Spicy Shredded Pork

I hope you all don't mind my recipe posts. I love trying new recipes and sharing ones that we enjoy. I love reading recipes and finding new ones to try. It's definitely something I enjoy when I have time - I guess it's a hobby of mine! I saw this recipe on my favorite food blog, Annie's Eats. Yes, you'll keep hearing about this blog! Cara also tried the recipe and said they really enjoyed it so I put on the menu for this week. Cara told me she cooked it in the crockpot so that's what I did - so easy! I'm just going to link you to the recipe here. I left out the water since I cooked it in the crockpot. I put it in around 9:30 this morning and when I checked the pork around 4:30 it was definitely done. At that point I shredded the meat (which just fell apart) and turned the crockpot to 'keep warm' until we were ready to eat. We ate the pork on flour tortillas with cheese, lettuce, salsa, and sour cream. Yummy! I'm looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow night!

*Since I have such ridiculous meat issues, I asked Andy to trim the fat and get the meat ready for me. Thankfully, he was willing or I don't know what I would have done. Oh, and the recipe says to rub the sauce all over the pork. NO way. Just put it in the crockpot, pour the sauce over and use a spoon to make sure it is all over the meat! Does ANYONE else think raw meat is completely disgusting? Is anyone else unable to think of where the meat they are eating comes from while eating it? Maybe it's just me...

Yum-o!

We had a great dinner tonight. I'm sure Andy was glad since he was NOT pleased with the cornbread I made last night. I used my mom's recipe but it was my first time making it and it didn't turn out as nicely as hers. BUT to me it still tasted like cornbread...Anyway! I redeemed myself tonight, with Andy's help.
He put meat in the crockpot today while I was at work for Barbecue Sandwiches. He's so good to me. I left the recipe out and open to the right page and he did it! It saves me from fighting the meat with two large tongs. Both of the recipes I used tonight were from my sister. Try them!

Homemade Mac & Cheese- (Everyone had seconds. Luke kept saying "yum!")
3 T butter (I used margarine)
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk (I used skim)
2 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
12 0z cooked macaroni (I used the 14 oz box)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 2 qt dish. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook over medium heat, whisking for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in milk. Whisk well and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until sauce boils and thickens. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add cheeses, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheeses have melted. Fold in macaroni. Place mixture in baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes, until bubbly.

**I omitted 1/2 cup sliced scallions and the following step b/c I was out of bread crumbs: Put 1 T butter in small skillet and melt. Add 1 cup bread crumbs and stir until lightly toasted. Sprinkle over mac and cheese and then bake.


Chuck Roast Barbecue- (made by Andy)
2 1/2 lb. boneless chuck roast
2 small onions, chopped
12 oz. coke
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar (he used white vin. since we were out of the other)
1 1/2 tsp. beef bouillon granules
3/4 t. dry mustard
3/4 t. chili powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper (Andy used 1/4)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. butter
hamburger buns
1 c. ketchup

Place roast in crock pot. Add onions. Combine cola and next 7 ingredients. Cover and chill 1 cup of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over roast. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or on LOW for 9 hours, or until roast is very tender. Remove roast and onions from crockpot using slotted spoon. Shred roast with two forks.. Combine reserved 1 cup of sauce, ketchup, and butter in saucepan. cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Pour sauce over shredded meat. Stir gently; spoon onto buns.

**The boys ate both things. Wilson even had some salad as did Andy and I! Mine and Andy's stubborn-ness over Luke's picky eating habits (see here and here) and REALLY paid off!!!!

Thanks to Cara for some yummy recipes!

Me vs. The Roast

Well, one of my goals this year is to make 1 meal in the crockpot each week. Today was my first time to try it this school year. I've used my crockpot over the years but I have never used it for pot roast until today. I've always been afraid to make a pot roast because I didn't know how. It was easy! I found a recipe on the internet and voila! But, if you had seen me with the roast this morning, you probably would have been laughing at me. You see, I have issues with meat. Not everyone knows this about me. I did great getting the carrots, potatoes, water, soup mix into the pot. Then came time for the meat. I have never bought a roast before. Andy bought this one and I hadn't seen it until this morning. It was huge. I don't even like to deal with raw chicken. This was pushing it. I had to use tongs to get it out of the package- difficult, since the meat was so big. Then trying to dredge it in flour was hard using only tongs. So, I had to cover my other hand with a baggie, then I was able to turn it over. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to eat it. Thankfully many hours passed and when I came home from work the house smelled delicious. I ate dinner, meat and all, and it was wonderful. The meat was juicy, not overcooked or dry. The carrots and potatoes were just right, and we had biscuits (with honey) to go with it. It was great! Maybe next time Andy can put the meat in for me. It still gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.