RIBS!!

AMAZING.

Every week I post a link to my blog on Facebook. Last week my cousin Dustin commented telling me about how his wife and him make Crock Pot recipes often and that I should try his rib recipe! I am a HUGE fan of ribs, but I didn't think anyone could beat the way my Dad makes them. But ribs in the Crock Pot are seriously INCREDIBLE. Now I was a bit nervous because I am a BBQ sauce snob and eat Pepper Plant BBQ Sauce pretty much exclusively. If you haven't had it I would HIGHLY recommend it. I buy it in gallon jugs and put it on pretty much everything... yes i am 5 years old. yes i put in vegetables. its good on pasta too... I can't find it up north but I know you can find it SLO county... and apparently on Amazon as well... good to know! This is a tangent. But basically I haven't been home since January and am out of my usual supply so I had to use another brand. Sweet Baby Ray's and I have to admit... it was pretty damn good. DID I MENTION THAT THE MEAT FELL OFF THE BONE, LITERALLY, AND I HAD TO EAT IT WITH A FORK?? unreal.

Ingredients: 

easy peasy.

First you put the ribs on a baking sheet and cook them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cut the ribs in half to fit into the Crock Pot and cover with a jar of BBQ sauce.

I used Sweet Baby Ray's honey BBQ sauce and it was DELISH. 

Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. That's it!! The meat literally fell off the bone... I had to eat them with a FORK.

As for side dishes, I decided to fix up some green beans using my favorite recipe from my Dad. These green beans are so good I eat them as dessert... I decided to add that recipe in here too since the ribs were so easy. I don't really measure so you'll just have to eyeball it.

Ingredients:

Garlic and parmesan cheese make these green beans delectable!

Other ingredients: basil, parsley, garlic powder (or real garlic), olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper (which I forgot to take a picture of)

Cook the green beans however you would like (I'm lazy and buy those bags of green beans that you can just microwave) Add some shakes of each ingredient (lol so scientific!) and you have got the best green beans POSSIBLE. 

Here is the completed meal:

I also made some mashed potatoes using the leftover flakes I had from Shepherd's Pie. 

Easiest recipe so far and I think... my favorite one I've made!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

mmmmm.

This is late, I know! I've been slacking on my blog updates. I usually do them on Thursdays but I babysat for 11 hours and just couldn't find the energy. This week we decided to make Tortilla Soup. I had never had it before, but it sounded delicious and Sam said it was good so we made it! It has been really rainy and gross up here lately, so soup was really the perfect choice. We also paired it with chicken tacos to make the meal a bit more substantial. I just made an extra chicken breast in the soup, shredded it, and set it aside. It turned out to be the perfect rainy day meal! It was really good and, like most things, the leftovers were equally good, if not better. Sam says it was the,"BEST CROCK POT MEAL THUS FAR." I'm still waiting to find a Crock Pot recipe I HATE, but so far so good! I did make a stew once that I thought looked AND tasted like dog food, but everyone else seemed to like it... Anyways, here is how I made Chicken Tortilla Soup! It is also from the Crock Pot Collection Cookbook. 

Here are the ingredients:

Nothing too expensive! Plus, I already had the corn tortillas leftover. I'm still trying to figure out why they sell corn tortillas in bags of like, 50 or 100 and never in bags of 20 or 10??

First you place the chicken in the Crock Pot. I always grease my Crock Pot first with Pam. I hear they make Crock Pot liners. I need to invest! Then you combine the undrained tomatoes, 1/2 cup chicken broth, chiles (I left these out, not too into spice!), onion, garlic and cumin in a small bowl. 

Then you pour the mixture over the chicken, cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or until chicken is tender. 

YUM onions!

When I read the recipe I was a little concerned because I was going to be out of the house for longer then 3 hours. I have class from 2-5:40 (This should be illegal...) so I just hoped for the best. My Crock Pot switches to "Keep Warm" when the time is up, which is very helpful! I came home from class and it had been "keeping warm" for about 2 hours. 

After it has cooked you remove the chicken and shred it with 2 forks. I shredded all the chicken and left out some for the tacos. Return the shredded chicken into the crock pot, adjust seasonings and add more broth if necessary. I added all the broth because it didn't seem very soupy without it. 

yum!

I cooked it for a while longer on low just to heat it up. I didn't keep track of how long though... Just before serving add tortillas and cilantro. Serve with cheese, avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. The only avocado they had at Safeway was not ripe at all so I didn't use it. I also didn't use lime because I don't really like them. 

Here is the finished product with tacos! SUCH a good meal!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Crock Pot Ultimate Recipe Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts)
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2-1 cup chicken broth, divided
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped mild green chiles, drained
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 corn tortillas, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1. Place chicken in 4 1/2-quart Crock-Pot slow cooker. Combine tomatoes with juice, 1/4 cup chicken broth, chiles, onion, garlic and cumin in small bowl. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover; cook on HIGH 3 hours or until chicken is tender.
2. Remove chicken from Crock-Pot slow cooker. Shred with 2 forks. Return to cooking liquid. Adjust seasonings, adding more broth if necessary.
3. Just before serving, add tortillas and cilantro to Crock-Pot slow cooker. Stir to blend. Serve in soup bowls, topping each serving with cheese, avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. 

makes 4-6 servings

Sweet and Sour Chicken

so delicious!

Paper due at 2 tomorrow? 30 pages of reading? A quiz? This seems like the perfect time to update my blog... For this weeks Crock Pot Monday, we decided to make something that I have already made prior to starting this blog. I didn't have much time since I had to switch my volunteering from Wednesday to Monday (because I went and visited my sister... I will include some pictures of this too!) so I needed something super quick, easy and delicious to make! I have to say this is one of my favorite Crock Pot meals and by far the easiest one I have ever made. There is no prep work at all, just throw all the ingredients in the pot and leave it for a few hours! I got this recipe from my 101 Things To Do With a Slow Cooker cookbook. 

First, here are the ingredients: 

plus rice, forgot to add that in the picture! 

First you cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Then you combine the chicken, sweet and sour sauce, frozen veggies and salt into your greased Crock Pot. I also added a fresh onion because I LOVE ONIONS. and they make everything taste better.

Now comes the hard part...... STIR IT!

raw chicken... yum!

Cover and cook on HIGH for 2.5- 3 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours. Serve over rice! 

It doesn't look exactly like the sweet and sour chicken you would get at a Chinese restaurant, but it was still DELICIOUS! 

See how ridiculously easy that was??? And it is AMAZING!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

101 Things To Do With a Slow Cooker

Ingredients: 

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 jar (18 ounces) sweet and sour sauce
• 1 bag (16 ounces) Szechuan vegetables stir fry (I just used Asian Style Stir Fry veggies because they didn't have Szechuan veggies.
• 1 onion, diced (my addition)
• 6 cups cooked rice
• 1/4-1/2 cup toasted, chopped almonds. (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

     Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. In greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker combine chicken, sweet-and-

     sour sauce, frozen vegetables, and salt. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or on LOW for

     5-6 hours. 

Makes 4-6 servings.

Other then my usual Crock Pot adventures on Monday, my sister Diana and I made heirloom tomato and feta salad on garlic bread and an apple pie when I went to visit her on Wednesday. I documented our fanciness. 

this was seriously heavenly, and i dont even like plain tomatoes usually!

nom nom nom

Here is our pretty apple pie! It has some sort of cheese in the crust (I forget the name..) it was good, and pretty! 

That's all for now! Tomorrow we are making Chicken Tortilla Soup... and hopefully I will update a little quicker this time.

Sara (and Santa) approve!