Pork or Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw (3 Star)

This taco meat is cooked in the crock pot to tender, juicy, and savory perfection. Either chicken or pork works well here. The top picture is pork and the bottom is chicken (made on separate occasions).



Shredded Pork or Chicken Taco Meat

1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular if you don't have smoked)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken or pork
1 cup chicken or beef broth
2/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
2/3 cup water
1 cup Salsa Verde (tomatillo salsa)

Garnish

sour cream
cheese
Salsa Verde

Put the chopped onion in the bottom of a crock pot.

In a small bowl combine all of the seasonings and sugar. Rub this mixture onto the meat and place in the crock pot. Pour the broth, juice, and water into the crock pot. Cook on LOW for six to eight hours or until meat is so tender that it just falls apart when shredded.

Remove the meat from the pot and shred with two forks. Place shredded meat into a bowl or serving dish. Add some spoonfuls of broth back into the meat so that it is moist but not soggy. (The remaining broth can be reserved in the fridge or freezer for use in a soup later.) Stir 1 cup of salsa into the meat and serve with garnish(es) of choice. This meat is actually better the second day, so make it a day ahead or make enough so that you have left-overs.



I like to serve this with homemade tortillas (click here) and cilantro lime slaw (click here). The spice blend in this recipe is inspired by a recipe from Prudence Pennywise (click here).

Asian Noodle Salad (0 Star)

This salad, courtesy of Pioneer Woman, is chock full of colorful, crisp, sweet, and nutritious vegetables. The dressing is salty sweet spiked with lime, hot pepper, and cilantro. This is the kind of thing that Brandon and I love, but the boys don't consider edible.



Pioneer Woman's recipe makes a ton--she says it makes six servings, but the veggies alone filled my bowl to the twenty cup mark. Also, if you don't plan to eat this right away, my recommendation is to keep everything separate. Keep the salad in it's own bowl, dressing separate, and pasta separate, or the salad will wilt and the pasta will absorb the dressing and get mushy and gross. (Yes, I know this from experience.)

I used whole wheat pasta and I think this might also be good with quinoa in place of the pasta--I plan to try it next time.

Click here for the recipe.

Potatoes Ogg Rotten (3 Star)

Have you ever heard of "Potatoes Ogg Rotten" before? Aka, "Potatoes Au Gratin". Around here "Potatoes Ogg Rotten" is our little joke. My boys love this meal (except my second-born, of course). I add in a pound of browned homemade sausage and they love it even more. This time I also added in a couple of sweet potatoes and some carrots (it was worth a shot), but those got picked out so I'll probably skip them next time.



I use Pioneer Woman's recipe, and while it tastes great, I am irritated about the fact that the milk always curdles. I think it's because I use 2% milk with no cream. I read that milk with lower fat content curdles more easily. Bummer. I was trying to lessen the calories but maybe I should just go with the cream next time. (Any suggestions?) Or maybe just not worry about it since I'm the only one aware--the boys love it how it is. But it's not too pretty. Or creamy. Oh well!



Click here for the recipe.

Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserol (1 Star)

Holy enchiladas, Batman! This was one of the best dishes I have ever made, as pronounced by me while Brandon and I devoured. The roasted vegetables were savory and earthy, and with the cheese, tortillas, salsa, and meat (not in the recipe but I chose to add) was an amazing combination. I did not expect it to taste as good as it did. I also did not expect any of our boys to manage to take any more than the required taste, but my third-born devoured several helpings and kept exclaiming, "Mom! Please make this again!" I will.



I hope my photo doesn't detract from my written praise. I took it after it had been in the fridge for two days (it was still heavenly to the taste buds, though) and the tortillas had disintegrated a bit and everything had kind of mashed together. If you want to see gorgeous photos of this dish, go to Perry's Plate from whom I got the recipe.

Click here for the recipe.