Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

Beef that falls apart when you barely touch it with a fork.

No really, that's it.

That entire sentence should be my entire post.



Early Sunday morning I tossed this in the crock pot after rubbing the heck out of it with all kinds of wonderful spices. When we came home from church, our house smelled like a Mexican restaurant (much like the time we made this). Only, we still had a few hours left until we hit the official 8 hours  of crock pot time. It was torture. We were starving. It just smelled so amazing. I couldn't wait until we could finally open that lid, and load up our tortillas with all kinds of goodness.

But, just like Christmas, we must wait until the time comes.

Speaking of Christmas, we still haven't put up any decorations (other than some cut-out paper snowflakes on the window). Finals are upon us. Ryan has his first one today, and from what it sounds, it's a beast. But who am I kidding? All law school finals are created to destroy. We've been on our 'finals schedule' since after Thanksgiving. This means I drop Ryan off at the law school super-early in the morning (with a lunch packed), and then I bring dinner to him around 6pm. We spend a few minutes together in the lounge while he eats his dinner. He then drops the Manchild and I off at home, and then drives back to the law school to stay until it closes at midnight. Sounds like fun, right?

So no, we haven't set up our tree yet. But soon.

This recipe was created just right. It had all the ingredients for success, and tasted like heaven in a fluffy soft tortilla. We loaded each taco with fresh cilantro, creamy avocados, and crispy green onions. The only thing I'd change, and this is only personal preference, is less chili powder. We're wussies, so you guys would probably be fine with the full amount. 

Speaking of avocado, the ever-clever Hotchkiss comics shares my absolute obsession with them. I love these guys. They post new comics all the time (I usually see mine coming from their Facebook page into my feed) - each one more clever and hilarious than the last. Plus, the masterminds behind the comics are one of my former roommates and her husband. Kudos, guys.

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Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

Ingredients:
2 lbs flank steak, trimmed
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

spice rub:
2 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder 
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

for serving:
warm tortillas
avocado slices
cilantro
green onions
limes

Method: 
1.  Mix together all spices in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over flank steak. Place steak at bottom of your crock pot.
2. Cover the steak with chopped onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno. Turn heat on low and cook for 8 straight hours. Do not lift lid to check, or it will set your cooking time even longer.
3. After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot and shred with a fork. It will fall apart, I guarantee. You can either stick the shredded meat back in the crock pot for another hour, or serve right away with peppers.
4. To serve, heat tortillas. Spoon some carnitas on your tortillas and top with fresh avocado, cilantro, green onions, and a squeeze of lime.

Recipe source: eat. live. run. 
Makes about 6-8 servings.