The Slow Cooker Saves Dinner

I recently started working part time for a friend's family deli, (Gianella's of Glen Rock) and the evening hours are forcing me to get creative with dinner, and encouraging me to pull out my rarely used crock pot. The New York Times Dining section recently featured a recipe, with a picture that left me drooling: Grilled Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Peanut Shake. I purchased the ingredients fully intending to make them on a night I would be home and have the time required. Needless to say, that didn't happen! So I pulled out the Crock Pot and googled a variety of slow cooker worthy rib recipes. The following Thai inspired recipe is what I came up with. 

All of the marinade ingredients are usually in my pantry or fridge, making this a meal I can turn to time and time again as long as I have some ribs in the freezer. I paired it with two sides that are quick to heat/assemble; Trader Joe's Frozen Brown Rice, as well as, some raw baby carrots. The results were fall of the bone tender ribs that left the house smelling delicious.

What slow cooker recipe do make that you can't live without?

 Thai Style Crock Pot Ribs
1-16 oz can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
1-2 T low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 T creamy or crunchy peanut butter
3.5 lbs pork baby back ribs
Salt to preference

Combine ingredients and allow ribs to marinate 8 hours or overnight in fridge. Place Ribs and marinade in slow cooker and cook on low setting for 8 hours. (It is ok to place the refrigerated crock into the warmer as long as you do not preheat the warmer)

No More Boring Oatmeal...

Red Breakfast Quinoa: with bananas, cinnamon sugar, and almond milk

Good morning! Weekdays I rely on smoothies for a fast, portable, and healthy breakfast. On the weekends I generally prefer to treat myself to something more hearty. As I lie awake in bed this morning, I envisioned banana pancakes, but realized I was out of veggie sausage. No tofu in the house to make a scramble, I was left to the good ole standby, oatmeal. Then I remembered a recipe I had seen on whole living, to use quinoa in place of oats. Out came my rice cooker and in went one part quinoa to two parts water and about 20 minutes later I had enough to make at least three meals with. So today covers meal number one: Red Breakfast Quinoa with cinnamon sugar, bananas, and almond milk. You can either add the milk cold to the hot quinoa, or heat it first to be more of an authentic oatmeal dish. The variations on this breakfast are endless! Quinoa quick facts: Not a grain but rather a seed, contains the most amino acids of any plant source of protein, gluten-free.