I’ve decided that there are
just too many recipes floating around the universe, and frankly, it’s
overwhelming. Countless websites and
dozens of magazines equal one giant headache for deciding what to eat. At least
for me. Too many choices make my head spin, and instead of helping to find
something to cook for dinner, it actually hinders me. So what to do? Simplify.
Step 1: Pick a Recipe
Last Christmas I received a
subscription to Canadian Living. It has really great tips on things that touch
everyday life, from parenting to exercising to fashion, and of course, food. After flipping through the month’s offerings
of recipes, I decided to try them out, starting with one a week. Perhaps you’ve
heard this from me already…. It isn’t unlike the project I started on this here
very blog, cooking a new recipe once a week. I’ve just simplified where I pick
the recipe from, and since the magazine gets delivered to my door, that make it
even easier!
NOTE: I love sharing what I'm cooking up in my kitchen, so if you're looking for other recipe suggestions, check out From the Kitchen of BBB. You can also find them by clicking on the Recipe labels tab on the right side of this page.
NOTE: I love sharing what I'm cooking up in my kitchen, so if you're looking for other recipe suggestions, check out From the Kitchen of BBB. You can also find them by clicking on the Recipe labels tab on the right side of this page.
Step 2: Menu Plan
Now that my time is divided
between work and family, I’m finding that the time I have to cook has to now
fit into a short period of space. So menu planning really helps me make the
best use of my time and my ingredients. I spend some time at the beginning of
each week planning out a week’s worth of meals (yup, on handy dandy excel
sheet), and then create a shopping list of items to buy. Sometimes the
ingredients will help decide the dish, but most often, I cook what I feel like.
There are still a lot of quick and easy recipes that re-appear on my weekly
menu, but I always make sure there is at least one new recipe. And most new
recipes freeze well as leftovers for a meal later that month.
This week, I tried out the pork
tacos, and why this one works so well as a quick weeknight dish is this: the
pork is cooked ahead of time in the slow cooker (which I did on Sunday), then
frozen in batches for future use. I only had to warm the pork and the tortillas,
cook the frozen corn, chop the avocado, and mix them together with a few other ingredients.
It really was that simple.
Why I loved it? Besides being
quick to make, the taste was awesome! The salsa was fresh and had that great
combination of sweetness (from the corn) and acidity (from the lime) that it
really balanced the whole dish. We skipped the sour cream, radishes, and
cilantro (sometimes my shopping lists are not that reliable...), but I don’t
think they needed it. My tip to you is
to buy fresh tortillas, if you have access (Lone Star sells them fresh, and
they freeze really well); they really do make a huge difference.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Portion size: 4 servings
Ingredients
8 soft flour
tortillas, (6 inches/15 cm) – fresh if you can get them!
2 cups (500 mL)
Slow Cooker Shredded Pork
1/2 cup (125
mL) sliced radishes
1/3 cup (75 mL)
sour cream
1/3 cup (75 mL)
chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedges
Smoky Avocado Corn
Salsa:
1 cup (250 mL)
frozen corn kernels, blanched
1 avocado,
peeled, pitted and cubed
1 clove garlic,
grated
1 tbsp (15 mL)
lime juice
2 tsp (10 mL)
olive oil
Pinch smoked
paprika
Pinch each salt
and pepper
Preparation
Smoky Avocado Corn Salsa: Gently toss together corn,
avocado, garlic, lime juice, oil, paprika, salt and pepper.
Heat tortillas according to package instructions. Divide
pork among tortillas; top with corn salsa, radishes, sour cream and cilantro.
Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over top.
