Crock Pot Carne Asada--SRC

This month for Secret Recipe Club, I had The Hobo Kitchen. It's written by Ellie. I actually had her blog (with a different name) a while ago. I loved it. The funny thing is that at first I didn't realize I had the same person, but I was like "Oh my gosh; I want to make all these recipes." In fact, I ended up making two of her recipes for dinner one night. And then I went to read Ellie's profile and there she was--the same blogger I'd enjoyed so much when I secret-recipe'd her last blog. Apparently, she's still got it. Thank you, Ellie, for the fabulous recipes.

I made the Carne Asada. It was delicious and super easy and a crock pot recipe and just win win all around. The leftovers were even better. (Note: As a side dish, I also made a cinnamon sugar version of her Tostones (plantains) that were beyond delicious. I'd never made plantains before and I'm a total convert. But the pictures I took for that were ug-ly.)

Crock Pot Carne Asada
adapted from The Hobo Kitchen
Serves 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 6-8 hours (in crock)
Cost:$10.00-ish (this is a really rough estimate; sorry)
meat: mine was $5, but it was clearanced and was less than 2 lb, seasonings: .10, peppers (mine were free from a fabulous friend), but I'm guessing 1.50-2.00, toppings: 2.00

Note: I'm slightly red meat impaired. If it's not ground beef or some kind of chuck roast, I'm a little lost. This recipe called for flank steak, which I couldn't find at my store. So I just bought the clearance cheap steak and all was well, but if you can get flank steak, use it.

Another note: I followed this recipe as Ellie had it. However, I bet that if you had taco seasoning and wanted to use that instead of individual spices, that would work and save you a couple minutes. No guarantees because I haven't tried it, but especially if it didn't have thickening agents (such as cornstarch), I bet it'd be just fine.

2 lb flank steak
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalepeno, minced
For toppings:
cheese
sour cream
avocado

Combine dry spices. Sprinkle or rub these on the flank steak. Put that in the crock.

Add diced onion, peppers, and jalepeno.

Cook on low in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. Note: I recommend this low setting. I forgot to get mine into the crock and tried to cheat and do this for 3-4 hours on high. It tasted delicious, but wasn't fall-apart-fork-shreddable. I left the stuff we didn't eat in the crock for several more hours and it was perfect, so try not to short-change the cooking times.

Before eating, shred steak with two forks.

Serve over rice, tortillas, or corn chips.

Top with cheese, sour cream, and avocado.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

An InLinkz Link-up

I Am Groot

So apparently Marvel has fashioned one of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" characters after the parsnips in my garden. I keep waiting for my royalty check, but it hasn't come yet.

Personally I think this should be the next Elf on a Shelf. It meets all the requirements--a creepy creature that I've been hiding at various points in our house for my son to see. Also, Groot's original  mission was to capture humans for experimentation. And, I don't know about you, but when I see the smile on the Elf on the Shelf's face, I think, "He's probably planning to capture humans for experimentation." Twinners.

Fluffer Nutter Dip

A few days ago I made some chocolate tortillas to be served with fruit as fruit tacos. These were met with only moderate success (even with plenty of whipped cream thereby). But me, being me--I didn't really want to throw away the leftover chocolate tortillas. But I didn't really want to slather them in salsa either.

I remembered a dip I'd had once at a church gathering. It was fluffy and peanut-buttery. That seemed like a good place to start. So I looked up fluffer nutter. It is a delightful combination of equal parts peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Well, I'm pretty sure you can't lose with that combo (unless you're a contestant on The Biggest Loser, in which case you could lose rather easily with that combo).

The problem was that I, being a horrible parent and all, do not keep marshmallow fluff on hand. So I decided to experiment with my own slightly healthier version of fluffer nutter. And by slightly healthier, let me clarify that I do mean slightly. As in "to a small degree; not considerably" healthier. Because that, my friends, is the kind of hard core health fanatic I am. Although--in my defense--I have to say that my attitude is not quite as Epicurean as one blogger, who said that one of the advantages of the original dip (a dip which consists of equal parts peanut butter and marshmallow fluff) was that it would cut the carbs. By which she means, I assume, that she would normally just flop the jar of marshmallow fluff on the table and have at it. Thank goodness we added some peanut butter. Now it's a health food. And I, I--promoter of healthy dips for picky kids--will now take it one step further. I think we should call it a super food.

Instead of marshmallow fluff, I added cream cheese and a little powdered sugar. I might have been proud of that adaptation's healthiness except that it wasn't fluffy enough (or quite sweet enough). So I added whipped cream. (What? it was totally homemade--that qualifies as righteous, right?)

This can be served with real bonifide chocolate tortilla chips by making these tortillas, then cutting them and frying them up (health food fanatic--right here). However, I would have to tell you that this would not be worth the work. It'd be a better bet to serve them with apple slices or chunks of banana. Or--if you are not a health nut (ha--puns and sarcasm) like myself--perhaps some graham crackers or pretzels.

Fluffer Nutter Dip
makes about 3-4 Cups (which is enough for a party and probably too much for your family)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cost: $4.00
peanut butter: .85, cream cheese: 1.00, powdered sugar: .15, whipped cream: 2.00

1 C peanut butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C powdered sugar
2 C whipped cream (I used the real thing, but I expect nasty Cool Whip would work too--yes, I'm a cream snob)

Cream the peanut butter and cream cheese together. Beat in the powdered sugar.

Add in the whipped cream. If using the real stuff be sure not to overbeat it--just beat until it's blended.

Serve with fruit slices or sweet crackers.

PRINTABLE RECIPE