The Crock Pot is my Best Friend

So, as I posted earlier, 2013 kinda sucked for us. It started off with about 11 weeks of craziness as I left one job for another. Then it became 35 weeks of stress, craziness, medical appointments, learning the new job, and doing it all without much sick or vacation time accrued.  

(side note, figuring out that I've spent 35 weeks of this year dealing with cancer- yeah - eye opening and sucky!)

Shortly after starting my new job and enduring an hour commute each way instead of 20 minutes, I discovered I would have to learn how to do a better job at preparing meals that were 1. quicker, 2. easier, and 3. could be made ahead of time.

I started breaking out the crock pot more and more and relying on using a roasted chicken for the whole week for meals, or meatloaf, or a roast.  

One of our favorite things we made during that 35 weeks had to be the Crock Pot Picadillo from Skinnytaste. First off, we love Gina's blog - everything we've made from there is delicious and this is no different!  And the Picadillo is the perfect blend of flavors that we just love.

And a plus - this makes a TON of food and gave us two dinners worth and frozen leftovers for lunches later in the month.

I think it's time to put this on the menu again soon!

How we made this in the Realistic Eats kitchen

• 2 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef
• 1 cup minced onion
• 1 cup diced cubanelle pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup alcaparrado (manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers) or green olives - We couldn't find alcaparrado - so we used olives with pimientos and some capers just measured out to make a 1/4 cup.
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Here's where I strayed - I didn't brown the meat first - I tossed EVERYTHING in the crock pot and let it go! It was fabulous! And Easy - did I mention EASY!!!

I'm ready for fall

Just today I said to the hubs, that I was so done with summer and I'm ready for fall.

I'm ready for sweaters and flannel pajamas.
I'm ready for apple picking, leaf peeping, and pumpkin carving.
I'm ready for the crunch of leaves under my feet and the smell of a crackling fire.
I'm ready for crock pot dinners, hearty soups and stews, and snuggling in earlier at night with a good book.

And when I look back at my months of photos I'm behind on blogging and finding pictures of dishes I made back last winter, it makes me really long for fall.

I made this dish sometime in early spring and it was simply a wonderful and easy soup, but I most certainly strayed from the recipe. The concept of the soup sounded delicious to me, but I'm a picky soup eater, I prefer a creamy soup to a chunky soup. Enter Immersion Blender!!

Thanks to 365 Days of Slow Cooking for the starting point for this recipe! It's fantastic! I can't wait to make it again.


Realistic Eats Version of 365 Days of Slow Cooking Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice + 1 14 oz. can diced tomato with juices
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano
1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
4 cups vegetable broth
½ bay leaf
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups low fat milk warmed
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

1.  Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker.
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.
3.  About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed milk, salt and pepper.  Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don’t be afraid to always season to taste at the end).
4. Place your immersion blender in the crock pot and blend the soup until it's smooth and creamy
5. Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or so until ready to serve.

Easy Beefy!

I grew up outside of Chicago and grew up eating Italian Beef Sandwiches. Ever since moving to RI I've yet to find a suitable replacement for Italian Beef Sandwiches; there's cheese steak galore, steak grinders, you name it - but nothing that would be a suitable replacement for my beloved Italian Beef Sandwiches.

A few weeks ago I was browsing around on All Recipes and found a recipe for Pepperoncini Beef and what drew me in was that it was so easy, done in the crock pot, and followed a similar technique to my Kalua Pork recipe that I make.

This came out so delicious and made some killer sandwiches - so great actually we ate them 3 times in the week!

Still not the replacement of my Italian Beef Sandwiches from Chicago, but still pretty damn' good!

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) beef chuck roast

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 (16 ounce) jar pepperoncini - I used the whole peppers, not the rings

Directions

Make small cuts in roast, and insert garlic slices in cuts. Place roast in the slow cooker, and pour the entire contents of the jar of pepperoncini, including liquid, over meat.

Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Shred the meat and the pepperoncini and return to the crock pot on warm to sit in the juices and get tender. Serve on buns with cheese.

