Slow Cooker Hot Bean Dip

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Makes 10 servings

1/2 lb ground beef, browned and drained

1 cup salsa or picante sauce

1 cup refried beans

1 (4 oz) can green chiles

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup sour cream

Medium or sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1.  Add beef, salsa, refried beans, chiles, taco seasoning and tomato paste to the slow cooker.

2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or on HIGH for 1-2 hours.

3.  Stir in sour cream and as much cheddar as you desire (I probably added in 3/4 cup).  Let the cheese melt.  Turn the slow cooker to warm and serve with tortilla chips.

Review:

A delicious and easy dip to bring to a party.  It has a bit of a kick to it but it's not too overpowering.  There were plenty of leftovers after I finished eating but once my husband got a hold of the dip I never saw it again.  He loved it which shocked me, since he's not a fan of beans.  4 stars.

Easy Beefy Mexican Soup with Avocado

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Makes 6 servings

1 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and quartered

1 (14 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 tsp Shirley J beef bouillon or 3 tsp regular beef bouillon granules

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

3 cups water

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 (4 oz) green chile peppers

1 cup freeze-dried corn or 1 can corn (rinsed and drained) or 1 cup frozen corn

Salt and pepper

Topppings:  avocado, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, lime, tortilla chips

1.  In a 4-6 quart slow cooker add the roast, beans, tomatoes, bouillon, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, water, tomato paste and peppers.  Stir a bit and cover.

2.  Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until roast is very tender. 

3.  Remove the roast and shred.  Stir back into the soup.  Add in the corn.  Salt and pepper to taste and add in additional seasonings, if needed.

4.  Serve with avocado and additional toppings, if desired.

Review:

When I placed the roast in the soup I didn't think it looks like that much meat.  As I went to shred it after it cooked, it turned out to be a really meaty soup.  My husband loved it because he thinks anything with lots of shredded meat is awesome.  I loved it because I like to add all the delicious toppings at the end.  My kids loved it because they got to eat chips with dinner.  4 stars.

No Fail Barbecue Beef

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Makes 6 servings


2 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast (or you can use cross rib roast), trimmed of excess fat
black pepper
kosher salt
onion powder
garlic powder
paprika
BBQ sauce

1.  Lay out a long piece of foil and place roast in the middle.  Season on all sides with the pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika.  Rub the seasonings in.  Wrap the roast up tightly in the foil.  Use another large piece of foil to wrap around the roast securely.  Place in fridge and let sit overnight (if you have the time).  If not, just place the foiled meat in the bottom of your slow cooker (the smaller the better...as long as it fits).
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-10 hours (totally depends on how your slow cooker cooks.  I cooked mine for about 8 hours).
3.  Carefully remove the foil and place meat on a cutting board.  Shred into small pieces.  Place meat back in the slow cooker.
4.  Add in desired amount of BBQ sauce and stir (I just used about a cup from the bottle from the grocery store, but if you want to make your own you can do that).  Add in additional seasonings, if needed.
5.  Cover and cook on LOW for another 15-30 minutes and then serve.  You can serve the meat on toasted buns, as paninis, salad...however you desire.

Review:
The reason you can't fail with this recipe?  The foil trick.  It keeps the juices in the meat and makes it so tender and delicious.  Using a chuck roast will be your best bet, it has enough collagen to really make your meat fork tender by the end of the low and slow cooking time.  My husband loves this sort of thing and it is perfect if you're serving a crowd.  5 stars.

Beefy Chili with a Seasoned Slow Cooker Liner

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Makes 6 servings


1 Flavorseal Fireside Chili Slow Cooker Liner
1 lb of roast (chunk or cross rib work best)
1/2 lb cooked ground beef
1 1/3 cup dried pinto beans, rinsed and sorted
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
Plenty of Salt and Pepper to taste

1.  Soak the pinto beans in plenty of water overnight or do the quick soak method.  Drain water from beans.
2.  Unfold liner and place into slow cooker, gently pushing sides sot hat liner is evenly spread out.  Fold unseasoned side of the bag over slow cooker edges to hold it in place.
3.  Add beans, roast, ground beef, tomatoes, tomato sauce and water.  Stir and ensure that all seasoned portions of the liner are moistened.
4.  Cover and cook on LOW for about 7-9 hours.  Roast should be very tender.  Remove roast and shred and add back in.
5.  Stir the chili several times and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with your favorite condiments.

Review:

I think that these seasoned slow cookers liners are a grand idea.  They are perfect for those working moms that have limited time in the morning to get everything in the slow cooker.  Plus the clean-up is a cinch!  I have to say after using them for several recipes I think they are best if you are doing a large batch of something.  The liners are very large and work well for a 6-7 quart slow cooker.  This chili was ultra meaty with the 2 types of beef.  My husband loved it, of course.  You could of course use 2 cans of pinto beans instead...cut down on the water by half.  3 1/2 stars.

Asian-inspired Shredded Beef and Rice

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2 to 2 1/2 lbs chuck roast (mine was partially thawed...if yours is still somewhat frozen add 1-2 hours to the cooking time)

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup diced onion

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (plus more for serving)

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 packed Tbsp minced garlic 

Salt and pepper

1/4 or 1/2 head of cabbage

1.  Halve the roast and place the pieces in your slow cooker.

2.  Sprinkle with brown sugar, soy sauce, onion, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and garlic.

3.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks) until the meat begins to fall apart and you can easily shred it.  (Because I got this in the pot a little later than I wanted I cooked on HIGH for 2 hours and then switched to LOW for the rest of the time)

4.  Shred the meat and stir all the juices in with the meat.  Salt and pepper to taste and add more vinegar, if desired.  Switch the slow cooker to WARM and cover.  

5.  Dice the cabbage and sprinkle into the meat.  Serve over hot cooked rice.

Review:

DEEE-licious! I'm not the biggest fan of beef (unlike my husband who could eat it everyday), but I really enjoyed this meal. The texture dynamic of the cabbage and the shredded beef was awesome. The flavors all blended really well together and it wasn't too sweet (I was a little worried that it would be because of the brown sugar). This is a recipe worth trying if you have some chuck roast lying around. 4 stars.

Slow Cooker Home-style Beef and Vegetables

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Seasoned Slow Cooker Liners for busy people!

1 Flavorseal Rich and Hearty Gravy slow cooker liner
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup water
2 celery stalks, diced
2-3 carrots sliced thinly
4 potatoes, halved
1 chuck beef roast (about 3 pounds)

1.  Unfold liner and place into slow cooker, gently pushing sides so that liner is evenly spread out.  Fold unseasoned side of the bag over slow cooker edges to hold it in place.
2.  Add 1/2 cup water to the bag.
3.  Layer meat and vegetables into bag.
4.  Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for 4-6 hours (until roast is tender).
5.  When cooking is complete, turn off heat and stir well.  Let the dish set for 10 minutes before serving (gravy will thicken as it cools).
6.  Serve and enjoy!

Add meat and veggies to slow cooker

Delicious dinner, ready to go!

Review:

I love the idea of these seasoned slow cooker liners.  So easy for busy people.  This recipe that was straight off the back of the package.  It was seasoned well and was very easy.  I did, however, feel like more water needed to be added to the slow cooker initially.  Next time I would add up to 2 cups of water, making sure to spread out the liner and wet all sides of the liner with the water.  That way all the seasoning would be used and more gravy would be available at the end!!  4 stars.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes

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 Makes 4 servings


4 large ripe tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp packed minced garlic
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and Pepper
Browned lean ground beef (if desired)

1.  Combine tomatoes, garlic, paste, salt, sugar, basil and oregano in 3 quart slow cooker.
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
3.  Remove lid and use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add additional basil and oregano, if needed.  If you want to add meat you can at this point or just serve as is.  Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.

Review:
I have been loving my Bountiful Baskets lately.  I feel like it's summer!  Fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob today.  And last week I got a watermelon!  I decided to use my fresh tomatoes to make a pasta sauce.  It turned out absolutely perfect, although it was fairly simple with few ingredients.  My husband had to add meat at the end (of course) but I probably would have preferred it without.  4 stars.

Kickin' Chili (Dollar Store Challenge)

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The food items from the dollar store needed for this chili recipe

  

Easy easy easy easy chili recipe in the slow cooker!

Blair from allfreeslowcookerrecipes.com issued a challenge to me:  Make a slow cooker recipe using only products from the dollar store.  I accepted the challenge (of course).  I headed to Dollar Tree with my daughter and we had fun looking up and down each aisle and then finally deciding on a spicy chili.  It was so easy...not to mention it serves 6 and cost $4.00!  If you're not into spicy stuff then just buy regular diced tomatoes instead of the tomatoes with the green chiles.

Makes 6 servings

2 (13 oz) cans of chili with beans ($2.00)
2 (13 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles (came in a bonus 2-pack so they were $1.00 total)
1 (14 oz) can corn, drained ($1.00)

1.  Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker.  Stir until combined.
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours until flavors are blended.
3.  Serve with sour cream and cheese, if desired.

Review:
Easiest recipe ever.  Plus it was totally budget-friendly.  It was a little too spicy for my taste (next time I would just buy regular diced tomatoes).  I added some sour cream to cool it down a bit and that helped.  But for those of you who like things hot hot hot you'd love this.  If you're cooking- challenged this is a good way to make "homemade" chili to bring to the potluck or to the neighbor's house without really having to cook (they'll think your a star).
 4 stars.  Thanks for the challenge, Blair!!

Cheesy Beef Casserole

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 Makes 6-8 servings

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup diced onion
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (4 oz) green chiles
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup biscuit mix
3 eggs
Shredded lettuce
Salsa

1.  Brown the beef and onion in a frying pan.  Drain off any grease.  Layer in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker.
2.  Pour tomatoes over beef.  Pour chiles over tomatoes.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over chiles.  Sprinkle cheese over chiles.
3.  Combine biscuit mix and eggs and whisk until smooth.  Pour over the top of the beef mixture.

The use of a kitchen towel helps the contents of the slow cooker stay dry and not get dripped on.

4.  Place kitchen towel over the slow cooker and then place lid on top of the towel, making sure the lid is secure.  Cook on HIGH for about 2 hours.
5.  Serve topped with salsa and lettuce.

Review:
Eh.
Bleh.
Totally a mediocre recipe.  It was eaten but without enthusiasm.  Flavor was lacking.
2 stars.

Perfectly Shreddable, Tender and Moist Roast Beef in the Slow Cooker

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Perfect Crock Pot Roast (pictured with sweet potato bake minus the apples)

 Makes 4-6 servings


2 lb chuck roast (using the right cut of meat is going to be essential to how your roast turns out!  Any cut from the chuck should work.)
1 (1.25 oz) package onion soup mix
Garlic powder (about 1 tsp)
Liquid smoke (about 2 tsp)

1.  Take your roast and cut off any excess fat.
2.  Lay it on a piece of foil and rub on all sides with the onion soup mix, garlic powder and liquid smoke.
3.  Wrap up the roast tightly in 3 layers of foil.
4.  Refrigerate overnight.
5.  Place roast (still in foil) in slow cooker.  Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.
6.  Carefully remove the foil and use a fork to shred, if desired.  Salt and pepper to taste and eat!

Review:
I am so excited about this new method (new to me, at least) of using foil.  The roast was absolutely perfect.  Keeping the roast in the foil kept it tender and moist.  You could definitely use different seasonings if you desire (rosemary, kosher salt, onion powder, freshly pressed garlic, etc.).  But I think the two keys of success in this recipe were 1.  Using a chuck roast (which is the best type of roast to use in the slow cooker) and 2.  Wrapping it in the foil.  I'm definitely going to experiment with this a bit more.  Let me know how yours turns out.  5 stars.

Slow Cooker Can Can Taco Soup

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Makes 4-6 servings

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can corn
1 (15 oz) can chili
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz) can green chile peppers
Lean ground beef, browned and drained of grease (optional)
1 (14 oz) can of beans--pinto, black or kidney (optional)
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
Salt and pepper
Toppings:  grated cheese, chips, and sour cream

1.  Add tomatoes, corn, chili, tomato sauce, chile peppers, and taco seasoning to slow cooker.  Add in additional beef and beans, if desired.
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
3.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve with cheese, chips and sour cream.

