Slow Cooker Chili & Honey Brown Sugar Cornbread

Pin It Now! Are you ready for Thanksgiving??  I swear just yesterday I was thinking that Halloween was almost here, and now Thanksgiving is staring us in the face.  I'm so excited!  Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays of the year.  I can't wait for the Montalvo family to be together again.  Tuesday evening will find me in the kitchen baking up a double batch of pumpkin cranberry cookies.

This morning I woke up to one of my favorite sounds... rain!  Typically I would sleep in on a Sunday morning, but the rain was so beautiful that I was perfectly happy sacrificing sleep for cuddling with Chico and listening to the drops fall on the roof. 

Rainy days call for comfort food.  Something that will fill the house with yummy smells while bubbling away on the stove - or in this case, the crock pot.  (The crock pot gets a lot of love during the chilly months.)  This chili recipe is simple, easy and definitely qualifies as comfort food.  This would be great as a vegetarian chili; leave out the meat and toss in some seasonal squash and voila!  Or sub chicken for the beef for a lighter dish.  I think next time I'll add in some diced green chiles for a little variety.

Slow Cooker Chili

1-2 lbs stew meat, trimmed
1 large bell pepper (any color)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp cinammon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper
2 cans beans (any variety you like.  Drain & rinse one can)
3 cans diced tomatoes (preferably low sodium)

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet on high heat. Saute stew meat, bell pepper, onion and garlic for 5 minutes, or until the meat starts to brown on all sides.  Add in chili powder, cumin, oregano, cinammon, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.  Let cook for a couple minutes more.  In the meantime, pour tomatoes and beans into the crock pot and turn on high.  Add meat and veggies to the crock pot and stir to mix.  Cook on high 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Honey Brown Sugar Cornbread

1 prepared recipe for cornbread (I cheated and used the Trader Joe's cornbread mix)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp packed brown sugar

Stir honey and brown sugar into cornbread mix and bake as directed.  There, wasn't that a complicated "recipe"?  The leftovers are great to dry for croutons!

{Healthy!} Oven Crisped Slow-Cooker Carnitas

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I know "healthy carnitas" seems like an oxymoron, but hear me out.  Carnitas - literally translated "little meats" -  is a braised pork shoulder that is shredded and then fried in lard until the top is crispy.  I'd rather not feed my hubby a plate full of lard, so I had to come up with a more health conscious method.

Thanks to my beloved crock pot, putting this together literally took five minutes.  Several hours later the meat was fork tender and easy to shred, so dinner was a snap!  I didn't measure my spices, so I'd guess that I used about 2 tsp of cumin and coriander. 

Slow Cooker Carnitas

1 4-lb pork shoulder
ground cumin
ground coriander
salt & pepper
cinnamon (about 1 tsp)
cayenne pepper (about 1 tsp)
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
2-3 bay leaves
1-2 c chicken broth

Let the pork come to room temperature for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cinnamon and cayenne pepper on all surfaces of the meat.  Pour about 2 inches of broth in the crock pot and carefully lay the pork shoulder in.  Toss in the garlic, onions and bay leaves.  Cook on high for 6-7 hours, turning the meat halfway through.

Once the meat is cooked, place it in a 9x13 baking pan (or on a baking sheet) and shred with two forks.  Spread the meat out in an even layer and crisp in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.  Spoon some of the cooking liquid over the meat when it comes out of the oven and squeeze half of a lime over the whole pan.  Serve in burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, nachos... whatever you like!  We made burrito bowls with cilantro rice and pico de gallo.  Enjoy!

 

Sous chef :)

Next Day Update
Round Two: Breakfast for dinner...  carnitas hash!  Top skillet potatoes with carnitas and fried egg.  YUMM!