Slow-Cooked Barbacoa Beef

This is one of those staples we all need for busy nights, guys! Get it going in the slow cooker in the morning and by dinner time you’re left with tender, savory, perfectly seasoned shredded beef that is just waiting to be devoured! Honestly, it’s giving Chipotle a solid run for their money:)

Use it for salads, tacos, nachos, burritos, or our favorite: piled high on a tostada with queso fresco, pickled red onion, hot sauce and guacamole. So stinking yum! Continue reading

4 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chorizo Queso Dip


Well, friends, the Vikings lost. While I’m not much of a follower of the NFL, that game was a major deal in our home. Mostly because we were excited to watch our hometown team while having an “appetizer dinner” on the couch….but nonetheless, my heart couldn’t help but break a little for those players. It was a good run, MN!

Our dinner consisted of the worlds largest charcuterie board put together by the kids complete with dips, fruits, meats, chocolate, nuts, the whole she-bang…and this queso dip. This little gem of a queso dip! Continue reading

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Bowls with Avocado-Cilantro Dressing


Happy New Year, friends! I hope your 2018 has been off to a great start!

Nothing like starting the year off with a bright, healthy, oh-so-yummy new meal to add to your rotation, right? This time of year meals can get so mundane for me. I love a good soup or stew, don’t get me wrong. But with the lack of fresh ingredients available the inspiration for new dishes can just be way more challenging. But I’ll take the challenge…because this one is a sure thing!

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Roasted Cabbage Ruben Stacks

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Now what in the heck was I supposed to call these things, you guys?  They are the most random twist on one of my all-time favorite sandwiches and this name was all that my tired, pregnant brain could come up with.  If you can come up with a better one, please do share.

Now heres the deal.  If you love a good reuben sandwich and you love cabbage you might go wack-a-doodle over this combination.  It’s a reuben gone healthful and light…but you won’t for one second miss that bread and cheese, I promise.   Continue reading

Slow-Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Enchilada Cups

SONY DSCHow much do you love appetizers?  Give them to me for every meal, friends.  There’s really nothing like trying a bunch of different small bites.  And with the Super Bowl coming up I think these little Enchilada Cups are going to come in pretty darn handy.

We made these just last night for dinner.  I wanted to come up with an appetizer recipe to share with you guys that would be just perfect for you to share with friends for Sunday’s big game.  I’m pretty sure I accomplished my goal…but turns out they make a pretty stellar dinner, too.  My kids devoured them and requested they be added to the “make-often-because-these-are-our-favorite” list, which is pretty much music to my ears.  And I would feel safe assuming Nick and I could win awards for our ability to consume large amounts of these as well; so stinking yummy! Continue reading

Honey Garlic Meatballs + Other Easy Holiday Appetizers

What are the chances that you are either hosting a gathering in the next few weeks or that you are responsible to take a “dish to share” to someone elses home?  Pretty good, I would assume.  Tis the season for cocktails, appetizers and gorgeous, festive finger food and friends, I’ve got the hookup right smack dab here.

So, without further ado, I present to you the most merry, yummy, gorgeous little ditties south of the North Pole.  Happy App’ing!   Continue reading

Slow Cooker Cranberry BBQ Meatballs

SONY DSCFriends, it’s all beginning!  Snow.  Elastic pants.  Food overload.  Family time.  The holidays….yay!

Are you all set for Thanksgiving?  Turkeys brining?  Recipes ready to rock and roll?  We will be hosting my in laws again this year so it will be cozy and quiet…looking forward to a wonderful day with lots of food.  When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner I’m a bit of a traditionalist….aside from throwing in a fun, new salad here and there I like to stick to the basics.  Classic roasted turkey.  Mashed potatoes and gravy.  Stuffing. Those are the basics….delicious, dependable, crowd pleasing basics.  And then…in my house, there is no such thing as a Thanksgiving meal without Ina’s Spinach Gratin-I die.  And a good old fashioned cranberry sauce-can never ever ever get enough.   Continue reading

Slow Cooker Reuben Melts

 

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When I first moved up to Minneapolis I waited tables at this place.  There was a reuben on the menu that they were sort of known for at the time.  But it wasn’t like any other reuben I’d ever had.  The corned beef was braised.  So the results were not a slice of dry beef, but the most tender, pull-apart, juicy bliss.   It was basically like a love child between a pot roast and a corned beef brisket.

Fast forward about a bajillion years and here I was, just this past weekend, standing among a St Patricks Day haven at the local market:  a giant cooler full of corned beef briskets.  Score!  Totally trying this reuben thing at home.   Continue reading