Slow Cooker Sunday: BBQ Spareribs & Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili

So, today I got a little over-excited and made two crock pot meals. :-)

Lunch:
BBQ Spareribs
*courtesy of the Harris Teeter seasoning aisle

Ingredients:
1 package McCormick Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning
4 pounds of pork spareribs, cut into 2-rib sections
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar

Directions:
Place pork in slow cooker.
Mix Seasoning, ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar until blended. Pour over pork. Cover.
Cook 4 hours on HIGH.

*My opinion: I think I prefer to grill my ribs, so next time I would probably take 10 extra minutes and slather them in Sweet Baby Ray's and grill for a few minutes. But, the overall flavor was great.


Dinner:
Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili
*courtesy of my wonderful co-worker, Andrea

Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin (I did not have cumin on hand, so I left it out.)
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (I also used a can of drained corn because I forgot to buy two cans of tomatoes and needed a few extra ounces of something.)
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
1 medium sweet potato (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Optional: Sour cream, scallions, sliced radishes, tortilla chips, etc. for serving

Directions:
Combine the onion, pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper in the slow cooker.
Add the tomatoes and their liquid, beans, sweet potato, and 1 cup of water.
Cover and cook until the sweet potatos are tender and the chili has thickened (LOW for 7-8 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours).

*My opinion: This was a great, light meal to have when coming home from church at 8pm. (Hopefully the scale agrees with me tomorrow.) Chad loved the cinnamon flavor it had, and I really liked all the textures and flavors together and didn't even think it needed any extra toppings. I'm excited about eating it as a leftover tomorrow. :-)