Crockpot Flank Steak Tacos

This is what we had for dinner tonight and it was FABULOUS!  I found the idea on Pinterest but the recipe was under the name of "carnita beef tacos".  Well this will sound incredibly silly but the name bothered me.  Carnitas are pork and as you can see this is beef...therefore I cannot in good conscious call them Carnita Tacos.  They are now Flank Steak Tacos....doesn't sound as fancy but trust me, when you eat them you won't care about the name!  Now that I have given you a little food lesson, we can continue on to the recipe!

Do not be scared that there is no liquid...your meat will not burn, I promise!

Flank Steak Tacos
2 lbs flank steak (or 4lbs if you have hungry teenage boys like I do)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (one works fine if you don't want as much heat and if you want more heat, leave the seeds in!)

Spice Rub

2 tsp chili powder (I like to use New Mexico Red Chili but you can use whatever makes you happy)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt  (sometimes I like using Kosher salt in rubs, just depends on my mood)
1/2 tsp black pepper

*You can really put any combination of spices you like, it's all about the flavors you like!


Directions:
Mix together all spices in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over your flank steak, really you cannot over spice. Then, place your steak at the bottom of your crock pot.
Cover the steak with the chopped onions, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Turn heat on LOW and cook for 8 hours.
After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot and shred with a fork (honestly by this point, you really don't even need to shred it, it will just fall apart).

Serve with corn tortillas (make your own, they are super easy!)

Top with whatever makes you happy...here are a few variations from our home.

 I simply put the meat on the tortilla, squeezed some lime juice then added fresh avocado.

 Neil put meat, then lime juice, mashed his avocado, added green salsa that you can't see, lettuce and red salsa.

 Daniel just ate his with meat and avocado.

 Michael was the same..meat, lime, avocado and eventually his rice ended up in the taco too.

Crockpot Beef Stew

Our weather is starting to change and it's beginning to get a bit chilly. I LOVE my crockpot during the fall/winter seasons. Today we had a church get together where we all met for dinner first and then cleaned our building. Everyone had to bring a pot of soup. I decided to make beef stew and oh man, I am pretty proud of this, it was DELICIOUS! I say was because sadly, none made it home with us.

Crockpot Beef Stew

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch squares
1-2 lbs of carrots (use whatever you have, baby carrots or regular carrots)
3-4 potatoes, cut into chunks
2 onions, cut into wedges
1 1/2 cups drained, diced tomatoes (I used some of my tomatoes I canned!)
2 cups beef broth (I ended up using more but I'll tell you why later)
2 celery stalks, diced
3-4 Tablespoons quick-cooking Tapioca (I love using tapioca as a thickening agent in stews)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3-4 bay leaves

Combine all the ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

*I like a thicker broth in my beef stew so I added one packet of McCormick Beef Stew Seasoning this go round but you don't need it, your stew will still be great without it, even without tons of additional seasoning! Because I added this seasoning mix, I used a little more beef broth so it wouldn't be too thick.

Easy Beef Jerky

Now I am no beef jerky makin' expert, I just want to throw that out there right away. My family loves my beef jerky but they may be slightly biased. Everyone who has tried my jerky over the years I have made it (like the girls at girls camp who ate it all in like 2 hrs!), like it too, so I guess it's pretty decent.

I keep it simple..real simple.
I did not put all of this stuff into one batch of jerky but these are some of the variations I used for the 10 lbs of jerky I am currently in the process of making for my boys to take to Boy Scout Camp.

My base for jerky is always some type of soy sauce. Salt is important when making jerky because salt helps in the drying process. I use a marinade vs. a dry rub so the soy sauce works for the salt factor. I also always use liquid smoke, garlic powder and onion powder. Those are what I always use for my base. I do not measure...I guesstimate. It all depends on how much meat you are marinating.

I use enough soy sauce to get a good covering of the meat. And I sprinkle about a 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of the powders and probably about a tablespoon of the liquid smoke.

The meat I use is the beef for bulgogi that can be bought at the commissary. You can use any lean, thinly sliced meat, flank steaks work well. I cut my meat into strips before marinating. Typically they say you should trim any fat off your meat because leaving fat on can cause your jerky to spoil quickly. We never have jerky in our house long enough to spoil so I don't bother with that step.
This is my awesome marinating bowl that I've had for years that helps with the marinating. Once all the ingredients are mixed together I let it marinate at least overnight. I have let it marinate for 4 hours and it was still quite tasty.

I have an awesome food dehydrator that gets my jerky done in about 4 hours. You can use your oven though. If using your oven, cook at a low temperature (175-225 max) for 4 or so hours. Watch your jerky though, there is such a thing as jerky that is too dry.

Here is a picture of original and spicy jerky.

Okay, so here is my so-called recipe for those who like it all together.

