time.

A little liquid will come out of them while they bake, especially if you use a fattier meat. If you go leaner on your beef you won't see as much of this.

Let cool a bit before putting them in zip lock bags (in a single layer) to freeze.

Tender and flavorful!

Simmered in sauce. Topped with cheese.

ENJOY!

Ju[i]cy Lucy Burger

Another recipe I found on pinterest... These were pretty good, alought I like my patties thinner and with a tad more flavoring. I think next time I make them I will use less meat per ball (making 5 smaller bugers instead of 4 large burgers) and I will use some extra seasonings... maybe montreal steak seasonings and extra Worcestershire sauce. I will also top mine with freshly diced jalapenos:)  The hubby and kids really liked them so I'll make them again like this. We served with baked beans, sauteed onions for topping the burger, and sweet potato fries. 


Here is the link of where the recipe came from. They have great step by step pictures of assembling the burgers to look at. 


Ingredients (makes 4 LARGE burgers) (1/2 burger was enough for the kids when served with sides.)

• 2 pounds Ground Beef (80% preferred), chilled
• 3 oz Frozen Spinach, frozen and crumbled
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 4 oz. Cheese (American or Fontina, or whatever you like), cut to roughly 1″ squares.
• Kosher Salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• Your favorite burger toppings
• 1 onion (sweet or red) Saute in a little butter on the stove top  (optional)

1. Preheat grill to high

2. Thoroughly combine beef, spinach, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. If the meat starts to warm up (from your hands) put it back in the fridge, you need to keep it chilled. Measure out 4 oz balls of beef mixture.

3. Roll into a ball then flatten into a thin patty on top of wax paper, about 1/4″ high and roughly 5″ in diameter. On half of the patties place 1 oz of cheese.

4. On to each cheese-topped patty, flip a second patty to cover the cheese. Pinch the edges together forming a swell in the middle. Re-cover with wax paper and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.

5. Grill chilled patties five minutes on first side, then flip, grill another two minutes. Serve on your favorite bun with sauteed onions and your favorite fixings (I used ketchup, mustard, sauteed onion and pickles.)

This was 4 oz of meat, flattened out  

Top with cheese

Top with another flattened 4 oz patty

Grill. Make sure you wait till edges start cooking through before you flip so they don't fall apart. For some reason I had a bit extra meat so I made a single smaller patty with no cheese in the middle as well. 

Had to add a Blue Moon so I could add an orange and make this a well rounded meal:)

Served with ketchup, mustard, sauteed onions and pickles on a bun. Sweet potato fries and baked beans on the side.

Sweet and Savory Flank Steak with Cilantro-Lime rice with Pineapple

Again... found this recipe off pinterest... I know, I'm obsessed! But it hasn't steered me wrong yet! This may be my new favorite recipe. Well, the marinade is anyway. I will definitely use this marinade for tri-tip, chicken and shrimp in the future as well.

This is actually two different recipes, but they go SO well together I didn't want to post them as two different recipes. Both recipes originally came from this blog, "Our Best Bites". I recommend clicking on it to see her pictures and description as well!

My family loved the flavor of this steak... it was a great combination of sweet and salty. I wanted to lick my plate when I was done. Don't worry, I refrained:) The rice was awesome and I loved the steak served right on top of the rice. I recommend serving with broccoli, green beans or an artichoke!

Ingredients for steak:
* 1/2 C brown sugar

* 1/2 C olive oil
* 1/2 C soy sauce
* 1 C pineapple juice (I sqeezed out the juice from a can of crushed pineapple, set pineapple aside to use in rice)
* 1 T freshly grated giner
* 4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced

* up to 2 lbs flank steak (I think the one I used was a little over a pound... I wish I would have done a bigger one. NO left overs:(

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Remove 1/4 cup and set aside. Place rest of the marinade in a gallon size zip lock bag. 

2. Score flank steak with a knife diagonally on both sides. This just means to run a sharp knife through it in the pattern below. You don’t want to actually cut through the steak, just lightly score- like 1/8 inch- into it. This will help tenderize the meat.3. Place the steak in the ziplock containing the marinade. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. 

4. Take out of fridge 30 minutes before grilling. Place steak on grill and cook for 5-10 minutes per side, depending on the size. 

5. When the steak is almost done, use the 1/4 C marinade you set aside to brush over steak. Flank steak should still be pink in the middle when done.

6. Remove from grill and let stand for 5 minutes before cutting so the juices can redistribute. Always cut flank steak against the grain, in thin slices to serve. (If you’re not sure what it means to cut against the grain, google it:)

*If you don’t have a grill, you could also broil on top rack of oven. I haven't tried this.

Ingredients for Rice:

* 1 cup dry white rice cooked in 2 cups water (I just used 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice that I cooked in my rice cooker)

* 2 T real butter
* Juice from 1 medium lime (more or less to taste)
* 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained. I use the pineapple leftover from the marinade above with the steak.
* ½ – ¾ C chopped fresh cilantro
* Salt and pepper to taste (I like using course Kosher salt)

1. Cook rice. Once done, toss in the butter and stir to melt. 

2. Just before serving, add your lime juice, pineapple, and cilantro. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.

ENJOY!!!

cut steak on diagonal

Then throw in marinade for at least 8 hours

grill, I did about 10 minutes on first side and around 7 minutes on second side

Let rest 5 minutes or so before cutting

By this time your rice should be cooked

Cut the steak against grain

Put your ingredients in your rice

Mix well and season

I would serve steak right on top of the rice

AWESOME!!!

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

These were incredible and the best part was, it was super easy to make and not a ton of ingredients! I found this recipe on Pinterest... here is the blog that the recipe came from. This will definitely be a staple in my house hold. The whole family loved it. We served these on crusty french rolls with provolone cheese along side a bowl of some of the juice ("au jus") and mash potatoes and sauteed green beans.

Ingredients:
*Aprox 3lb beef chuck roast
*16 oz beef broth (1 1/2 cans)  (I only used one can)
*1 can Campbell's condensed French Onion Soup
*6 oz red wine- (I used a pinot noir (from a $9 bottle. I drank the rest with dinner:) )
*1 tsp garlic powder
*salt and pepper, to taste
*onion- thinly sliced into rings (this wasn't in original recipe... I added it because i love the onions on my sandwich. I put a ton on mine and my husband and daughter ate theirs without the onions.)
*4-6 French Rolls
*sliced provolone cheese, optional (Optional?? This makes it!!)

1. Trim most of the fat off the roast. Season beef all over with salt and pepper. Pour the beef broth, french onion soup, wine and garlic powder into the slow cooker and place beef roast into liquid.

2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. (I just put my slow cooker on the 6 hour setting, which for my cooker it's a medium/high heat). I added the thin sliced onions to the slow cooker when there was about 2 hours left to cook.

3. Take beef out and let it rest, covered with aluminum foil, for 15 minutes. Slice beef as thin as possible (I used an electric knife). Return beef to slow cooker and cook on your lowest setting for another 20-30 minutes.

4. Lightly toast the bread and evenly distribute cheese between rolls. Divide beef onto rolls. Spoon the beef juice into bowls and serve while hot. Serve each sandwich with it's own bowl of "au jus".

Cook Roast for 6-8 hours

Remove and cover with tin foil and let rest for 15 minutes

Slice as thin as you can... I used an electric knife that helped shave it thinner than I could have with a knife

Place sliced meat back into slow cooker and turn it to the lowest setting. Cook another 20-30 minutes.

I toasted the buns in the toaster oven and then put cheese slice on both top and bottom. Place your meat (and onions if you wish) on bun. 

Serve with a bowl of au jus

Don't forget to dip each bite!!