New Years Eve Goodies!

On New Years Eve friends and I went to cook munchies at the Ronald McDonald House. I have a group that we get together monthly and cook dinners there, but we wanted to do something a little more special and fun for New Years Eve. We did heavy appetizers and sparkling apple cider for the families that night, and boy did everything look delicious!

I picked a couple of appetizer recipes to make for the house and both (yes, I admit, we tasted) were DELICIOUS!!!

The first one, I have no idea where I got this recipe from and I tweaked the serving portions, so this is for 12 servings. It made plenty for a big gathering of people.

Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip
12 servings
32 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 T onion chopped finely
2 minced garlic cloves
20 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
26 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts -rinse, drain and chop
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/3 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

Combine cream cheese and half and half in a bowl and mix until well blended. Then add all ingredients except the monterey jack and stir to combine. Pour everything in to a crock pot and heat on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until warmed through. Top with the monterey jack cheese. Serve with veggies, crackers or pita.


The second recipe I made was another Joelen origonal recipe - because, you know, I adore her cooking and her recipes are KILLER!!! I chose her Loaded Potato Poppers and dear GOD they were delicious - creamy, rich, bacon-y - what more could a person want to eat on New Years Eve before the diet starts the next day???

I made her recipe exactly as it is on her website so just use the linky-love above to get to the recipe. I would most certainly try these as a larger potato skin as well, they would be killer!!!

After we cooked at Ronald McDonald House we headed over to our friend's house to enjoy a New Years Eve munchie, dinner, Uno and Rock Band night to ring in the New Year.

I made this bread from another one of my favorite blogs, Leigh Anne over at Your Home Based Mom. Seriously, her Bloomin' Onion Bread was wonderful - and I even forgot the butter and it was still incredible. Next time I will need to work on finding a firmer bread though - just like she did. Again, linky-love - head to the link above for the recipe!


These are great munchies for entertaining - all 3 - so don't forget to add them to your list for your next social gathering.

I can not even begin to tell you

Just how incredibly delicious this meal is. I mean, WOW.

Do you ever read a recipe on a website or blog and think "WOW this is really daunting but it looks so good!!"? I do that a lot and sometimes end up passing things up because, really, I just don't have the time.

But this recipe from The Food in My Beard, I could NOT pass up. I made everything as is. I took the time to marinade the meat with the herbs, make the bbq sauce, the slaw, everything. I did cheat and use store bought naan though and it as more than fine. The only thing I'd change is to use plain yogurt in the slaw mixture because the hubs didn't like the Greek yogurt in it. he found it too bitter. I will admit, there were some of the spices that I didn't have and I omitted those - so I'll indicate that here. But the link above is the recipe as is.

Really, don't be intimidated, it's delicious - make it make it make it!!!

Indian BBQ Brisket with Raita

Marinade
2 tablespoons mexican chile powder - I used regular chili powder
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder - I used more regular chili powder
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
2 teaspoons black mustard seed - I didn't have any so I just used some dijon mustard
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons cayenne
seeds from 10 cardemom pods - surprisingly, I did have this!!
5 allspice berries - I just used a couple teaspoons of allspice
5 cloves
teaspoon fenugreek seeds - Um yeah, I didn't have this. I just omitted and didn't replace with anything.
1 medium onion
5 cloves garlic
1/4 cup worcestershire
1/4 cup apple vinegar


Toast whole spices on the stovetop, then food process. Add the rest of the dry spices and process some more. Add the garlic, onion, worcestershire, and vinegar and process until smooth. Take a 4 lb brisket peice and make some holes in it with a skewer. Put it in a large zip lock and pour in the marinade. Yum. Marinate this for at least 24 hours, 48 would be better. ***NOTE - I did this in my mini chopper and it stained the plastic horribly. So either use a special herb grinder or just wash it out really well when done. After about 3 washings the red color faded off the mini chopper.***

BBQ Sauce - made this all as is.
1/2 stick butter
1 red onion
salt
3 cloves garlic
square inch of ginger
1 and a half large cans whole tomatoes (or 3 small ones, or one large and one small)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup molasses
tablespoon honey

