You guys.

I wish my blog could send you a whiff of my kitchen right now. It’s amazing. If I didn’t know better, I would say my heritage is south of here because I’m a lover of all things Mexican. Give me a taco and I’m a happy girl. I also love my slow cooker. In fact, my love-affair with slow cooking is just north of sinful. 🙂 Anyway! This is my new go-to recipe for Mexinight over here. Not only is it totally de-lish, but it works fantabulously well in my beloved slow cooker.

So, if you like fajitas and you’re addicted to slowcooking like me, this might be the answer to all your food prayers.
You’re welcome.

You’ll need

• 2-3 chicken breasts
• 3 bell peppers (I used one each of every color they had.)
• 1 onion (I used yellow but white would be fab, too.)
• 2 tbsp diced garlic
• 1 lime
• taco seasoning
• chipotle peppers (If you like the chipotle part. Otherwise, omit them.)
• toppings (cilantro, sour cream, etc)
• corn tortillas

Slice the peppers into long, thin pieces. Put half into the slow cooker.

Add the half your onion and garlic.

Dice chicken (I use Zaycon, and when I’m processing the chicken, I dice nearly 90% before freezing.) and place into a bowl. Put as much taco seasoning as you like. I’d say 1/8 cup would work.

Add the sauce from a small can of chipotle peppers. Stir to cover the chicken with the seasoning. You can add a few of the chipotle peppers, too, but I save mine for salsa.

Put the seasoned chicken in your slow cooker and cover it with as much garlic as you like. 🙂

Add the rest of your peppers and onions.

Squeeze half your lime out all over the chicken. Try to contain yourself. It will smell good by now.

Notice my little lime-squeezing trick? Yes. My 12 yr old taught this to me. #truestory

Cover the limey goodness with the rest of the peppers and onions

JUICE THE OTHER HALF OF THE LIME NOW. Mmmmmm. Now we’re talking.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5 hours.

Give it a good stir every two hours.

Before serving, shred chicken and then dump the mixture into a colander to drain off any liquid. I save the liquid and use it in taco soup later. (Yum.)

Serve over warmed corn tortillas with any toppings that suit your fancy. Don’t forget the guac and Mexican music!

From our house to yours,

So well… here’s the thing: if 4pm comes at my house and I don’t have a plan for dinner, I get cranky. Nevermind that my husband gets “hangry” around 5:30 p.m. IYKWIM. Put cranky and hangry together in the same house with a bunch of kids—and you can see why I need a plan for dinner.

As I’ve said before a million times: I think crockpots are a busy mom’s best friend. You can avoid the 4pm emotional breakdown by simply having a PLAN before you need to have a meal.

This pot roast has been in my slow cooker many, many times in the past 30 years I’ve been married to my man—and now my girls are making it for their friends and family! (Win!)  It’s inexpensive and delicious… it’s the best slow cooked pot roast ever.  Enjoy!

You’ll need:

• One 4-6 pound lean boneless beef chuck pot roast (tied)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 spoonful of beef bouillon (I love “Better than Bouillon“) – enough for 2 cups liquid
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 cups red wine
• packet of leek soup mix (from Knorr, if you can find it) I keep these in my pantry at.all.times.
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (or more if you like)
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic (that’s about 8 cloves if you like it fresh)
• 1 tsp each
  • thyme
  • marjoram
  • rosemary
• carrots – enough to cover the pot roast, cut into chunks
• 3 med/large parsnips – these are GREAT in this roast! Cut them up into chunks

Directions:

1. Dissolve bouillon in boiling water.  I like to put a spoonful of the bouillon into a coffee mug and just let it sit there. While you’re waiting for it to dissolve, put leek soup mix, garlic, tomatoes, wine—just put it all in except the meat and veggies. Pour bouillon in and mix together.
2. Add meat, turning to coat with the liquid
3. Arrange veggies around the roast. Cover.

Cover and cook for 9-11 hours on low or until fork-tender.

1. Remove meat to cutting board
2. Leave the rest in cooker; set to high… you’re going to make gravy!
3. Whisk 6 Tbsp flour into 1/2 cup of cold water.  I use my bullet to do this now-a-days (five stars!)
4. Stir flour mixture into liquid—with 2 tsp tarragon if you have it (yum!) and some more red wine if you like that sort of flavor. We think it’s amazing. Cover and cook for about ten minutes, until thickened.
5. Place meat onto a serving platter and spoon some gravy over it to serve.

I hope you love this as much as my family does!

Enjoy!
P.S. – Would you like more ideas for managing your busy days, including meal planning? Check out my book!

Want to make your family think you’re gonna have your own show on the Cooking Channel? Make your own spaghetti sauce, baby!

{yeah. that will do it.}

Here’s THE BASIC recipe:
serves 10

Ingredients:

• 4 cans tomato sauce (I like Kirkland’s organic)
• 3 cans diced tomatoes (drain the liquid before adding)
• 2 lbs ground beef
• Salt and pepper to taste for ground beef
• 2 yellow onions, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• olive oil
• 3 tsp dried basil
• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 4 bay leaves

Instructions:

1. Dice your onions and garlic. Put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan and sauté until a little brown. YUM.
2. Add ground beef—and season if you like. I add salt and fresh ground pepper at this point. Then I try not to put the cooked ground beef into a bowl and eat it for lunch. {requires self-control}
3. Breathe deep—you are already on your way to being a spaghetti sauce superstar.
4. While the ground beef is cooking, put the rest of the ingredients into your slow cooker. Be sure to drain the diced tomatoes. You don’t need that extra water in your sauce.
5. When the onion, garlic and beef deliciousness is cooked fully, dump it into a strainer and get rid of any excess grease or liquid.
6. Add to sauce. It may look very thin at first but after it’s cooked a while… it will thicken up nicely.
7. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3. The point is that you want it to bubble and blend all the flavors together.
8. Serve with your favorite pasta. I’ve become a fan on quinoa pasta… healthier version and the kids love it.
9. Serve with french bread and steamed green beans. VOILA! {Super-yum.}

BUSY MOM TIP: Keep your pantry stocked with things like tomato sauce and diced tomatoes using Amazon’s Subscribe and Save. I do this for several of my pantry faves—saves time and money!

If you want a little more PIZAZZ:

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1 can black or green olives …. or both!
• 1 tsp red peppers
• 2 tsp oregano

Cook the Italian sausage with your ground beef.

Add whatever else you like to the sauce.  Change it up!

This is a crowd pleaser. It will feed 10 but here’s the thing: YOU CAN FREEZE LEFTOVERS beautifully! So make a ton and have the rest on hand for later.

Enjoy!