Shredded Pork Tacos with Charred Pineapple Salsa

I made these tacos for dinner tonight, I love this meal because it took five minutes to get the pork into the crockpot, 10 minutes hands-on time to make the salsa, and dinner was ready!  Each of my three kids ate thirds of this meal, which was pretty amazing! I will make this over and over again.

Shredded Pork Tacos with Charred Pineapple Salsa

2-3 lb pork loin roast

5 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 lime, juiced

1 Tb. canola oil

3/4 c. water

For Serving:

corn tortillas

lime wedges

sour cream

charred pineapple and jalapeno salsa

In a small bowl mix together garlic, cumin, sea salt, chili powder, lime juice and oil.  Cover the pork roast with all of the rub and put in the bottom of the crockpot and pour in the water.  Cover the crockpot and cook on low 5-6 hours, shred the pork and mix together well before assembling tacos. To serve put some shredded pork on a warmed corn tortilla and top with sour cream and pineapple salsa.  Serve with a lime wedge.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Bacon

Please don't decide not to make this just because it has pumpkin in it. It kind of weirded me out too, but I had all the ingredients and it's "light" so I gave it a whirl. 

We really liked it and my kids downed this.  I think it would be great vegetarian if that floats your boat, although the bacon is awesome in this.  It's a very fall-ish meal which is super fun for us when it's still over 100 degrees in September!

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Bacon

recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum

13.25 oz box whole grain or wheat shells
3-4 strips bacon, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 tb. brown sugar
1 c. pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
3 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, room temp
5 oz can evaporated milk
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp. sea salt
lots of fresh black pepper
minced chives

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove the bacon from the pan and pour off most of the grease.  Add the onions to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, sprinkling the brown sugar on after the onions are soft and translucent.  Continue cooking the onions 20-30 minutes over low heat until soft and caramelized. At the very end stir in the garlic and let it cook a minute. In the meantime start a pot of water to boil.  Once the onions are done, boil the pasta.  Drain well and use the same warm pot to heat the pumpkin, cream cheese and evaporated milk over medium-low heat until the cream cheese is melted.  Stir in pasta, bacon, and onion mixture.  Add salt & pepper.  Sprinkle with chives to serve.

 

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes

Again...Pinterest. I heart Pinterest.

I had 2 large heads of cauliflower to use and wanted something different so...I searched Pinterest and found the base of this recipe. We really loved this pasta and I will make it over and over again. I used brown rice penne, but any short-cut pasta would be great.

To make prep go more quickly, I roasted the tomatoes, cauliflower and garlic in the morning so I could just throw this all together quickly at dinner time.


Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes
recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

1 small head cauliflower or 1/2 large head, chopped
3 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
10 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
1 lb short-cut pasta
1 box spinach, thawed and drained completely
1/2 lb. bacon, chopped
a few Tb. julienned sundried tomatoes
1 c. white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. granulated garlic
salt & pepper to taste (hold off on the salt until the end)

Preheat the oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay out the cauliflower and tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Wrap the garlic cloves in foil and stick it in the oven with the other vegetables.  Shake the pan every 10 minutes until the cauliflower is browned and somewhat crispy and the tomatoes look soft, about 25-30 minutes.  The garlic may take longer, it should be lightly browned and soft. Remove from the oven and let cool. When the garlic is cool, chop it.
While the pasta is boiling, cook the bacon until crisp.  Drain the grease out of the pan.  Add in the sundried tomatoes, cauliflower and spinach.  Pour in the wine and cook a few minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes and garlic, cooked pasta, granulated garlic and parmesan cheese.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.

Pulled Pork Tacos with Smoky Cilantro Slaw

One more Pioneer Woman success. I love her. I made this slaw and I have to admit that I had to make a couple changes b/c it wasn't super flavorful, which I'm assuming was my error but after I added my flair we loved it!! I decided to make tacos instead of sandwiches because it seemed like the right thing to do. And it was. As you can see, we like an even slaw-to-pork ratio.  Don't let that scare you.

