Crockpot Cooking: Shredded Beef Tacos

We were given a crockpot for a wedding gift, and I've been looking forward to trying it out for a while now. Last week I finally got around to doing so. I think my husband can attest to how excited I was about cooking in it for the first time--pretty sure I talked about it quite a bit! For my first endeavor in crockpot cooking, I decided to make a recipe that I got from my mom: Shredded Beef Tacos. They are delicious and unique from other taco recipes I've tried.

This recipe makes enough for at least 10-12 tacos, if not more, depending on the size of your roast and how full you fill the tortillas. The roast I used was about two and a half pounds. My husband and I have been taking leftovers to work with us for lunches, but leftovers are also supposed to freeze well if you want to save some for later.

After I successfully made my first crockpot meal, my conclusion is this--I love crockpots and can't wait to find more ways to make use of this great invention. It was wonderful to come into our apartment when I got back from work to the wafting smell of slow cooking roast. And the best part was actually eating the tacos!

Shredded Beef Tacos

• 2-4 pound Roast
• 1 package taco seasoning
• Adobo Seasoing (2-3 tsp)
• 2 cups black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 cup salsa
• 1-2 cups frozen corn

Place roast in a the crockpot. (You may want to trim off some fat first--I was able to get a much leaner cut of meat by doing this). Sprinkle Adobo seasoning and taco seasoning packet on top, as well as black beans, corn and salsa. The recipe calls for 2-3 teaspoons, though I didn't really measure it out--just sprinkled until it looked like the top of the roast well well coated. For those of you who have never used Adobo seasoning, it's a wonderful spice combination including salt, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and other spices. You will probably not find it on the aisle with the rest of the spices; I found it on the Hispanic food aisle. It's one of those hidden gems that you might not find if you don't know what you're looking for. (Extra tidbit about Adobo seasoning: It also makes great seasoning on top of baked tilapia if you want an additional use for it.)

Cook all day on low--about 8-10 hours. It's well worth the longer cooking time--it came out really tender and moist and fell apart when I shredded it.

When meat is done, transfer to a large pan and shred with two forks. Mix meat back into sauce in crockpot.

Serve on tortillas with sour cream and cheese. Yum!