Southwest Green Chili Shredded Pork

This is one of the simplest and best meals I made while on our 24 Advocare Challenge (diet). This makes a ton so it's best if you are making for a crowd or plan this meal as is for day one and use the left overs on top of nacho's, in a quesadilla or on top a loaded southwest sweet potato!

You will need a crockpot and the following ingredients:

*3-4lb Pork shoulder, trimmed of fat
*2 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
*small sweet onion, cut into half rings
*1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
*1 4 oz can diced green cili's
*1 can of your favorite flavor Rotel (I use the green chili and tomato)
*1-2 whole anaheim green chilies, sliced into strips (Or another large can of green chilies-drained)
*2 tsp ground cumin
*salt and pepper

Optional ingredients for making into tacos:
*Corn tortillas
*Salsa verde
*sliced avocado
*Low fat sour cream

Optional toppings if making a carb free meal as I did in these pictures
*lime slices
*salsa of any kind
*sliced avocado
*cilantro

Directions:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook on all sides till browned (about 8-10 mins total)
2. Place pork in slow cooker. Add onion, tomatoes, green chilies, rotel and cumin. Add 1/2 cup- 1 cup water (I didn't do this, but I added the tomatoes and rotel with the juices)
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until fork tender. You can use two forks to shred pork right in the crock pot and mix will all the sauteed onions and peppers. YUM.

Serve either as is, in tacos, as quesadilla, nachos, or on a potato! Enjoy and invite some friends over to share! :) Sorry, no pictures below of this served in taco's... they were eaten WAY too quickly to snap a photo!

On top of fully loaded nachos! 

On a loaded sweet potato! HUGE hit in my house!

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken (Bourbon Chicken)

Here is another crockpot meal I did during my 5-1 meal day. (This is where I make 5 meals at once and put them in gallon size zip lock bags and put in the freezer. When ready to cook I just take out and put right in the crock pot. Great for weekday meals!) I got this recipe from Table for Two blog.

My house smelt JUST like walking past the Chinese Restaurant that hands out samples on a toothpick in the mall's food court! That place always tempts me to eat there! And when I do, i always feel like crap after eating it. This tastes better and I know what's all in it!!

The only thing I will change about the recipe is next time I will use more chicken (It makes enough marinade). While I was cutting it up, the kids and I kept nibbling on it. So once we got it to the table for dinner there was barely enough for all of us, and definitely not enough for left overs! I served this over sticky rice and sauteed broccoli, green beans, carrots and water chestnuts. I will be making this again soon!

Here is the recipe off the blog. If you want to make this into a freezer meal, just put all the ingredients except the cornstarch and sesame seeds in a zip lock freezer bag and put in your freezer. On the day you want to make it, just take it right from freezer and place in your crockpot. (I cooked mine this way on the lowest setting for just under 5 hours.)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5

Salt and pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
4. When done, remove chicken from pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce.
5. Serve hot over a bed of white rice (optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Once Chicken is done, take out and cut into chunks

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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Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos

This is a super easy recipe. Only 3 ingredients go in to the crock pot and then add any fixing you wish. My favorite part about this recipe is you can do SO much with it! We made it tonight and made tacos and quesadillas with the chicken. With the left overs, I am going to make Chicken Tortilla Soup and Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada's with Green Chilies (using this chicken as the filling and not adding extra rotel or onions). I would love to hear any additional recipes you may come up with using this chicken! It makes a ton. I'm sure you could freeze for future use as well!

I have another recipe on this blog that is extremely similar. It's the same 3 ingredients but you also add black beans and corn to the crock pot. We like that a lot too, this is just simplified and I feel can be used in more recipes with the leftovers since I necessarily wouldn't want corn in my enchiladas.

Ingredients:

*4-5 skinless boneless chicken breasts
*1 packet of taco seasoning
*1 lg jar of salsa (I like using a chuncky salsa. Aprox 25-30 oz)
*Any additional toppings (toppings we used included: Tortillas, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce, jalapenos, avocado, pico and lime slices!)

