Well hello there crockpot!

I recently helped my sis and bro-in-law move a few weekends back. This process involved going through their house, packing boxes and boxes of everything, and (the most rewarding part for me), throwing stuff away. This exercise put me in the mood to do the same at my house, but since I have no where to go, nor do I intend on going anywhere anytime soon, there really wasn’t anything to pack. However; there was plenty to throw away (or donate in my case). I started with my closet and piled up shoes, purses, and articles of clothing I hadn’t touched in over a year. Then came the linen closet, throwing out towels that were worn and dingy and smelly soaps that actually smelt bad. What next? Well, of course the bathrooms. This process continued for a few days until all the rooms and closets were dealt with, then I made my way downstairs to the biggest cleanup of them all, the kitchen!

I got rid of unnecessary kitchen tools and cleaned out every drawer and shelf so I could actually see what I have. It’s been over a week and I still open drawers for no reason other than to see my neatly organized kitchen tools (a little OCD – yup guilty!) In addition to leaning down many appliances, my work horse tools shoved in the recesses of my cabinets were now visible! I decided to actual use my crockpot because I could see it and it reminded me how good it works on tenderizing tough pieces of meat.

I had a small beef shoulder that I wanted to use for tacos and the crockpot was just the “man” for the job. I used a dry rub on the shoulder, threw it in the crock, added some orange juice for liquid, turned it on, and went to work. I came home to wonderful aromas wafting through the house and perfectly fork tender beef shoulder, exactly what’s needed for tacos. My only complaint was not using a bigger shoulder so we had more days to enjoy this delicious dish!

Ingredients:

4-6 lb. beef shoulder (Butcher box of course)

1 tablespoon of each – Trader Joe’s Seasoning salt, oregano, and chili powder

1-2 teaspoons of cayenne powder (depending on your heat level preference), pepper, and cumin

Orange juice to fill about 1″ to 2″ in height of crock pot

All the fixins’ (lettuce, tomatoes, avo, beans, tortillas, hot sauce, etc.)

Rub shoulder with dry mix, place in crockpot, and pour in orange juice. Set on high for 4-6 hours or low for 10-12 hours. Shoulder will shred easily once cooked through.

Wine to pair?

A nice biggerish red really stands up to the shredded beef so I went with a Cabernet Sauvignon that my dad actually gave me (since I typically don’t look for Cabs as they’re not my fav varietal). However since this recipe is Mexican themed I’d even go with a tequila soda. Either way, Ole friends!