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Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Taco Bowls

While this recipe was underwhelming, it really has potential if seasoned correctly.  In retrospect, I really should have thought out how much seasoning I was using for a slow cooker recipe.  It was pretty good once it was mixed with all the taco toppings, but it would have been excellent if it had more seasoning.  I doubled the spices in the recipe below, which originally came from Gimme Some Oven.  Or, you could use a homemade taco seasoning mix – that’s what I will do next time.  I think a large flank steak might do well, too.  I used a chuck roast and wouldn’t again.

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Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja

Wow, we loved this!  I got this recipe from the really fun “My Big Fat Cuban Family” website.  I’ve had her recipes bookmarked to try forever and finally got around to this one – we’ll be doing more of Marta’s recipes soon.  This was easy and honestly, we actually liked it better sans rice (good for me and low-carbin’ it).  My only mistake was over-salting and it was still great.

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Greek Marinated Chicken

This was the first recipe I have tried from Budget Bytes, and we loved it!  Simple and very tasty.  We baked the chicken, but it would be excellent on the grill.  The only change I made was to use Greek yogurt for plain yogurt, and I think it went well.  We served this with Greek green beans, one of my favorite sides that unfortunately didn’t turn out (if you use diced tomatoes, watch they don’t contain chiles 😉 ).

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Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Greens

Random graving for black-eyed peas and soup on one of our Polar Vortex nights led to this concoction, which we really liked – easy, filling, and really tasty.  Also not too bad for you, either – you could substitute a chicken or lower fat sausage where I used kielbasa.  You can also use any greens you like, I just happened to have kale.  Swiss chard or collard greens would be great.  Versatile and good to clean out the fridge, too.

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Spiced Roast Beef

We loved this spice crust – probably one of my favorite roast beef meals I have ever done. I changed nothing except that orignal recipe (from Bon Appetit) called for all root veggies, and I roasted carrots and brussels sprouts together – excellent with the pan drippings.  This was a great winter meal and you could conceivably do any mix and match of roasted veggies that you like.

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Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs

This was quick and easy for a weeknight (or a busy weekend), and very versatile.  You could really put any veggies in here – I am not a fan of taters, but parsnips would actually work really well with the herbs on the chicken, and you might even be able to add squash.  A nice, hearty dinner that we enjoyed, which is done quickly.  We had this with garlic roasted asparagus on the side.

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Five-Spice Steak with Rice Noodles

This is another stir fry-type recipe from CL – we really only used the sauce and went with our own veggies and shirataki noodles.  That said, it was great and may be one of my favorite new stir-fry options.   Any veggies you have on hand would be great with this, so it’s a good clean-out-the fridge option.

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Spinach, Feta, and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed ‘shrooms are one of my favorite appetizers for parties, since they’re easy, portable, and tend to be a crowd-pleaser.  I’m actually not a huge mushroom fan myself, but I’ll eat anything with cheese and bacon. 😉  I got this one from Bon Appetite, and just added a bit more bacon and feta, and a bit less spinach (I thought 10 ounces would overwhelm everything else).  I think adding some roasted red peppers would be awesome both for color and taste, though, and would do that next time.

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Brie and Egg Strata

We decided to go all out for Christmas day, and made this breakfast strata.  It’s one I’ve made before for brunches, etc. and it was even better this time with some minor changes (changes included below – this originally came from Cooking Light – just a bit less milk and a bit more cheese).  A great holiday morning lunch or brunch item, and the ingredients can be combined the night before and baked in the morning for some make-ahead convenience.

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Sausage and Vegetable Roast

Possibly it’s a stretch to call this a recipe, but we loved this – just a tossed-together thing that would be good to clean out the fridge.  Would work with most vegetables, but I think the sweet potato and sausage base made it.  Hot Italian might be really delish.

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