I’m not much of a slow cooker girl. It’s rare that I get my act together early enough in the day to plan ahead for dinner, having all the ingredients I need on hand, readying them for that slow cooking pot. However, this recipe, only needing to cook for 6 hours, means I can be my procrastinative self and put this on later in the day if need be. It’s the perfect meal to cook on a lazy Sunday.

Most of the ingredients in this list are pantry items for me, which lessens the need to go to the store. I kept this recipe simple, with just two flavorful items going into my tortilla – pork and pickled onions. The pork is juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender, with a nice heat, while the pickled red onions bring a little sharpness and crispness to the meal, cutting through the fat while adding a gorgeous jewel-like color to each bite.

Since I kept the ingredients on the tacos minimal, I decided to get my traditional taco toppings (read: veggies!) via a salad on the side. (more…)

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Comfort food, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Mexican by Courtney

Summer is in full swing and that also means that squash and zucchini are abundant right now. While I enjoy stir fries and steamed veggie sides, sometimes you need to dress up these summer vegetables to not get bored of their flavor. So I decided to try my traditional taco spices on these summer vegetables to see what happened. Magic. Magic happened. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite magic, but just a good blend of flavors that transformed my zucchini and squash from “oh no not more squash” to “yum!” (more…)

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Dinner, Gluten free, Mexican, Vegetarian by Courtney

It seems to be something many families across America do – taco night. A fairly simple meal, customizable for each person with toppings, that the whole family loves. While my family has never been one to have days of the week dedicated to a food, such as Taco Tuesday or Stir-Friday, homemade pizzas, tacos & enchiladas, and stir-fry have often made the dinner list.

These tacos in particular are inspired by tacos my grandfather’s wife makes. I remember the first time I had her tacos I was thrown by the addition of potatoes to the beef, but I quickly got on board with the addition because they were so yummy. Many years later I learned the secrets to making her tacos, but as I’m wont to do, I added a few spices to add a bit of complexity to the flavors. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Mexican, Quick and Easy by Courtney