I love cooking. I never thought, growing up, I’d have such an appreciation for creating food.
Yesterday I decided that, living in a busy household where; the number of people in attendance, the appetites of those present and the time it takes to calculate when everyone will be here versus when the food is finished, changes from day to day and requires a different approach to cooking-at least for now. It’s been slightly frustrating (on my end) to attempt to keep up with everyone and their food ideals. Yup, I’m ranting but I don’t care. It’s not easy taking on 6-8 very different people on any given day (cue tiny violin and gold stars…). My solution is the crockpot. No big revelation, obviously millions utilize them, I have just thoroughly enjoyed setting aside 2 hours for meal preparation everyday so it’s a daunting switch.
To consider the evenings meal in the morning, to decline my need to anticipate others and revel in knowing that weekends can quite possibly be reserved for leftovers since that is a most confusing time for me…still ranting…but I don’t want to cook on the weekend, I want a “break from work” just like everyone else, is a little more work but also allows me to refocus my energy during the day.
Ok, so last night, er…yesterday morning, I created a crockpot roast with a Mexican theme.
Half an onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 dried chili peppers (of various types)
3lb. Pikes Peak Roast
15oz. Whole peeled tomatoes
Chili powder,oregano, cumin, salt and pepper (about 11/2TBS of each) enough water to cover the roast and 8 hours on low created a most delicious soft taco when paired with red beans, cilantro, avocado, cheese and fresh cilantro.
I cut the roast into bite sized chunks (this type of roast is apparently not easy to shred like others) and thickened the sauce with cornstarch (a very hefty spoonful-probably 3 TBS) at the end before serving everything over mini corn tortillas.
It was a crowd pleaser for the two of us that were actually here for it…
My CupKeiki 