For the kids I made this into quesadillas and layered the pork, slaw, and some cheese in between two tortillas which was also super delicious and they scarfed it down, which is more than I can say for their usual behavior towards anything with the word "slaw" in it.

Smoky Cilantro Slaw
recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman

1 head cabbage, sliced
4 green onions, sliced
1 c. cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. milk
3/4 c. mayo
1 Tb. vinegar
1-2 Tb. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of cayenne pepper
2 Tb. adobo sauce (leftover from pork)

Mix everything together and refrigerate an hour before serving.

Pulled Pork Tacos
recipe from Pioneer Woman

3 lbs pork loin roast
1/2 can chipotle in adobo (just toss 3-4 chipotle peppers and drizzle some of the adobo sauce on there)
1 can Dr. Pepper (I used diet, worked great)
1 Tb. brown sugar
1 onion, quartered
corn tortillas


Place the onions on the bottom of a crockpot and put the roast on top of them. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Pour the chipotles and adobo sauce on the top of the roast. Pour in the Dr. Pepper and stir the brown sugar into that. Cook on low heat all day. When the roast easily falls apart with two forks, remove it from the pot and shred. Chop the chopotles up. Skim the fat off of the top of the cooking liquid and discard. Put the shredded pork back & chipotles into the liquid. Keep on warm setting until you're ready to eat. To assemble tacos put a couple fork-fulls of pork onto the corn tortilla. Top with lots of smoky cilantro slaw. Enjoy!

Loaded Kettle Chips

Rob and I went out to dinner the other night to a restaurant in Central Phoenix called the Windsor. (Which we would highly recommend.) They have a delectable treat called "Loaded Chips." We ate every last chip and immediately decided I MUST re-create them.

Today, for Thanksgiving we obviously "needed" some appetizers before our big dinner at 6:00 so I made these Loaded Kettle Chips and I have decided that this is my favorite recipe I've ever invented or re-created myself.  A-mazing.  It would be really simple to make these vegetarian without the bacon. I did not make my own kettle chips because I didn't feel like it and I had already made an entire Thanksgiving feast with my sister and I was too tired to fry chips.  However, if you have a fry daddy all ready it would be super fantastic with homemade chips.

Loaded Kettle Chips
with Caramelized Balsamic Onions, Bacon, Blue Cheese & Chipotle Cream

Caramelized Balsamic Onions:
3 1/2 medium/large yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 Tb EVOO (or reserve some bacon grease...YUM)
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Chipotle Cream:
1/2 c. sour cream
1 heaping Tb mayo
1 chipotle, minced
1-2 tsp adobo sauce from chipotle can
1-2 tsp granulated garlic

3/4-1 c. blue cheese crumbles
2-19 oz bags kettle chips
1 lb bacon, chopped and crisply cooked

To make the onions: Heat oil or grease in a large skillet.  Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat until the onions start to soften and brown.  Pour in balsamic vinegar and lower heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, for 30-35 minutes until onions are completely soft and caramelized.  Season with salt & pepper.

To make the chipotle cream: Mix together sour cream, mayo, chipotle, adobo sauce and garlic.  Taste and adjust garlic and adobo to your liking.  It should be pretty spicy because it is just a drizzle on the top.

To assemble chips: Heat an oven to 350.  Line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with foil and pour the chips in a layer on the sheet.  Sprinkle on the bacon, then the onions, then the blue cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the blue cheese starts to melt.  Remove from the oven and drizzle on the chipotle cream to your liking.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Unstuffed Peppers

I found the base this recipe in another Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.  A reader sent it in and said it was simple...and it was.  Rob says this is one of his new favorites.  The photo is the first batch and tonight I made it again using one poblano pepper and one  yellow pepper, so good!  Any combination of 2-bell peppers works well in this recipe.