Saute the onion in butter for about 15 minutes. Add some salt at one point. Next garlic and ginger. Now add the rest of the ingredients. Next take your brisket out of the marinade, reserving as much of the marinade as possible. Dump that marinade into your bubbling BBQ sauce. At this point, the smell is going to blow you away and you will want to taste it really bad, but don't! It is full of raw brisket juice. Simmer this violently for about 15 minutes. Pour it into your slow cooker on high and blend it with a stick blender, now you can take a small taste if you want and adjust seasonings as needed. You can also add a cup of water if it is too thick or intense, but it should be kind of intense. Sear the beef and add to the slow cooker, fully covered by the liquid. Cook for 6 hours. You can do this in a dutch oven if you want, but mine is on loan to a friend. If you do that, throw it in the oven with the cover ajar at 250 for 6 hours. *** I cooked mine in the slow cooker and it was great!***

Raita-Coleslaw
half a small cabbage - I just used a bag of coleslaw mix
3 large carrots - omitted since I used the coleslaw mix
2 medium cucumbers
bunch of scallions
handful of dill
handful of cilantro
2 cloves garlic
about 2 cups of yogurt - Again I'd use plain next time and not plain Greek
salt and pepper

Use the shredder attatchment on the food processor for the cabbage, cuke, and carrots. Take a paper towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out some moisture from this. Chop up the scallions, dill, and cilantro and mix it in. Microplane the garlic in. Add 2 cups of yogurt that you strained the liquids from for about 2 hours. Or just buy Greek yogurt... either way. Add some salt and pepper and mix it all up. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two before serving.

THANK YOU FOOD IN MY BEARD - You rocked our bellies!!!

Going out with a bang.

When you spend 6 years of your life dedicated to a TV show, it seems only fitting to celebrate it's end in style.

For 6 years, I've watched LOST. I've been baffled, touched, scratched my head,

researched on the web for clues, re-watched episodes, you name it - it has sucked me in for all 6 years - about 4 years for the hubs, he didn't get on the bandwagon right away.

We made an event of the finale of LOST. And we did it in true Hawaiian fashion with a luau for two.

Since digging a hole in the backyard and roasting a whole pig wasn't really an option for this luau - I opted for using this recipe from Allrecipes and WOW it was just like sitting on a beach being entertained by fire breathers and hula dancers good. I don't think I'll ever make pork roast another way again. Now the recipe for the Kalua Pig in a Slow Cooker was simple, but instead of cooking it for like 20 hours on low, I did 4 hours on high, 4 hours on low, a few more hours on warm, and another hour on low again - yes, I got up at 6 am to put the pork roasts in the crock pot. I also used two 2 pound pork roasts with a descent amount of fat to them as well. This made enough for dinner, a leftover lettuce wrap dinner and a leftover pulled bbq pork sandwiches as well and we still put some in the freezer!!

For sides, I still needed some tropical things. I opted for some fried plantains, Asian coleslaw with the Ramen noodles, and boiled yucca that I tossed with garlic, onion, butter and lemon juice.

And of course you can't enjoy a LOST luau without some fish biscuits!! Yes the infamous fish biscuits from when Kate and Swayer were stuck in the Dharma cages. These were so delicious and tasty - even my office mates loved them for our LOST recap lunch on Monday.

All in all the meal was fantastic and the show was worth dedicating 6 years and 4.5 hours of my Sunday too.

I'll miss you LOST... thank you for making my brain hurt and challenging me to think in a way like no other TV show has!!

A New Use for Stew Meat

So I pick up beef stew meat at the market when it's on sale, and usually all I do is make stew with it. But I was so inspired from the tacos the other week that I decided to make beef tacos in the crock pot and decided to use up a pack of lonely beef stew meat in the freezer.