Cook in crock pot on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Once done, shred chicken with two forks right in crock pot mixing with all the juices from the salsa.

YUM!

Shred chicken in Crock Pot 

The chicken is very tender and flavorful!

Slow Cooker Stout & Chicken Stew

A friend got this out of a magazine... I'm not sure of the author or magazine, so I am sorry for not giving them credit. It was a simple, yet delicious dish. I will definitely have this on my winter rotation. Nothing like a hearty stew, made simply in a crock pot, on a cool night! I was a little hesitant to make this since many times I make chicken in a crock pot it doesn't come out that great. The chicken was super tender and flavorful. We served with kale salad and crusty Rosemary and Olive Oil bread. This would also be good served over jasmine or sticky rice!

Slow Cooker Stout & Chicken Stew

The recipe asks for chicken thighs but I just used 3 breast and cut them up into bite size pieces.

Ingredients

* 6 tbs plus 1/2c all-purpose flour, divided (I used 4T since I cut down the chicken)
* 1 tsp salt, divided plus more to taste
* 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
* OPTIONAL- a few dashes of ground cayenne red pepper* 2 1/2lbs of chicken ( your choice) (I think I used just under 2 lbs)
* 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 3 pieces bacon, chopped (I used 4 pieces... I know, rebel!)
* 14oz of stout beer ( i used 1 bottle of guiness- I think the bottle was 11.5 oz)
* 1lb of whole baby carrots (Cut stems off)
* 1 8oz pkg cremini or button mushroom, halved if large (I used reg white whole mushrooms and cut them in half)
* 2 c of chopped onion (I used one medium sweet onion)
* 4 cloves of garlic, minced 
* 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme ( i just used whatever i had) (I used fresh thyme, about 1 tsp)
* 1 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 2 c frozen baby peas, thawed (I'm not a big pea fan so I used 3/4 c of frozen baby peas)

1.) Combine 6 tbs flour with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper in shallow bowl. Dredge chicken in mixture to coat completely; transfer to plate. (I added a few dashes of ground Cayenne Red Pepper to flour mixture to give a bit of a kick)

2.) Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook all the chicken till browned and then transfer to slow cooker.

3.) Add bacon to the pan and cook, stirring often then sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour over the bacon and cook, stirring constantly for 2 min or more. Add beer and use a wooden spoon to scrape up andy browned its from the bottom of the pan. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Add carrots, mushrooms, onion, garlic, thyme, spreading in even layers over the chicken. Pour broth over the top.

4.) Cover and cook until the chicken is falling apart tender, 4 hours on high or 7 to 8 hours on low. (I cooked mine on medium for 6 1/2 hours, then added peas and cooked on low another 30 mins)

5.) Stir in peas, cover and cook until the peas are heated through, 5 to 10 min more. Season the rest with salt and pepper to taste. If you want the stew thicker and flour or corn starch towards the end.

I cut up 3 chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Mix flour with seasonings)

Coat chicken in flour mixture

Brown chicken in a bit of olive oil (just enough to coat bottom of pan) Once browned, remove chicken and put into slow cooker.

Add chopped up bacon to same pan you used to fry up chicken

Once bacon is done and crispy, but not burnt, add the extra flour

Stir well mixing that yummy bacon grease with the flour

Add your beer...

Stir well, scraping sides. Add mixture to slow cooker and stir in with the chicken.

Chicken and beer/bacon mixture in slow cooker

Baby carrots, chopped onion and mushrooms cut in half

Place veggies on top of chicken in slow cooker along with garlic, thyme and more seasoning if you wish.

Add chicken broth. Cover and cook on medium-low for 6-8 hours

hour left to cook...

added defrosted baby peas with 30 minutes left

Tender and flavorful. 

ENJOY!

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!!