SSsssss.... Slow Cooking!

Nothing beats coming home at the end of a long day to an amazing smelling house... like someone has slaved over the oven all day. And... no one has.... it is just the Crock Pot. I am a huge proponent of the crockpot. My friend Sarah just bought her first crockpot. Sarah... be prepared... it will rock your world. If I can get my butt up in the AM to cut and dice (or beg enough so the husband will do it)... it is sooo worth it! Slow cooking is the perfect thing to do when you are having a dinner party, because the meal can really just sit on the "keep warm" setting until everyone is ready to eat. There is no need to rush the cocktail hour!

A month or so ago we had friends over for dinner and I served Pork Tacos from the crock pot. This is a meal that my sister had served and it was amazing! Thanks sister. All I had to do was put everything in the crockpot in the am and then just dice up all the taco toppings (lettuce, tomatoe, onion, etc) just before they arrived. I whipped up a corn and bean salad, warmed up some tortillas and voila! So easy, so yummy and more time chatting with friends, less time slaving over the stove!

Here is the taco recipe (recipe says you can make pork sandwiches with this same recipe):

Shredded Pork Tacos

Source: The Best of Cooking Light

The meat literally falls apart after eight hours. Use two forks to shred the meat while the mixture is still in the slow cooker.

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup beer or water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 (1.25 ounce) package 40%-less-sodium taco seasoning

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I did not include this)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in cilantro.

2. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon 1/4 cup pork mixture onto each tortilla, and top each tortilla with 1/4 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped onion, and 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream. Fold tacos in half. Yield 4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos).

Calories 379 (28% from fat); Fat 11.6g (sat 4.8mg, mono 2.9g, poly 1.2g); Protein 42g; Carb 28.1g; Fiber 3.2 g; Chol 119mg; Iron 2.1mg; Sodium 343mg; Calc 142mg

My boss recently gave me a flank steak in the crockpot recipe that I cannot wait to try. Stay tuned! In my search for new crockpot recipes... I stumbled across a fellow blogger who cooked in her crockpot everyday for a year. Impressive! Her site is great. Check it out at: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

With winter here soon... it has never been a better time to take it slow... whip out the slow cooker and enjoy! I am planning on making me some spareribs this weekend in the crockpot! Yummmmmy!

Until next time...xoxo