Taco Tuesday

Another Tuesday, another crock pot meal.

In my quest to please the hubs (um, not really), I let him select from two different recipes, and tonight he decided on Beef Carnitas. I pulled this one from a cookbook I rarely use, mostly because I forget I have it, but also because the recipes don't include specific portion sizes, which is annoying to me. In fact, a lot of recipes don't include specific portions, which I don't get - especially with the so-called healthier options.

Whatevs. I'm not really feeling my usual soap-boxey self tonight because I'm a little (lot) tired so let's get on to the good stuff.

Beef Carnitas
Source: Prevention Best Weight Loss Recipes

Ingredients:

• 2 lb lean beef stew meat, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 3/4 c. mild salsa (I use Newman's Own - low sodium!)
• 2 tbsp chopped chipotle chile peppers adobo sauce (I just used 2 tbsp of the sauce)
• salt/pepper (skip)
• 1 c. beef broth or water (used no-salt added beef broth)

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low, 6-8 hours. Serve with desired toppings on tortillas. (I cooked mine on high for 4 hours.)

Yield: 6 servings (I had 4oz of the meat with a low calorie, low carb tortilla)
Per serving: 232 cals; 30g protein; 3g carb; 10.5g fat (4g sat); 452mg sodium

Reviews:
First and foremost, talk about easy! I made this when I got home from work - I usually have about 10-15 minutes tops before the kid gets home to throw something together - and this took a grand total of 2 minutes. Love it! I was a little worried this was going to be too spicy, as the adobo sauce tends to be on the hot side for our wimpy taste buds, but it could have used a bit more kick. Like a lot of crock pot recipes, this also resulted in a lot of useless liquid.

Ranking:
The house was a bit divided on this - the hubs gave it a solid three forks, and both the kid and I gave it two forks because it could have used a bit more flavor. However, the more time I spend dwelling over this fork situation, the more convinced I am that it IS three forks. NOT because I want to ever give the hubs the satisfaction of thinking he's right, but because it was super easy to put together, it was a nice, warm and hearty meal on a cold, nasty night, and who doesn't like tacos? Three Forks.

Crock pot-tastic