I picked-up the March issue of Everyday Food, and I have to admit in these times it was like a breath of fresh air to see short ingredient lists that use a lot of pantry staples, have easy instructions and after testing, were still loaded with flavor.

On Sunday – slow cooker day – I made Smoky Beef Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Crema and Avocado-Red Onion Relish plus the Spicy Pineapple Salad on the side and for dessert, their Mexican Snowballs.

The Smoky Beef Tacos turned out to be moist, tender, spicy and yes smoky and the crema sauce and avocado/red onion relish were the perfect complement to round out the taco experience. The Spicy Pineapple Salad was very spicy but good. I only used one of the two recommended jalepenos – and I like spice!

I love simple desserts and I don’t know how much simpler it could be than to toast coconut and cinnamon in the oven and roll frozen ice cream balls in the mixture. I used Vanilla Bean ice cream instead of just vanilla because I love the more vanilla-ish flavor you get. I used a 1/2 less fat version from Dryer’s called Slow Churned it was quite delicious! This was definitely a new favorite and has been added to the our evergrowing “Foods We Love” roster.