Easy Ribs

I would not define this as cooking because it was so easy!  John is a big fan of ribs (any red meat, really).  I like ribs but don't crave them like he does.  And, in an effort to use my crockpot more  I googled how to make ribs in a crockpot.  I came across this quick recipe from Food.com

3lbs pork spareribs
salt and pepper
1 jar BBQ sauce
1 onion, diced

Do not pre-heat the slow cooker.

Dice up the onion and put in the bottom of crock pot.
Rub the ribs with salt and pepper, add to crock pot.
Dump BBQ sauce on top.

Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.

Try not to lift the lid too much

The meat will FALL OFF THE BONE!

A few notes:  I used half an onion.  I cut the slab of ribs in half and laid them on top of each other in the crockpot.  Also, I only had half a bottle of BBQ sauce so I dumped some ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in the pot as well.  My crockpot is super-charged so my advice is know your crockpot!  My ribs cooked in 3.5 hours.  John loved them.

Crockpot chili with lots of veggies and Cornbread muffins

I am a big fan of chili and I've been wanting to use my crockpot lately.  I've "liked" 2 crockpot pages on Facebook that post only crockpot recipes.  How genius is that?  The bulk of this recipe I got from Bethenny Frankel but switched it up just a bit.  This is how I modified the recipe and I LOVED it!

½ medium sized onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 pound ground turkey breast (omit if vegetarian)
1 can red pinto beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 zucchini, diced
Throw everything into a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  *My crockpot cooks super fast so I cooked mine on low for 5 1/2 hours.  This recipe makes a huge pot so it's ideal to freeze some.

In an earlier post, I introduced Bob's Red Mill Cornbread Mix.   You can find it at Sprout's or Whole Foods.  It's made of whole grain corn and whole wheat flour and other all natural ingredients.  I followed the directions on the packaging to make cornbread muffins.  I also added a small can of cream corn and 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese.  These muffins turned out SO GOOD!!!!  Love them.