Chicken Fairy & a Recipe

 So we had a bad week at our house last week.  We were up to somewhere between 17 and 23 chickens (I dunno, I don’t pay much attention) and 6 ducks, but Thursday night there was a massacre and we were down to 3 chicks and 2 ducks.

In fact the 3 chickens that made the first round of massacre are now gone.  It hasn’t been good going for the chickens at our house. Anyway since the last 2 weeks have just been crappy and Saturday was our 9 month anniversary we got the heck out of town… ok so we took a day trip to the next big city over, but that’s getting out of town, right?

Anyway Sunday morning we got up and started working on the pool.  As I went out to check on my garden, hubs asked if I’d go check on his chickens.  I said sure but hadn’t made my way into the barn yet before he walked over to do it.  I told him I planned on it, he said I know.  He goes inside the barn and yells at me to get in there.  I thought, Oh Crap now what?  I’ve already gotten a Chicken hawk out of there, and the dogs have helped us out with them twice… what is there left?  A snake?  You know because they eat eggs and maybe even baby chicks… I don’t know.

So I went into the barn and there they were… roughly 10 new baby chicks and roughly 10 guineas.

The chicken fairy strikes again…  I have no idea who the chicken fairy is, but this time hubs called my dad as before but this time he didn’t admit nor deny.  The last time he flat out said it wasn’t him.  So possibly this time was my paw, especially because the only person who knew we weren’t going to be home was my mom, therefore my dad would know.  We didn’t tell anyone else though.  And only a handful of people even knew we lost the other chicks.

So anyway if you know who our Chicken Fairy is, please tell them we said

And back on Memorial Day weekend we had a family reunion to attend.  We took this recipe.  And since I haven’t shared a recipe in a while, I thought you might want this one!  I didn’t get any photos because the night we threw all the ingredients into the crock pot I was tired and the next day I forgot to get photos of the finished product.  It was so good that by the time we got up to the line to eat, there almost wasn’t any left for us.  Hopefully maybe someday I’ll remember to take photos when I make it again.

Slow Cooker Beef Tacos with Queso Fresco
Serves 8

2 pounds stewing beef, cut into 1 inch pieces
28 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
4 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, seeded and sliced
1 tbsp. adobo sauce from can of chipotles
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1.5 tsp salt
24 warm corn tortillas, store-bought or homemade
1 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco or other cheese (feta, goat cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, etc.)
Fresh tomatoes, diced (optional)
Iceberg lettuce, shredded or thinly sliced (optional)
Sour cream (optional)

Add the beef to the bowl of a slow cooker. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes (with their juices) with the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, Worcestershire, oregano, garlic, onion and salt. Pour the tomato mixture evenly over the beef. Cover and slow-cook on high for 6 hours. It can rest on your slow cooker’s warm setting for up to 4 more hours.

When it’s time to eat, spoon off the fat that has accumulated on top of the beef mixture – or don’t, if you’re feeling lazy. Shred the beef using two regular forks – this should be easy. Taste the meat and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with the warm tortillas, crumbled cheese and optional garnishes (tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream). Depending on who you ask, these garnishes aren’t authentic – but a lot of the authentic Mexican restaurants I’ve been to serve them, and the fresh, bright flavour they add is a great contrast to the slow-cooked beef.