Unstuffed Peppers

1 c. white or brown rice
chicken stock or water & chicken boullion
1 lb italian sausage, hot or sweet
2 bell peppers, chopped (any color)
1 onion, chopped
10-oz package sliced mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, minced
pinch of crushed red pepper
salt & pepper to taste

First get your rice started.  Cook according to package directions (which will vary depending on what type of rice you choose) but substitute chicken stock for the water OR use the suggested amount of water and add a couple boullion cubes.  Once the rice is cooked, set aside.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high and cook the sausage.  Once the sausage is cooked through remove it from the pan.  Keep a little bit of the grease from the sausage in the pan and add a tsp of olive oil if needed.  Once the oil is warm saute the peppers, onion, and mushrooms until soft.  Stir in the garlic, red pepper and add in the sausage and cooked rice.  Combine well and season with salt (as needed) and pepper.  Yum.

Pork Fried Rice

I found the basis of this recipe on allrecipes.com which I'm sure I've mentioned before.  I changed it a little bit but it was a great start!  You could easily adapt this recipe to add more vegetables, use brown rice or instant rice instead, substitute chicken or shrimp get creative!

Here's a little tip about sesame oil, it will go rancid quickly so store it in the fridge for long-term use.  This recipe also calls for fresh ginger.  I buy a piece of fresh ginger, peel it and then freeze it so that when I need it I can just cut or grate some off of it.

I like to cook the rice early and let it set a little while because it separates better and fries up well.  Or something like that.

Pork Fried Rice

2 c. cooked white rice
3/4 lb pork loin, diced
2/3 c. chopped carrot
2/3 c. frozen peas
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tb fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tb vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tb soy sauce (plus more for serving)
1-2 tsp sesame oil

In a saucepan cook rice as directed.  Once rice is cooked set aside until you're ready for it.  In a large skillet heat oil over medium or medium-high heat and cook the carrots for 2-3 minutes, add onion and pork and cook another 3 minutes stirring occasionally.  Add in peas, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and cook a minute.  Make a hole in the middle of the skillet and pour in the eggs stirring as they cook and combine with the vegetables.   Once the egg is cooked, stir in rice and sprinkle with soy sauce.  Combine well.  Serve with extra soy sauce.

Red Beans and Rice

I found this recipe on the Our Best Bites blog.  I love that site.  Seriously.  I have tried many of their recipes and they are all fantastic.  I love that one of the writers of the blog does Weight Watchers and she posts nutrition facts and/or points values on lots of her recipes.  This was one of those recipes.  However, I did add more meat than the original recipe called for so my recipe will be more calories than hers.  I  mean, why add 1/4 lb of smoked sausage when you could add 3/4 pound?  I have made this once before using turkey kielbasa which would help with reducing calories for sure!


Red Beans and Rice
recipe slightly adapted from Our Best Bites

1 lb red beans, rinsed
6 c. water
5 chicken boullion cubes
3/4 lb smoked sausage, chopped (I used jalapeno cheddar sausages I got super cheap on sale with a coupon)
1 onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp Tony's (or other creole seasoning or even seasoned salt)
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
3/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Cooked white rice
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Put everything in the crockpot and stir it up.  Cook on low all day or high 5-6 hours.  At the end mash up some of the beans using a potato masher or a fork.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  I added more Tony's and some sea salt.  Serve beans in a bowl with beans on the bottom and rice on top, sprinkle with green onions. YUM.

Apricot Pork (or Chicken)

This tastes SO much better than it looks.  Seriously.  We love this stuff, it's Asian-y tasting and I love that you can throw it together in two minutes in the morning, boil some rice and you  have dinner.  I use pork quite a bit with this recipe but chicken thighs or breasts are great too.

I found this recipe on the crockpot lady's blog.  I spent three whole days once last year reading her entire blog and looooove her ideas.  She's gluten free too so if you're looking for those kinds of recipes, s he has loads of them.


Apricot Chicken or Pork11 oz jar apricot jam
1 T. onion flakes
1 T dijon or spicy mustard
1 T. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. dried ginger
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 1/2 lb chicken or pork loin

Put the meat in the slow cooker and mix together the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl.  Pour the sauce over the meat (frozen chicken is fine) and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-6 hours.

