Shredded French Dip Sandwiches

My neighbor, Heather, introduced me to these sandwiches. She and her husband invited us over for dinner so we could get to know our new neighbors and she served these French Dip Sandwiches for dinner. Oh my goodness…they were so far past amazing that I begged her for this recipe. She was happy to share and 7 years later, we are still good friends! She loves to cook and has shared so many recipes with me that have become family favorites!

I make these a lot for family that come in from out of town because they feed up 6 to 8 people. Here’s a secret about how to make the meat tender. Cook the meat in the slow cooker on low for at least 8 hours. I typically let mine continue to cook for about  9 or 10 hours. You cant really overcook roast. I took these to work this past week for a pot luck and I woke up at 2 AM to start the crock pot! I wanted these to be tender!

Ok, so these are not gluten free. Sorry – they just aren’t and I haven’t found a gluten free substitute for beef consomme or french onion soup. But seriously – this one is so good, I counldn’t NOT post it. That would not have been fair to not share this one because it is definitely worth repeating! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 3lbs beef chuck roast
• 1 10.5 ounce can beef consomme
• 1 teaspoon of bouillon granules or 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 10.5 ounce can french onion soup
• 1 10.5 ounce can beef broth
• 8-10 french rolls

Directions

• Halve roast and place in a slow cooker.
• Combine all ingredients except for the rolls and pour over roast.
• Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
• Ensure the meat is tender.
• Remove meat and shred with two forks.
• Serve on rolls. Slim the fat from the cooking juices and serve as an au jus dipping sauce.

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Recipe source: inspired by Heather Huberich

Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Casserole

My friend, Vicky Crowley, brought this dish to work today for several us to try. There is a group of us at work who share dishes/recipes to get new ideas for making new and different meals. Vicky found this one on the following website: http://www.spendwithpennies.com/crock-pot-cabbage-roll-casserole/

She changed it up a bit and didn't roll the cabbage but made it into more of a casserole. It was fantastic. I had seconds, as did most of us at lunch today!

You can make a gluten free version of this recipe if you use a gluten free tomato soup. Make sure to read your labels because not all tomato soups are gluten free! As a matter of fact, read the labels on the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to ensure all brands you use are gluten free.

My husband loves cabbage and I cant wait to make this for him! It's definitely a keeper!!

Ingredients: 

• 1½ lbs lean ground beef or pork (or a mixture of the two)
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce, divided
• 1 cup water
• 1 can condensed tomato soup (read your labels if you are gluten free to ensure you get a gluten free brand)
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ¾ cup long grain white rice, uncooked
• 1 head cabbage
• ⅓ cup water
• 1½ cups Mozzarella cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Brown beef or pork, onion, garlic and seasonings over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain.

2. Add 1 cup tomato sauce, 1 cup water and ½ can of tomato soup and diced tomatoes to the beef.

3. Stir in rice, and mix well until heated through. Remove from heat.

4. Chop cabbage into 4 wedges and remove core. Chop into chunks (Vicky's were about ¾"x1.5").

5. Layer ½ of the meat mixture and ½ of the cabbage in the slow cooker. Repeat layers.Place half the meat and then half the cabbage in cooker.

6. Combine the remaining tomato soup, remaining tomato sauce and ⅓ cup water. Pour over top of cabbage.

7. Cook on low 4-6 hours or just until rice is cooked. Once done, turn slow cooker off, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and let sit 10 minutes to set and melt cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos with Endive and Avocado Salad

I'm a part of a lunch coop at the office where I work and we had 2 ladies bring in a fantastic recipe that I just had to share! It's absolutely worth repeating!

I believe they got these 2 recipes from Barefoot Contessa and eatliverun.com. This is by far a very different salad recipe and I dont think I would have pulled this one out to try, but I'm so glad they made it because it was fantastic! Step outside your comfort zone and try this one!

The Beef Carnitas Taco were also fantastic. Just a word of advice...ensure that when you are marinating your steak with the rub that you really lather this rub into your flank steak so the steak gets the full flavor. You could also substitute the Flank Steak for Iron Steak.