Now, first off, let me tell you, I was truly inspired by a post on Brown Eyed Baker to make your own taco seasoning, that I took an old empty jar I had and blended and mixed away in my kitchen to create our own taco seasoning. The smell is dead on, so is the flavor, and it doesn't have any of the fake bad stuff or the salt - which is an issue for me since I need to limit my sodium intake daily. So thank you Brown Eyed Baker - now go make your own and stop buying the packet mix!!

Ok Back to my tacos.

All Day Shredded Beef Tacos

1 lb. beef stew meat

1 small can tomato sauce

1-2 small cans of water (depending how much liquid your'e comfortable not using in your crock pot when you aren't home during the day)

1/4 cup tequila

2 T taco seasoning

1 can diced green Chiles

1 large onion sliced thin

Place all ingredients in your crock pot and cook on low until the meat shreds apart. Place in tortillas and enjoy. Next time I think I'll also add a can of diced tomatoes with Chiles.

If you eat a vegan meal on Fat Tuesday...

Can it really, truly be Fat Tuesday??

Because let me tell you, this recipe was so delicious and totally guilt free!

I found the recipe here, on fat free vegan,

I did make some alterations to her recipe so I'm posting it here as I made it so I have it for next time. My biggest issue was I cooked it in the crock pot, and when I got home from work, everything was cold and raw - my crock pot kicked the bucket. So, since the beans were at least tender after soaking all day, I was able to pop everything in the stock pot and simmer away on the stove for an hour and it was done.

Served with rice - easy, peasy, delicious!

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

2 cups dry red kidney beans
6 cups water

4 cloves of garlic

2 medium onions diced

4 ribs of celery
1 bay leaf

1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. paprika
3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. black pepper
14 oz. Gimmie Lean "sausage" crumbled (I tried browning in a skillet first and it just stuck like mad, so I put it in as is)

1/2 tsp. salt

Cooked Rice

Combine the ingredients in a crock pot and cover and cook on high for 5 hours. I tried to cook on low for 8 hours but again, it didn't happen so I finished it on the stove top.

Sever over rice.

Crock Pot Thai

As I've said before, the hubs and I love Thai food. To find a crock pot Thai recipe was incredibly exciting - because it meant coming home to a cooked meal!

I found this recipe at Cara's Cravings. I strayed from her recipe a bit based on what I had in the house. Her blog is great - she makes wonderful low carb and low fat foods. Do check it out!

So the link above goes to her recipe that is lower fat and cal than mine probably ended up being. Since mine was cooking all day - I added the whole can of coconut milk and a can of chicken stock so I upped the seasonings from below and I'll put that in brackets for you.

Either way it was incredibly delicious. I shredded my chicken up because it was so tender and I served it over Bastami rice with some sugar snap peas that we steamed. Delish!!!

Crockpot Coconut Peanut Curry Chicken

10 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I put mine in frozen)

salt and pepper (I omitted)

1 garlic clove minced (I used a couple of cloves)

2 tsp. minced fresh ginger (I probably upped this to a T)

1 T curry powder (I ended up using 2-3)

1/2 tsp ground coriander (I think I ended up using a few tsp.)

1 jalapeno pepper minced (I only used half of a jalapeno)

1 cup light coconut milk (I just used the whole can)

**I added 1 can of chicken stock, fat free low sodium**

1/2 tsp. coconut extract (omitted since I didn't have but need to buy, it helps bring out the coconut flavors)

4 T of PB2 - the powdered PB you add water too (I didn't have this so I used 4T of natural PB)

juice from 1/2 lime (I used a whole lime and I also put in the lime zest)

1 large scallion chopped

2 tbs fresh cilantro

rice or cauli-rice

Pour the seasonings and sauces in the crock pot. I used a whisk here to break the PB up. Place chicken in crock pot. I let mine cook on low all day and then shredded and serve over rice and topped with cilantro.

Will certainly make this one again!

Ooo La La!

My friend from the What's Cooking board on the Nest (Carrie) made this recipe and posted it on her blog and it was right up my alley.

WONDERFULLY good!

I did make some slight alterations and I'll add those below. This is a great crock pot meal and wonderful for a winters night. It's also a nice variation on beef stew - one that isn't just potatoes and beef and peas.