Jazzed Up Jalapeno Poppers

I have to say that the original jalapeno popper recipe that I got from my neighbor are SO amazing.  BUT seriously, these are out of the park.  I mean, really.  I could. not. stop. eating these. And  neither could anyone else.  I saw this recipe originally on the Pioneer Woman's blog one week when I was trying to read every recipe she ever blogged.  Then, for Christmas day appetizer I wanted to make them and I couldn't find the recipe on her site.  So of course, thanks to google, I found the recipe on the Good Morning America site. 

I'm thinking a triple batch for Super Bowl party...one batch for Rob and I to split, two batches for everyone else.

21 jalapenos
1 1/2 blocks cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 green onions, minced
21 slices bacon (Preferably Oscar Mayer center cut bacon, 21 slices in the package and it's not fatty)
barbecue sauce (if you're gluten-free watch for that)
gloves
toothpics

Heat oven to 300.  Mix together cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onions in a bowl.  Set aside.  Rinse the jalapenos in a colander.  Then wearing gloves cut the jalapenos in half lengthwise and use a small spoon to remove the ribs and seeds.  This is a time-consuming job, but it pays off!  Using the spoon, generously fill the jalapenos with t he cream cheese filling.  Then, cut the entire package of bacon slices in half and wrap half a slice of bacon around each jalapeno and secure it with a toothpick across the jalapeno.  Place them all on a baking sheet (optional, place on a wire rack on a baking sheet.) Baste with barbecue sauce and bake for 45 minutes.  Serve hot.  Or warm, lukewarm, room-temp, or the next day straight from a tupperware in the fridge.

Friday Night Pizza: Pesto and Pepperoni

I'm not going to aknowledge the crappy pictures anymore.  I'll just let it be the elephant in the room.

We've started a tradition of having pizza every Friday night and watching a movie with the Family.  Sometimes we order pizza usually, with the tight budget I just make it which seems to actually be easier because then no one has to go out and get it and we don't have to pay extra for delivery.  So, here it is!

Last week I tried a new combo and it was really god so try it--very few ingredients and it comes together really fast.  (Especially if you use store-bought dough, which I did)

Pesto Pepperoni Pizza
3 heaping Tb Pesto (I used homemade from the freezer but storebought wouldn't hurt anything)
8-10 oz pepperoni
1 shallot, minced
1 package pizza dough or one homemade dough
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 425.  Press the dough down on a cookie sheet and bake the crust for 8 minutes.  Bring the crust out and top with pesto sauce, then pepperoni, then the minced shallots, then the shredded cheese.  Bake it again for another 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  yum!

Lasagna Soup

YUM.  Just looking at this picture makes me want to make this again.  I originally got this recipe off of the Family Fun website when my friend told me she had made it.

This is a great winter recipe because it's warm and comforting.  And fast.  And easy. 






Lasagna Soup
1 pound italian sausage (I used turkey.  Sweet or Spicy italian sausage would work)
1 large onion, finely chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp (or more) crushed red pepper
2 Tb tomato paste
(2) 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (I used the seasoned tomatoes)
4 cups chicken broth (there's about 4 cups in each carton of stock)
2 bay leaves
8 ounces of short-cut pasta (fusili, bow ties, wagon wheels...)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil (this is really optional.  It's really good in there but if you don't have your own basil plant you don't really need to buy a $3 pack of basil for this.)
8 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese

In a soup pot cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks.  Drain the meat and addx the onions and saute until softened.  Add in the garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes and saute for a minute.  Add the tomato paste cook over medium heat until the paste has turned a rusty brown color. Stir in the tomatoes, undrained, the chicken stock or broth, bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Stir in the pasta and increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until hte pasta is cooked...but not overcooked.  Keep a close eye on it.  Tasste and adjust seasonings adding salt and pepper if needed. 

In a small bowl stir together the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper.  To serve the soup, put a heaping Tb of the ricotta mixture in a bowl, ladle soup over the top and sprinkle with fresh basil.

(1 c. of soup has about 265 calories, not too shabby)

Three Packet Pork Roast (or Beef)

Tonight we had this roast with mashed potatoes and acorn squash.  It was a hit.  I found the idea for this recipe on the crockpot lady's blog and I went with it even though it sounded strange.  It was very good, if I do say so myself, and I think it would be great with a regular beef roast too!  My husband sounded like "Bob" eating this, mmmm-ing every bite.