This recipe is Gluten Free and full of protein and healthy fat. I see myself making this again on my lower body push days at the gym :)

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs flank steak
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

for spice rub-

• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

for serving—

• corn tortillas
• avocado slices
• cilantro
• your favorite salsa
• limes

Directions:

Mix together all spices in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over your flank steak—be generous and rub it into the meat. Then, place your steak at the bottom of your crock pot.

Cover the steak with the chopped onions, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Turn heat on LOW and cook for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot and shred with a fork. It should be incredibly easy to shred. You can either stick the shredded meat back in the pot for another hour or serve as is.

To serve, heat your corn tortillas in a skillet on the stove. Spoon some carnitas on a tortilla then top with salsa, avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Endive and Avocado Salad 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons) 
• 4 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 4 heads of endive 
• 2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded 

Directions:

Whisk together the mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make a vinaigrette. 

Remove a half inch from the stem end of each endive, discard the core, and cut the rest across into 1-inch chunks. Cut the avocados into large dice or wedges. Toss the avocados and endive with the vinaigrette.

 Season to taste and serve at room temperature. 

Crock Pot Roasted Garlic Herb Chicken

I had a friend include me in a recipe exchange email chain and I'm so glad she did! I got a FANTASTIC crock pot recipe and I'm so excited to share it! I love crock pot recipes. They are perfect for fall weather and busy schedules! 

This one is super interesting because of the garlic and lemon. The taste came out amazing and the chicken was very tender. This one is gluten free, as long as your chicken broth has no gluten included. It took me 10 minutes to prep this one and then off I went with my day!

Enjoy this super easy recipe and thanks to Mrs. Vicki Davidson for passing it along! It's definitely worth repeating!



Ingredients:

• Whole Chicken
• 1cup chopped celery
• 2 cups baby carrots
• Chicken broth (gluten free)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 lemon
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Place carrots & celery at the bottom of the slow cooker, and pour chicken broth over the celery and carrots just to cover them. Place chicken on top.

In a bowl mix the garlic, juice of the lemon, rosemary and salt & pepper to taste. Save the lemon rinds. Then rub this mixture onto the chicken.

                                      

Throw the lemon rinds in the crock pot and cover. Cook on low for 5-6 hours until chicken falls off the bone.

Pesto Chicken Thighs

It has been awhile since I have posted!  I get SO busy with the holidays.  I cook a lot during the holiday season, but it's a lot of my favorite recipes and I don't get to experiment too often with new ones :)

I did find this easy recipe that turned out FANTASTIC!  Crock Pot recipes are always a huge plus in my book and if I can find a good one, I keep it and post it for you all to try!  This one is a recipe for pesto chicken thighs.  This one is Gluten free - but always read your labels!

This was a big winner at my house over the holidays.  My mom, husband and nephew raved over it!  This one is super easy to make and is perfect for that day you don't want to spend too many hours in the kitchen!  NOTE: If you are making this Gluten free, please read all your labels, especially the chicken broth and pesto jar!  Or make your own pesto sauce.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs
• 6oz jar pesto sauce
• 1 package of dry ranch seasoning mix
• 1/2 cup chicken broth 

Directions

• Turn crock pot to low.  
• Place chicken thighs on the bottom of the crock pot.  Pour the pesto, ranch dressing packet and chicken broth on top of the chicken thighs in the crock pot.
• Stir gently to combine all ingredients.
• Place the top on the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

You can serve this with rice, mashed potatoes or pasta!  I loved this with a salad as a side dish!

Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken

This is another great recipe for cooking in your crock pot!  We all have those days that tend to be busy and you just dont have time to cook so save this recipe for those busy days!  I got this one from SparkPeople.  This one is low calorie, low fat, and super high in protein! This one calls for a can of reduced fat cream of mushroom soup, so if you are going Gluten Free make sure to buy the Gluten Free Brand of Cream of Mushroom.  The sour cream mentioned below as the last step can be optional. Serve this in warm tortillas or taco shells.
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 package reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup (condensed) - Get the Gluten Free kind if you are Gluten Free
1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream

Directions:
Add chicken to slow cooker.  Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.  Pour salsa and soup over chicken.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Remove from heat and still in sour cream.  Serve with rice, beans, tortillas, taco shells and all your other favorite taco toppings!!

Serves 6
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 157.2, Fat 3.3g, Carbs 6.7g, Protein 24.3g