Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

We survived day 2! It's amazing how when you're cutting out processed foods  and sugars they seem to jump out at you at the grocery store! It doesn't help that it's Halloween season and there's candy in every corner of every isle of every store. But day 2 came and went and we're on a roll.

Tuesday are always dedicated to tacos. We usually go to our favorite taqueria and order dinner to-go there. It's cheap and easy and always delicious; but it's easy to go overboard there. Every meal comes with refried beans and rice, which are both superb. They don't offer black beans, and everything is fried and greasy (and wonderful.) Plus, you have to get their home made chips! Not this week though!

I decided on another slow cooker recipe; salsa chicken: 2 ingredients + spices. Nothing easier than that. Pretty similar to my chile verde. You can use this chicken for tacos, enchiladas, salads, burritos, etc. We made taco salad burrito bowls, kind of like a Chipotle burrito bowl and salad mixed into one.

Ingredients:

Chicken:
2 large chicken breasts
2 cups favorite salsa (I used La Victoria)
1 tsp of each: paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper.

Salad toppings (optional):
Brown rice (cooked in a rice cooker with chicken broth)
Salad greens ( I used butter lettuce and spinach)
Guacamole
Pico de gallo
corn kernels
black beans, rinsed and drained.

Directions:

1) Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Sprinkle with the spices. Cover with the salsa. Set on LOW for 4-6 hours. If you're using more chicken breasts, the cook time will have to be adjusted.

2) Once the chicken is done, shred the chicken with 2 forks.

3) Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Brisket Sandwiches

Another yummy and easy slow cooker recipe! There isn't anything better than having something cook on it's own all day to be ready for dinner with minimal effort.

We've smoked brisket three times before; once it came out too tough, once it came out perfect, and once it came out OK. To smoke brisket, it takes 10-12+ hours and in our experience, the effort wasn't always worth it. I figured I'd try a different approach with this brisket I had. I put a rub on the brisket Friday night, threw it in the cooker first thing Saturday morning, and enjoyed the smells all day.

We made a sandwich with these, with lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce, pepper jack cheese. Served up with some seasoned fries.

Ingredients:

A good BBQ rub.
2-4 lb brisket
Your favorite BBQ sauce

Directions: 

1) Coat the brisket with a BBQ rub of your choice the night before, or at least for an hour.

2) Put the brisket and a cup of BBQ sauce in the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

3) Slice/shred and put on a sandwich, or eat on it's own with some mac n cheese and beans!

Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde

First Post! This recipe isn't anything fancy, but boy was it delicious. Letting the pork sit in a rub overnight, throwing it in the Crockpot before work, and coming home to a house smelling amazing. I figured we were in for a treat just by the smell, but the taste was better than I could have imagined. Definitely will be making this again and again and again.

I served these two ways: with crunchy shells and soft tortillas. Whichever your preference (we actually preferred the crunchy.) Toppings were lettuce, cheese, home made guacamole, pico salsa, light sour cream. Also had a side of rice and beans. I saved all the leftover pork to make some nachos for Sunday Football!

Ingredients: 

Rub: 
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Cumin
Cayenne
Chile Powder
Corriander
Salt
Pepper
Dried oregano

 Pork:
2-4 lbs of pork shoulder, fat trimmed. (or tenderloin would work as well)
Jarred Verde Salsa (I used a 24oz jug of Hernandez)

Directions:

1) The night before, mix up the spice mixture. Depending on the size of your pork and your spice preference, I'd say about 1 tsp - 1 Tbsp each. Rub the pork with the mixture and let it sit in refrigerator overnight.

 2) Next morning, throw the pork into the slow cooker. Cover with the verde salsa. Make sure you have some leftover salsa. Set slow cooker on LOW for 8 hours. After the time is up, shred up pork and drain some of the fat and liquid from the pot. Add some more verde salsa. Stir and serve!

 Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 8 hours