Hey there! The Lexingtonienne is back from a visit to the homeland. It was my first trip away from Eleanora (long overdue, probably, but that’s just the way it worked out). And while E and her daddy got lots of father-daughter bonding time over a long weekend at home in LA, I got to enjoy a rainy Lexington weekend with these precious people:
Big Brother Cooper is getting a crash course in patience and compromise with two new baby siblings in the house. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to bust out for a little while, despite the inclement weather. How cute is he here, playing in the pouring rain?
Meanwhile, I got a refresher course in swaddling. I don’t have a photo of the babies swaddled up, but all you parents out there are probably familiar with The Baby Burrito, which is when your baby is packaged so perfectly in a blanket that he/she looks like a burrito. And THAT reminded me of a super easy crock pot recipe I hadn’t posted yet.
If you, like a certain family of Lexingtonians we know, have your hands full, this recipe for shredded beef burritos takes very little work but is REALLY good!
I found the recipe when this blog post circulated on Pinterest a couple of months ago. It’s a pretty genius post, by the way, if you’re looking for some new crock pot recipes.
I made a couple of adjustments, such as searing the roast first, but if you have a potty-training 2-year-old plus newborn twins and you need to keep things simpler, you can skip that. 😉
CROCK POT BEEF BURRITOS (pdf)
Adapted from www.savingyoudinero.com
- 2 lbs beef roast (London broil, top round, or chuck roast will do)
- 1 onion, cut into large chunks
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 T apple cider vinegar
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce*
- 1-2 tsp chili powder (depending on your taste)
- Salt & black pepper to taste (but be pretty generous with the pepper)
*These come in a can; I found them in the Hispanic cooking aisle of the grocery store. There are several peppers in a small can, but you only need one. Feel free to use a few if you like it spicy.
Trim, rinse, and pat dry the roast. Generously salt & pepper the roast on all sides. Sear over high heat until thoroughly browned on all sides. Transfer to crock pot and add remaining ingredients, including a few more turns of black pepper. Cook on high heat for about 5 hours or on low heat for about 7 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender.
Shred or chop the beef, then return it to the crock pot to simmer in the juices for about another half hour or until you are ready to serve. (I like to do the onions in large pieces so you can either remove them easily, or chop them up along with the beef.)
Serve in burrito-size tortillas with the burrito “fixins” of your choice – rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, etc. The leftovers are great too later in the week!
xoxo,