When we first got married, we bought our first house, which was built in 1952. Noah made me watch "Money Pit" before we moved in, and talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy! Almost immediately, we had a plumbing line collapse. Then a roof leak. Then a cat knocked over a lamp and consequently knocked out the power in about a fourth of the house. Then the HVAC went out. Then we had to replace the roof altogether. Oh, and the basement flooded. All this in 3 years!
So back to the cat and the lamp. We got a really nice electrician out there who was kind enough to do some rewiring to help make the electricity work again. What we learned was that house still had its original wiring. The kind where the wires were wrapped in paper. Paper that had disintegrated over the years. Oy!
Because of this, I was always afraid to use my crock pot. I thought if I left it plugged in all day, then it might short out the power or worse, cause a fire.
Then we moved to Georgia, and I tried to convert a tried-and-true family recipe into a slow cooker recipe. Blech! This is when I learned that not all recipes are made for the slow cooker!
Then we moved to Brooklyn, and I just couldn't be bothered. Same in Long Island.
So nearly 10 years after being gifted with this lovely crock pot, I finally decided to try it out again.
This is where I now need to expound on the virtues of Recipe.com and Google Docs (which I think is now called Google Drive, but I will probably always call it Google Docs). First, I get a daily e-mail from Recipe.com with what else but recipes in it. If I see one that piques my interest, then I look at the comments to see what other people have said about it. And then if it makes the cut, I copy and paste it into a Google Doc. THEN, I sort it into my "Recipes" folder and share it with Noah.
Recipe.com has really opened a door to a whole new world for me. It helps me get out of my rut of making the same things every week.
Google Docs is awesome in that I can access my recipes anytime from anywhere that I have access to the internet. And when I feel like making one of my recipes, I can cut and paste the ingredients into another document to make a grocery list. (Sometimes I get really Type-A and sort my grocery list by putting all the dairy items together, and the produce, and the frozen foods, etc.) I also share the grocery list document with Noah, and when we're at our most organized, either one of us can print that list and go to the grocery store. (Please note that more often than not, we resort to handwritten lists that are in no order whatsoever. However, we're trying to be more organized. Maybe one day we'll stick to it.)
Back to the crock pot -- I made Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos. It was sooooooo easy! And they were great! The funny thing was when I came home after the first few hours of them cooking and freaked out thinking I had left the stove or oven on because it smelled like something was cooking! Anyway, I'd link the recipe to the website and give them full credit, but I can't seem to find this recipe on the website anymore... (things that make you go hmmmm) So without further ado, here it is:
Best Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
4 fresh skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 jar salsa
Directions:
- Add the black beans to the crock pot.
- Pour in the can of corn.
- Place the fresh refrigerated chicken breasts on top of the corn
- sprinkle the taco seasoning over the top of the chicken.
- Pour the jar of salsa over the top.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
- When there are 30 minutes left, shred the chicken with 2 forks, then place the lid back on.
- Serve in a shell or in a tortilla. [The original poster of this recipe on Recipe.com] uses both and makes a double decker shell, put together with refried beans. Use all your favorite taco fixings to top; like shredded cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream and black olives.
I read one commenter on the website added chopped onion and garlic for extra flavor, but I made the recipe as written, and it was delicious!
Enjoy!
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