Crock Pot BBQ Ribs (A Pin a Day #2)

Let me start this off by saying that I LOVE BBQ, and Charlie just thinks it's OK. I could eat ribs all day and never get enough, but my biggest complaint is how expensive they can get when you order them out. I never really attempted to make them, probably because I didn't know where to start, so every time I saw ribs on a menu, I was all over them. Then I found a pin for ribs cooked in a slow cooker, and I thought, "YES! I can do this!".

I love using my crock pot, I don't care what season it is. I love putting the food in and 8 hours later, pulling my dinner out with little to no work involved. It's great for a busy mom like myself. So ribs in a crock pot was like 2 of my favorite things ever having a delicious smutty relationship and dinner was going to be the bastard son result of the tryst. I bought a rack of ribs when they were on sale, figuring 1 rack was enough for 2 people, but these ribs were so tasty I totally regretted not getting 2 racks and will in the future (maybe even 3, nom nom nom). Heed this warning, 1 rack just barely satisfies 2 people, so do your math people.

It's so easy! Plus it's the week before 4th of July, so you KNOW your local grocery store has ribs on sale right now. Albertson's has them for 2.99/lb.




I adapted this recipe from MMM is for Mommy, and she adapted it from America's Test Kitchen, so feel free to add and subtract at will.

You will need;

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika (the smoky flavor really helps here!)
• salt  & pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs
• Favorite BBQ sauce of your choice, homemade or store bought

Combine the dry ingredients and run all along the outside of the ribs, coating them well. Place them into your slow cooker on LOW heat and cover with BBQ sauce. Cook for 6-8 hours.

Here is where my recipe differs, only because my broiler hates me and I really love utilizing cooking on the BBQ outside in the summer.

Carefully remove your ribs from the crock pot and put onto a plate to rest. Transfer the juices and BBQ sauce in the crock pot into a sauce pot and simmer until reduced and thickened.

If you want to use the broiler, follow her directions for broiling the ribs, if you want a smokier flavor, keep reading.

Preheat your BBQ on HIGH for a few minutes and clean the grates with a wire brush. Reduce heat to MEDIUM and place the ribs bone side down on the grill. Baste the ribs with reduced BBQ sauce mixture every couple minutes until sauce becomes thick and sticky, about 10 minutes. Remove from grill, pour extra sauce on top if you wish and serve.

Charlie said they were THE BEST ribs he's ever eaten, which is saying a lot because as I said before, he doesn't really care for ribs. The meat LITERALLY fell off the bone, and by that I mean, when I picked up a bone to bite into it, all that I pulled up, was a bone. The meat was tender, smoky and delicious, like I had paid $20 for the plate at a BBQ joint. I did it!! Abbey loved them too.

We served ours with some Bush's Grillin' Beans in Bourbon and Brown Sugar and some mustard potato salad from the deli. Delish!

French Dip Sandwiches (with homemade bread!)

Pinterest is my life. I use it whenever I have a free moment to meal plan for the week, and look for new and interesting recipes that my very picky family will eat. It's very hard to eat healthy when the people you cook for favorite food groups are bacon, butter, cheese, and meat. No veggies, no fruits, no whole grains, so I gotta sneak them in when I can. Luckily the baby will eat anything without much objection. Usually after a meal or two of me making them eat more healthy, I reward them with something extra delicious. I saw this pin a few months ago and added it to my board, Recipes to Try.

Saint Patty's Day

For as long as I can remember, every March 17th we've had the same meal; Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots. Saint Patrick's Day is the one day of the year that my family let's it's 1/8th of Irish shine through.

Most of the year I won't even touch Corned Beef, I'm more of a Pastrami girl. In fact the only difference is the smoking process and some black pepper, but for some reason I prefer the latter.

The history of eating Corned Beef on Saint Patrick's Day is actually an Irish-American tradition that dates back to the late 1800's, while looking for a cheaper alternative to Irish bacon, some Irish Immigrants in the Lower East Side of New York sought advice of Jewish neighbors and the dish Corned Beef and Cabbage was born.

When we make it, we always start with a corned beef brisket, throw it in the crock pot and to that add some cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, spices and some water, let it cook and then enjoy it with some green beer.

Cabbage, Onions, and Root Vegetables.

Corned Beef Brisket.

I had some baguette on the side, along with some of Emeril Legasse's spicy horseradish mustard. Instead of butter on my potatoes I used the I Can't Believe it's not Butter Spray.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Mondays Libations and other food related words.

Monday it rained. AGAIN. So on the menu was CHILI!

We used a Chili Kit, which was against my judgment and protest.



Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit comes with Corn Masa Flour (for thickening), "Chili Seasonings" (which is basically garlic, onion, pepper, cayenne, cumin and everything else you can google when asking what seasons are in chili), cayenne pepper, and salt. It seasons 2lbs of beef, and pretty much all you have to do it add onions, garlic and some beans, and VOILA! Chili.

While that crock potted, I had this for lunch.



"Someone" ate all my Trader Joe's flat bread and "replaced" it with this crappy whole wheat generic kind that had twice as many calories a slice. I used half of one, added a tbsp of spicy hummus, and a 1/4 of a chicken breast. On the side, edamame, and 1/2 a cucumber; sliced, with the juice of half a lemon.

The rainy day had got to me a bit so I went down to The Living Room near SDSU for coffee with my friend.



I had a small (yes thats a SMALL) Skinny Mint Mocha, and it was really to die for. I used to go to The Living Room a lot in college, and I would always get this. I am currently reading a very outdated Photoshop book that Brian gave me for a refresher, and Into The Wild, as I would like to see the movie eventually.

When I got home the chili was ready to be nommed on.



I had 1/4 an avocado (for my MUFAs) a bowl of chili, and ONE corn muffin, with spray butter.

Taco Soup

Yet another suggestion from Brian and his family! The original un-tweaked recipe can be found here at RecipeZaar, but mine is a bit different.

When I first looked at the soup recipe and saw the calorie content in that sucker I was incredibly hesitant to try it. I ran down the list of ingredients and figured I could make a lower calorie version of this without much effort and decided to give it a go. My tweaked version can be found below.


Ingredients



* 1 1/2 lb ground turkey
* 1 white onion, diced
* 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can corn
* 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans ranch style beans
* 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1 ounce taco seasoning
* 1 ounce powdered ranch dressing mix
* 1 tsp paprika
* 6 ounces diet cola, I used Coke Zero, but Diet Dr Pepper will also work
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and added whole
* 1 tsp oregano
* 1 tsp cumin
* 1 tsp seasoning salt

I started off by browning the turkey with the onions. You can also opt to add the garlic at this point. The whole cloves were an after thought for me, so I didn't add them until later, but if when I do this recipe again, I would add them now.



The best way to dice onions is to cut in half, and then make long slits without going through the onion entirely. It makes it much easier to keep the onion from slipping around and you get a nice uniform cut.



While that cooked up, I added everything else into the crock pot, starting with the canned items. Beans, corn, tomato sauce and tomatoes, and then the special secret ingredient...



Yes! 8 ounces of soda. The original recipe called for regular Dr Pepper or Coke, which adds an extra 100 calories to the dish. If you don't like diet, or soda, you can also use beer, the alcohol will cook off I swear. I didn't even taste the diet soda in the soup honestly, but it did add a nice sweetness.

Next I measured out the spices in my little kitchen scale.



Below are my tweaks and additions to the soup; fresh garlic, oregano, seasoning salt, and cumin.



Next I drained the grease from the mean and onions (there wasn't much on the turkey, but I can imagine how much there is in the beef version), and added it to the soup, stirring and mixing it all in the crock pot.



I let it simmer for most of the day on low for about 6 hours, and served it with mini pepper jack quesadillas on the side, which are very easy to make and just require some cheese, and 2 corn tortillas. They were great for dipping.

Crock Pot recipe #1!

So here it is...

My first crock pot recipe!!

My dad's famous bean soup! (well *he* thinks its famous)

It's the best soup for cold days and it's really cheap to make, plus it will feed you for days and is really great reheated.

I asked him how he makes his beans and he told me he starts off by soaking pinto beans for 12-24 hours. You can use any beans you want, or even a bean medley.

The next morning, get out your crock pot (my dad says thats the trick) but if you don't have a crock pot you can use a big pot on the stove, either way use low heat.



Into the crock pot add

8-12 oz Pinto beans, soaked, washed and drained
4 carrots, cut into inch long chunks
2-4 potatoes, cut into cubes
2 onions, roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, smashed
4 stalks of celery, chopped
3 strips of bacon, cut into pieces* (or omit for a vegetarian friendly recipe)
1 can of stewed tomatoes (my dad says this cuts down on "bean farts", but I'm not sure if I believe him.)

Add some brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste and optionally, you can add some ketchup or a bay leaf, just remove the bay leaf before eating.

Give it all a good toss and stir in the pot, and then cover it with water, broth or stock. Vegetable stock can be used for more flavor.

Let it simmer in the crock pot or on the stove for a good 8-12 hours or until the beans are fork tender.**


And then eat the hell out of it.



Here I added a 1/2 chicken breast on the side for a little extra protein, but its great with corn bread, biscuits, crackers, or whatever you may fancy.


*By all means add or remove any of the above items, this is just what my dad uses. I've even used the left over ham bone from the Christmas Ham instead of the bacon, but if you do it that way, make sure you fish out the bones before you eat it.

**If you prefer your soups a little heartier, half way through the cooking process, remove a bit of the broth and put it into a bowl. Into this broth whisk in some flour, or corn starch and kinda make like a roux, which is just a fancy french word for thickener. Make sure it's smooth and free of lumps and then put it back into the pot. The flour or corn starch will cook and make the soup less brothy and more stewy.

Send me your crock pot recipes!!

People keep sending me recipes to try.

I love this.

I actually have a list of bookmarked recipes to kinda revamp and turn into my own, but I wanna start off with the slow cooker! So!!

I WANT CROCK POT RECIPES!!




Gimme your best, most favorite recipes and let me dissect them and create something new!!

It's still winter (even if it's not even remotely cold here) and I wanna make some soups/stews/chilis/roasts!!

Slow cooking is where it's at... didn't you know?