French Onion Beef

(From: Pillsbury Pot Pie and Casserole Booklet & Carrie's Sweet Life)

• 1 1/4 lb. boneless beef round steak (I just used stew meat)
• 1 pkg (8 oz.) sliced fresh mushrooms (I doubled)
• 1 lg. onion, sliced separated into rings
• 1 can (10 1/2 oz.) condensed french onion soup (I also had to add a can of beef broth and some water to have enough liquid for cooking for the day)
• 1 pkg. (6oz.) 10-minute herb stuffing mix (I just used bagged stuffing mix from Peppridge Farms because it's what I had on hand.)
• 1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted (Omitted)
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (omitted - but I did use some of the leftover shredded asiago I had on hand and we each topped our own)

Spray slowe cooker with cooking spray. Cut beef into 6 serving size pieces. In cooker, layer half each of the beef, mushrooms, and onions; repeat layers. Por soup over top.

Cover; cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.

In medium bowl, mix stuffing mix, butter, and 1/2 cup liquid from slow cooker; toss to mix. Place stuffing on top of mixture in cooker. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 10 minutes longer or until stuffing is fluffy. Sprinkl with cheese. Cover cook until cheese is melted.

Pork-A-Licious

Once again, another FANTASTIC recipe from Your Home Based Mom's blog.

Made these - gosh it looks like back in May or June - realized I didn't have a picture of it but the recipe is SO good I don't want to loose the print out - so why not blog it and share it!

Seriously, you need to make these Salsa Verde Carnitas - get yourself a nice piece of pork and make these this weekend - Holy cow you won't be disappointed.

I'm not even going to re-post the recipe - because without pictures it doesn't do it justice and her pictures will make you want to lick your monitor (go ahead, it's OK we're not watching!).

I made it exactly as is from her recipe, seasoned cabbage slaw and all. And I did it in the crock pot per her suggestion (I also just used a pork roast I had in the freezer and it was perfect!)

God I need to make these again now!

Stew - The Wonder Food

We love stew - it's easy to make, you can't really mess it up and it's a one bowl wonder meal.

We had a 1 lb. package of veal stew meat in the chest freezer for a while now and I had no clue what to make with it.

I found this recipe on BensBabe blog from the Nest What's Cooking Board.

This was out of this world delicious!

Lemony Veal and Artichoke Stew, adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two: For the Small Slow Cooker

Makes 2 Servings

(we had 2 extra servings of leftovers as well!)

1 lb. veal stew meat cubed

2 T flour

pepper and salt

1 small onion sliced thin

1 clove of garlic, minced - we used 4 - we love garlic!

3/4 cup reduced sodium, fat free chicken broth

1/4 cup lemon juice

3-4 small red potatoes, diced

1/2 can drained artichokes quartered - i used frozen ones from Trader Joe's

1-2 T fresh parsley and basil - I totally forgot to even add these and it was still REALLY good!

Heat skillet over medium heat. Toss the veal with the flour, salt and pepper. Add the meat to the hot pan and brown on both sides. Remove and place in slowcooker. Place the potatoes and artichokes in the crockpot as well (NOTE: add the artichokes about 20 minutes before you're ready to eat - otherwise they totally breakdown and you loose them in the stew). Add the onion to the pan drippings and cook for a few minutes - until softened. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour over the meat and vegetables in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add parsley and basil and cook for 20 minutes before serving.

Hearty Fall Dinner

We had this last week for dinner - or maybe two weeks ago, I don't remember. It was so tasty, filling, and delicious!

