Recipe - Perfect Winter Soup!

Since winter is on it`s way I wanted to make some soup to freeze. I made Barbacoa Beef again this week and set aside the broth so I could use it for my soup base.

It is so flavourful that it takes little to no effort to make this soup!

Ingredients
-All left over broth from cooking barbacoa beef
-2 large boneless chicken breasts
-4 cups chicken broth
-2 cups cooked Orzo

Directions
Place  both chicken breasts in slow-cooker with remaining broth from beef. Set slow-cooker to high for 4 hours and after cooking let sit on warming mode for at least 2 more hours.

 Take out chicken and set on a baking tray. Use 2 forks to pull chicken apart in to shreds like you would for pulled pork.

Place shredded chicken back in broth and add 4 cups of chicken broth (the beef broth is almost too flavorful and needs to be cut down a bit with plain broth). Add cooked Orzo in, give it a good stir and then portion for freezing.

I got 5 containers filled for freezing with this recipe.

Feel free to add in any veggies in your fridge you want to use up in when you go to slow cook the chicken. Last time I tossed in some potatoes and celery I had laying around and it was just as great!

Beef ingredients that end up creating broth fro this soup before cooking the brisket

Ready for freezing! No pretty pictures of a meal with it yet cause I am freezing it all for now.

It`s that simple and I promise this soup is perfect for all the cold lazy winter days ahead!

Adventures In Slowcooking: Barbacoa Beef

So after living down in SanDiego I grew a possibly unhealthy addiction to Mexican food. Mexican food the likes of which you CAN NOT find in Canada. With the awesome summer weather here I have been craving real mexican food more and more! SOOOOO I decided to take it into my own hands and try my hand at some epic mexican treats.

I found a recipe for slowcooker Barbacoa Beef to use for tacos and burritos. I made the beef yesterday so we could have it for lunch today. WOW was the recipe ever spot on! The meat is delish tender and so flavourful! Here is the recipe I used with my own little changes and suggestions

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef 

(original recipe and link here)

1 jar of Tomatillo salsa (presidents choice has a great one)
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed well and chopped
1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
5 dry bay leaves
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 to 7 pounds beef brisket
4 to 6 cups beef or chicken stock

Stir together Jar of tomatillo salasa , cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker. Place the brisket on top of this mixture.  Add stock to cover the meat and place bay leaves on top. (if meat isn't fully covered cut brisket in half and replace in pot).

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Once finished, turn crock pot to WARM and let sit for 6 to 8 hours.

Remove meat from slow cooker and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use two forks to pull the meat apart.

Place shredded beef in large bowl and ladle cooking liquid over the top a few scoops at a time. You want the meat to hold the liquid but not swim in it.

I kept all the cooking liquid and frozer it to make a stew in the fall because it was so rich and seemed like a waste to toss out!

Here is my end results ( I made fresh salsa to go with them HERE is my recipe for salsa fresca)

 They were delish and this is for sure a recipe we will be making again in the future!
Hope everyones week is off to a great start!