Easy Beef Jerky
1-2 lbs of lean, thin sliced meat (make sure you trim fat if you are going to store for extended period of time)
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Soy Sauce (depends on how much meat, 1/4 cup works for 1-2 lbs)
1 tsp - garlic powder
1 tsp - onion powder
1 Tbsp - liquid smoke (can be found in hot sauce, steak sauce section of store)

Mix together and add meat, marinate overnight.
Dehydrate in your food dehydrator following manufacturer instructions or in oven at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours.

Variations: Different flavors soy sauce, adding red chili pepper flakes, tabasco sauce, ect.

CrockPot Ribs

Can I just tell you how yummy and simple this is to do! Now I have made CrockPot Ribs a couple different ways. This works for beef or pork ribs, either way they come out deliciously tender!

One is just throwing them in the crockpot, seasoning with salt and pepper and whatever else tickles your fancy (personally I think you can never go wrong with just S&P). Set the crockpot on high for 4 hours or so, adding whatever BBQ sauce you want during the last hour or hour and a half. I said cook on high for 4 hours but I'll be honest here, I like to cook on low for a long time to let it get it nice and tender. There are lots of great BBQ sauces out there (today the hubby and I bought Apple Butter BBQ sauce at a Farmer's Market, can't wait to try it out on something) Oops sorry, got sidetracked (did I mention how yummy that BBQ sauce was!). Anyway, you can use storebought or make your own (I'll post a quick recipe for BBQ sauce at the end).

My friend Aubri told me how she does her ribs and this is pretty much how I did it today. (Hope you don't mind me sharing Aubri!)

"Put them in the oven on a cookie sheet for 25 min. or so, to get them browned. I sprinkled steak seasoning on them first. Then I just put them in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high, and put famous dave's bbq sauce on them 1 hr before they were done. yum-0 A real man pleaser, lol."

I didn't use Famous Dave's BBQ...at this moment I don't even remember what kind I used but it was good. Sometimes I use a sweeter sauce, others a more smokey and occasionally I'll even use something spicy. It's all up to what makes you happy! And as I mentioned before, you can even make your own (my husband LOVES making his own sauce).

Quick and easy BBQ sauce!

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup chili sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash hot sauce
  

In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.

Lazy Meatballs

Sometimes we can be so busy and we need an easy but filling meal. This is one of our favorites in our home. We often make it on Sundays so we can come home from church and have dinner ready.



We use our crockpot, 3 cans of spaghetti sauce and a bag of meatballs. We used just over half of this big bag (hey I have 3 boys..we eat a lot, haha). We throw everything in the crockpot and set it on low for about 3 hours. I like to use Traditional flavored and Italian Zesty and Spicy sauces.



Yummy meatballs.
I like to eat mine alone with mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top. The boys like them in sandwiches or over pasta. No matter how we eat it, we always leave the table nice and full.

Easy Beef & Broccoli

Yesterday was my youngest son's birthday and as is the case in our home, each birthday kid gets to choose dinner and dessert. He chose Beef & Broccoli with Sushi Rolls (not real Sushi, very Americanized Sushi) I found this recipe in one of my old Taste of Home magazines and it is now a family favorite. It's so easy!

• 1 lb boneless round steak
  
  • 1 lb charcoal chuck steaks, cut into thin 3-inch strips
  • 1 small onions, cut into wedges
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup water, plus
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons water, divided
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
  • 4 cups broccoli floret
  • hot cooked rice, to taste
  Prep: 15 min

  Cook: 10 min

  Directions

  • In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.
  • Add beef and toss.
  • In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.
  
  *Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes.
  
  • Return beef to pan.
  • Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.
  • Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
  
  
  • Serve over rice
    
    
    

Tater Tot Casserole

ALL of the boys in my family really enjoy Tater Tot Casserole. I have to admit it's not my favorite but I'll eat it. We cook it at home and when we go camping in our dutch oven. Tater Tot casserole is pretty versatile and so you can adjust it to your likes. I'm sharing the standard, easy recipe but you can swap out the soups, cheeses and veggies. Most kids love it.

Tator Tot Casserole

1 lb. or more hamburger
1 can green beans, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups of Cheddar Cheese (reserving about a quarter cup)
1/3 of pkg. tater tots

Brown the hamburger. Put in casserole or pan in the order given. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 375 degrees for about 50-60 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese after pulling out of oven.

We know a fellow Scouting family who loves to make a Chicken Tatertot Casserole in the dutch oven when camping out. It is so good! Here is a recipe for the oven but you can surely adjust for the dutch oven.

2 lb. tater tots
4 c. chicken or turkey, cut up
1/2 lb. American cheese
6 tbsp. flour
3 c. milk
6 tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. minced onion
1 chicken bouillon cube

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Put a layer of tater tots on bottom. Add layer of chicken, then top with grated cheese. Make a sauce of remaining ingredients by cooking flour, butter and milk together. When thick, add soup, onion and bouillon. Pour over contents in casserole. Bake 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees.