Slow-Cooker Taco Meat (or, How my Crock-Pot Makes Me a Better Cook than I Actually Am.)

Hi, I'm Shelle. (Waves) I'm Jen's older (not necessarily wiser) sister and I too have some stories about the realities of making dinner. I work outside of the home (WOH) full-time and yet, while I'm away, no magical Dinner Elves swing by my house and spend the day preparing delicious and nutritional meals that my whole family will love. (Side note: If any of you are hoarding these elves, I'm gonna need you let them out every once in a while, okay? Thanks.) I've got a pretty awesome husband who works super hard during the day, then comes home and keeps all the wheels greased and turning here on our little modern-day homestead. Add two little girls to the mix, ages 5 and 16 months, and well, I'm tired just writing it all out.

It really doesn't matter what kid of a day I had before I got home in the evening, this family needs dinner, and they need it in about thirty minutes. End. Of. Discussion.

Enter, Trusty Crock Pot. (I love, LOVE, LOVE! my Crock-Pot. I could write sonnets and epic poems to and about this amazing small appliance. I have two actually, and yes, both get used regularly.) On this particular occasion, I used my Crock-Pot to make shredded taco meat, and it was so easy-peasy.

Cast of Characters:
-Whatever cuts of beef you have available. (Here I used a 1 lb cut of round steak and a 1 lb package of round cubed steak. We raise our own beef, so we often have single steaks or odds and ends that need used up. This recipe is perfect. If prefer your meat from the grocery store, check out the clearance meat section and pick up whatever beef cut is on sale. It will work and be delicious.)
-Jar of Salsa (I made a ship-ton of red and green salsa this past summer. A pint jar is a good amount)
-Taco Seasoning (as much or as little as you and your family prefer.)

Directions:
-Add meat to the slow-cooker. This meat thawed overnight, but frozen can work too if the cuts are thin.
-Dump in salsa and sprinkle in taco seasoning.
-Cook on *low* for 7-10 hours. 7-8 if meat is thawed, 10 if it's frozen.
-Get the kids up, dressed and fed, drink a sip or two of coffee, get yourself dressed, change shirts after the baby smears yogurt on the first one, do your hair, do the children's hair, brush the children's teeth, brush your own teeth, make sure all bags are properly packed and in the car, get sweatshirts on everyone, get shoes on everyone, load and buckle everyone in the car, run back inside because someone forgot something, finally, finally leave the house. Oh, and look at the baby and be marveled, once again, that she really does have the most beautiful eyes.

Later, when you get home, take two forks and shred the meat. Use it however you like to use taco meat. Crunchy tacos, soft tacos, taco salad, as a hearty nacho topping, or like I used it, in a Taco Rice Bowl.

Rice Bowls are usually a hit in our house, mostly because they can be individualized and each family member can take ownership in preparing their own dinner. In addition to the taco meat, I cooked up some long-grain rice, heated a can of corn, chopped some lettuce and spinach, and grated some cheese. (Depending on how busy a certain evening is expected to be, I prep a lot of those items ahead of time.)

My Taco Rice Bowl has a bit of rice, some delicious shredded taco beef, a scoop of corn, a large handful of spinach, and a sprinkling of cheese. I happily ate every bite.

My 5-year old daughter's Taco Rice Bowl has rice, beef, corn, iceberg lettuce, a lot of cheese, and ranch dressing. She happily ate every bite.

The Husband fixed his own and also ate every bite and the baby shoved the meal's components into her mouth until she was full. There was plenty of meat left that got turned into work-day lunches for me and the Husband and I will re-purpose the rest of the meat into enchiladas, or quesadillas next week.