Slow Cooked Harvest Beef and Vegetables

2 1/2 Pound(s) beef stew meat

1/2 Teaspoon(s) salt (I omitted this)

1/2 Teaspoon(s) garlic pepper

3 Cup(s) baby carrot

1 Pound(s) cut into chunks red potato

1 cut into wedges onion

15 Ounce(s) Italian style diced tomatoes

1 envelope beefy onion soup mix

1 Teaspoon(s) dried basil

1 1/2 Teaspoon(s) marjoram

1/4 Cup(s) flour

1/3 Cup(s) beef broth

Place beef in slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and garlic pepper, toss well. Add carrots, potatoes, onion, tomatoes, soup mix, basil and marjoram, mixing well. Cover and cook 8-10 hours on low setting until beef is very tender. If desired, thicken stew by blending 1/4 cup flour into 1/2 cup water. Stir into beef mixture. Cover, cook on high 10-20 minutes or until thickened.

Mom's Orange Chicken

When I was young my mom used to make this reciep all the time - I don't know if it's from an actual recipe - or she made it up.

Either way I make it a lot and it's delicious and easy and a crowd pleaser.

I took this to my Habitat for Humanity Dinner Meeting last night and it was a crowd pleaser.

Orange Chicken

1 package of boneless skinless chicken thighs - about 3 or 4 pounds

1 gallon of orange juice

1 bunch of cilantro

5 cloves of garlic

1 large onion sliced

1 packet of taco seasoning mix

1 small can of mandarin oranges in water or pear juice, drained.

In a crock pot or large dutch oven...

Place the chicken, the OJ, cilantro, garlic, onion and taco seasoning. Let simmer all day until chicken is tender and you can shredd. Shredd the chicken and return to the pot. Then add the minced cilantro leaves and the drained can of mandarin oranges and turn off the heat and let sit for about 15 minutes.

Serve the shredded chicken in tortillas with sour cream, salsa, guac, whatever. You can also serve this over rice too!

Sweetness for Dinner

I found this recipe on my friend Pam's recipe site. The recipe came from our friend Robin off our RI Nest Board.

It sounded so up our alley I couldn't pass it up.

I omitted the veggies in the crock pot and just made the roast with some buttery noodles and asparagus.

Apple & Brown Sugar Corned Beef
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Pound(s) - 3 pound corned beef
3 medium quartered potato
1/2 Pound(s) baby carrot
1 medium cut into chunks onion
4 Cup(s) - 4 1/2 cups, enough to cover apple juice
1 Cup(s) brown sugar
1 Tablespoon(s) mustard
2 Teaspoon(s) minced garlic
1/2 Teaspoon(s) black pepper

Directions:
Place meat, potatoes, carrots, and onion in 6 quart slow cooker.

Combine next 5 ingredients and pour into slow cooker. Cover. Cook on high 6 - 6 1/2 hours or low 10-12 hours or until veggies and meat are tender. When serving, pour excess juice from the crockpot over the top of beef and vegetables.

"These are great ribs!"

As quoted by the hubby.

It's funny I found this recipe on myrecipes.com (it's the collection site from the con de naste publications) and I read it and went ooo we're making this. And I looked at it again the day I went to make it and went, this sounds really familar, so I got out a cookbook and there it was - I had it at home the whole time!

These were by far fabulous - I mean incredibly fabulous!

You must make these and follow the recipe! The only thing I didn't do was broil the ribs first - too hot to heat the house - so I grilled them outside on the grill and that helped give the ribs a nice grill flavor and the beans.

Sweet and Saucy Ribs (southern living)

Ingredients
2 (16-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained
4 pounds country-style pork ribs, trimmed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (10.5-ounce) jar red jalapeño jelly
1 (18-ounce) bottle hickory-flavored barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon green hot sauce

Preparation
Place beans in a 5-quart electric slow cooker; set aside.
Cut ribs apart; sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place ribs on a broiling pan.
Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat 18 to 20 minutes or until browned, turning once. Add ribs to slow cooker, and sprinkle with onion.
Combine jelly, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce in a saucepan; cook over low heat until jelly melts. Pour over ribs; stir gently.
Cover and cook at HIGH 5 to 6 hours or at LOW 9 to 10 hours. Remove ribs. Drain bean mixture, reserving sauce. Skim fat from sauce. Arrange ribs over bean mixture; serve with sauce.
Note: For testing purposes only, we used Kraft Thick 'n Spicy Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce and Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce.

Yield
Makes 8 servings