Review:
Another easy easy version of taco soup.  If you have a can opener then you can make this with success.  I added a bit more beef into mine than just the can of chili.  It was delicious and perfect for a cold, dark (at like 4:45 pm!) night.  4 stars

Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup

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Makes 4 servings

5 cups water

2 tsp Shirley J beef bouillon or 4 tsp regular bouillon granules

1/3 cup pearl barley

1/3 cup lentils

1 Tbsp dehydrated onion flakes (you could use fresh onion instead)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 lbs stew meat (preferably made with a roast from the chuck)

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (plus more, if needed)

1.  Place water, bouillon, mushrooms, barley, lentils, onion, garlic, bay leaf, stew meat, thyme, basil and salt in the slow cooker.

2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, until lentils are cooked and stew meat is tender.

3.  Add in the pepper and red wine vinegar.  Add in more basil, thyme and salt to taste.  Serve with warm bread.

Review:

I love this soup.  I love the barley and lentils with the mushrooms.  It is perfect with warm, yummy bread on a cold day.  4 stars.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Spaghetti Sauce and Spaghetti Squash

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Happy Halloween!!!!

Before you send your little trick-or-treaters on their way, give them a healthy delicious dinner.

1 1/2 cups diced onions

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 cup wheat berries (optional, see recipe below)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 or 2 carrots, grated

1/2 cup diced red pepper (or green pepper, or whatever you have)

1 (14 oz) can stewed tomatoes

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca

1 tsp salt

8 oz sausage, browned and drained

8 oz lean ground beef, browned and drained

Spaghetti squash

1.  In a microwave safe bowl combine the onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, canola oil and tomato paste.  Microwave for about 4 or 5 minutes.  Stir every minute.  Onions should be soft.  Transfer to the slow cooker.

2.  Add in the wheat berries, tomato sauce, carrots, pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, tapioca, salt, sausage and beef. 

3.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.  

4.  Serve over spaghetti squash or your favorite pasta.

Recipe to make wheat berries:

2/3 cup wheat (I like hard white wheat or soft white wheat)

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

Place ingredients in slow cooker and cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.  Drain water.  Makes 2 cups of wheat berries. 

Review:

This recipe is one of those that I literally just threw everything in and made it up as I went along.  You can do it too!  The keys to success in a yummy slow cooker spaghetti sauce are these:

1.  Use lots of aromatics like onion and garlic.  

2.  Get the onions nice and soft in the microwave and at the same time bloom the spices.

3.  Use tomato paste to bring out the flavors and thicken things up.

4.  Use tapioca as a thickener to keep things from getting too runny.

Follow those rules and add in whatever else you like (mushrooms, peppers, carrots, zucchini, squash etc)

I also love to serve my sauce over spaghetti squash.  So tasty and it has great texture and very few calories.  Delish!  4 stars.

Slow Cooker Roast and Potatoes

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Crockpot Roast and Potatoes

2-3 lb chuck roast, quartered
3-4 Russet potatoes, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup diced onion (more or less)
Carrots, optional
1/3 cup Shirley J Dutch Oven and Slow Cooker Beef Seasoning
2 cups water

1.  Place roast in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Surround with the potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic cloves.
2.  Whisk the beef seasoning with the water and then pour over the top of the roast and carrots.
3.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours (depending on how quickly your slow cooker cooks), until roast is tender and falls apart easily. 
4.  Serve roast and potatoes with gravy.

Review:
What is the quintessential crockpot recipe?  I would say either roast or soup.  That is at least the most common thing people typically make in their slow cooker.  I've done many thing with roasts before but it's been a while since I've done a roast with potatoes and gravy.  The Shirley J seasoning makes it easy and fast.  It's perfectly seasoned to make a wonderful roast and a yummy gravy. 4 stars.

(Really easy and fast) Tostadas with Shredded Beef

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Slow Cooker Beef Tostadas

1 to 3 lbs of boneless beef roast (use a chuck roast or chuck-eye roast for best results)
1 1/2 cups green enchilada sauce
1/2 cup picante sauce
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
(Optional) Tostada toppings:  tortillas, refried beans, sour cream, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro, shredded cheese

1.  Place roast in slow cooker.
2.  In a bowl, combine the enchilada sauce, picante sauce, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder.  Pour over the top of the roast.
3.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-9 hours (depending on size of roast and size of crockpot).  The meat should be easy to shred.
4.  Remove the meat from the liquid and shred with two forks. 
5.  Pour liquid from slow cooker into a bowl and let sit.  Skim fat from surface with large spoon and discard.
6.  Place shredded meat back into the slow cooker and spoon desired amount of sauce over the top. 
7.  Make tostadas by brushing the tortillas with oil and broiling each side until crispy.  Place desired toppings and beef on the tortilla and serve.

Makes 4 -12 servings (depdending on how large the roast is)

Review:
This is a great recipe if you literally have 4 minutes to prepare it in the morning before work!  Throw the roast in, open a can of enchilada sauce and you're practically done.  Most recipes really require some seasoning before serving but the chili powder, cumin and garlic powder held up really well.  I loved the easiness of this recipe and the flavor was fabulous.  My kids ate the meat on tostadas and I served mine over a salad.  Yummy yummy!  4 stars

Dipping Roast Beef Sliders

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2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast

1 (10 1/2 oz) can Campbell's Condensed French Onion Soup

1 (8 oz) jar pickled banana pepper rings

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Sliced provolone cheese, optional

Mini buns, toasted

1.  Place roast, trimmed of fat, into slow cooker.  Top with soup, the juice from banana pepper rings, and Worcestershire sauce.  Store banana peppers in refrigerator until later. 

2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until beef is very tender.

3.  Remove beef from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks.  Pour the liquid from the slow cooker into individual serving cups.

4.  Serve the beef on top of the toasted buns.  Top with the banana peppers and the provolone cheese.  Dip in the juice, if desired.

Makes 6-8 servings

Review:

Very very easy recipe.  This is a also good one of you are going to be gone all day.  Easy to put in before work and comes out tasting delicious.  The juice from the banana peppers gave the meat a tangy twist.  We didn't have any leftovers at our house.  5 stars.

Shirley J Beef Stroganoff

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Photo by Katie Dudley Photography

1 lb beef stew meat
4 tsp Shirley J Slow Cooker Beef Seasoning, divided
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp canola oil
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Shirley J beef bouillon mixed with 1 cup hot water
1 Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
Basil
1/3 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
1 cup fresh button mushrooms, sliced

1.  Combine 3 tsp Shirley J Slow Cooker Beef Seasoning, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, onion, garlic and oil in microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 4-5 minutes, stirring every minute, until onions are soft.  Transfer to slow cooker.
2.  Add the beef into the slow cooker along with the vinegar, beef bouillon and tapioca.  Stir to combine.
3.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, until beef is very tender.
4.  Add in basil to taste, 1 tsp Shirley J Slow Cooker Beef Seasoning, sour cream and mushrooms.  Salt and pepper to taste. 
5.  Cover and cook for another 30 minutes and serve over noodles or rice.

Makes 4 servings

Review:
This recipe is amazing.  The Shirley J products season it beautifully.  The sauce is deep and rich and there is no cream of mushroom/chicken soup in it.  My husband and I both loved this dinner and I'm going to be making it again soon.  5 stars.


Get your own Shirley J products here.  They make you look really good in the kitchen with minimal effort!!  Also the giveaway that includes Shirley J products ends tomorrow...so make sure to enter!!!

Party Meatballs

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1 (3 lb) bag frozen meatballs
1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce
1 (10 oz) jar grape jelly
1/4 cup A1 steak sauce

1.  Dump the bag of meatballs into the slow cooker
2.  In a small bowl mix the chili sauce, grape jelly and steak sauce.
3.  Pour sauce on top of meatballs.
4.  Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours or HIGH for 2 hours.
5.  Serve an an appetizer or as the entree.

Review:
Simple.  Delicious.  Perfect for parties.  That's all.
4 stars

Slow Cooker Beef Gyros by Aimee

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This is a guest post from Aimee.  This looks great, Aimee!  Thanks.  If you'd like to do a guest post click here.

Hi! I am so excited for the opportunity to share one of my recipes with the readers of 365 Days of Slow Cooking! First let me introduce myself a little... Hi, I'm Aimee! I got married to my wonderful husband about a year ago, (you can read the story of how we met here) and in November we got the cutest puppy, named Aspen. We blog about our family adventures, sometimes which you can read here.

I have two part time jobs, and my hours add up so that it's like a full time job. Which means I don't have a lot of extra time in the week, but one of the things I like to do during my free time is cook. One of my goals for the year was to try at least one new recipe a week through out the year, and so far its been pretty successful. Anyway, my mom and I both post recipes that we like on our cooking blog, which can be found here. I try to post one to two new recipes a week, so please check it out!

My beautiful mother and I

 Here is a delicious recipe for Beef Gyros!! I hope you like it!

Meat
2 lb boneless beef chuck steak (we just got steak that was already sliced about 1/4 inch thick or so and probably less than a pound)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Yogurt-Dill Sauce
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup diced seedless cucumber
1 Tbsp dill
1/4 tsp salt


Pita bread
Toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc.

1. Place beef in slow cooker.
2. Mix oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
3. Pour over beef, turning beef to coat.
4. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours (until meat is tender)

5. Make sauce by stirring together ingredients.

6. Warm pitas as package directs.
7. Top pitas with sliced meat, yogurt sauce and toppings.

Review:
These turned out to be delicious, and its such an easy recipe. I love being able to throw something in the crock pot in the morning, and to come home to a delicious smelling kitchen when I get home from work. The sliced beef we used for this was absolutely perfect! (If you're going to use a whole roast, you probably need to cook it about 1-2 hours longer than I suggested).

According to Karen's ratings I would give this 3.5 or 4 stars. We'll definitely be making this again, because we liked it a lot, but because I try to cook a couple new meals a week, we don't really have a rotation of food. We're thinking that maybe we'll try it with lamb next time. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks, Aimee.  I absoultely love gyros and the yogurt sauce that goes on top is the best!  Perfect summer recipe.

Cafe Rio-ish Shredded Beef Salad

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Makes 4-8 servings

2-4 lb Chuck Roast
1 small onion
1 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp ground cumin
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14 oz) can green enchilada sauce
1-2 Tbsp tomato paste
Kosher salt
Cumin
Cilantro, lime, avocado

1.  Cut the onion into large, chunky slices and place on the bottom of slow cooker.
2.  Place the roast on top of the onions.
3.  Combine broth, cumin, garlic and tomato sauce and pour over the top of the roast.
4.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or until beef easily shreds. 
5.  Move meat to a cutting board and use 2 forks to shred the beef.
6.  Strain the juices from the slow cooker (reserve the juice).  Move meat back to the slow cooker and pour tomato paste and desired amount of enchilada sauce over the top.  Stir in.  Add any strained juices back in that you want.
7.  Use kosher salt and cumin to taste.
8.  Serve over salad with the tomatillo dressing (recipe below), cilantro, lime and avocado slices.

Tomatillo Creamy Café Rio Dressing


1 (1 oz) package Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tomatillos (peel outer skin layer)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
½ tsp lime juice
1 small jalapeno (seeds removed)

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  Refrigerate.

Review:
I have been eating this all week and loving it!  I'm not that huge of a fan of red meat and will usually always prefer chicken or pork but I am seriously in love with this roast recipe.  There was a lot of leftovers so I froze individual servings sizes in Ziploc freezer bags.  It makes for an easy lunch or dinner later on.  If you're a salad fan, this recipe is worth trying.  Do NOT forget the dressing.  It is the most delicious stuff ever.  I could drink it!  (My son literally licks it off his plate, or the counter)  4 1/2 stars