Three Packet Roast (Pork or Beef)

1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 packet italian dressing mix
1 packet gravy mix (I used chicken for the pork, but beef for...beef would be great)
2 c. water
3 lb roast
3-4 carrots, peeled and cut in half
1 onion, quartered

Mix the packet/seasonings together with the water and put in the bottom of your crockpot.  Place the roast on top and toss in the carrots and onion.  Cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.  Serve with mashed potatoes or crash hot potatoes.  Yum.

Creamy Pasta Skillet

A good friend of mine is a Pampered Chef consultant and she gave me these great recipe cards with photos on them and a shopping list and I love them!  This recipe was originally called "Pronto Pasta and Sausage Skillet".  I made just a couple small changes and we LOVED it.  I had my friend's son that day so I sent the leftovers home with her and she immediately asked me for the recipe because they loved it too. 

My skillet was a little small for this so next time I'll make this in an electric skillet, but if you have a really large skillet it will work.  If you find that you have too much liquid to fit into the skillet you're using, just add the liquid in batches as it cooks in, which is what I did and it worked out fine.

Creamy Pasta Skillet

14.5 oz box of penne (4 c. uncooked)
1 lb sausage (or ground beef)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
4 c. water
26 oz jar pasta sauce (I used homemade marinara--about 3 1/2 c.)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 oz softened cream cheese
1 c. mozzarella
1/4 c. grated parmesan

Brown sausage and onion.  Drain the fat.  Add in the garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper and let it cook a minute.  Add uncooked pasta, water and sauce.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until pasta is cooked.  Remove from the heat and stir in the softened cream cheese, then top with the other cheeses.  Let stand a minute.







 

Calico Beans

I love beans. This is a wierd confession--but you've probably noticed. And I've probably blogged about it before. I just like them. In the summer I make lots of different kinds of baked beans and in the winter I make lots of different chilis. If you don't like beans, we could have a problem here!

These calico beans remind me of my Grammy's beans. I kind of forgot about them until last summer when we were in Tennesse for a family reunion and my cousin Terri made some--they were so good! I looked at a few recipes and then threw a bunch of stuff together and it worked. I made these for 4th of July which means apparently I'm a little behind on my blogging! But I've had a few favorites that I felt the need to blog immediately so some stuff got pushed back. Make these, they would make a great Labor Day bbq addition! They work out great in a crockpot or you can bake them too.

Calico Beans

6 strips bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 cans baked beans (I used Bush's)

1 can butter beans, drained well

1 can lima beans, drained well

1 can kidney beans, drained well
1 c. ketchup

1 c. bbq sauce

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 T. worcestershire

hot sauce to taste

Brown the ground beef with the onion and drain well. Stir in the garlic at the end and cook until fragrant. In your crockpot or a 9x13'' pan stir all ingredients together. Either bake at 350 for 35 minutes OR cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours in the crockpot.

Pizza Pot Pie

This recipe is awesome. The first time I made it, Rob and I sat at the table in awe eating and eating and eating some more because it was sooo good. I first made this pizza several weeks ago and now every week when I go grocery shopping and I ask Rob if he wants to put anything on the list, he just says, "ummm....the deep dish pizza" which apparently qualifies as a grocery list item! Anyway, I've made it twice so far and it's on the menu again for this week because he just keeps begging for it and I'm 9 months pregnant so I better eat all the pizza I can before I have this baby because then the diet is ON. And we will quickly be back to broiled salmon, grilled chicken, and veggies.

Anyway, definitely make this recipe. This week I'm making it with a can of Pillsbury pizza dough because it's so easy and I got it on sale with a coupon for $.49 so I thought I'd try it! Here's the li nk for the original recipe. The possibilities are endless with this--sausage, pepperoni, chicken, ham & pineapple, maybe some pesto sauce and sliced chicken sausages--whatever you like you can make it work with this awesome recipe. I don't buy pizza sauce usually because it's pretty much a watered down version of spaghetti sauce, but more expensive so I just add a Tb or so of water to some marinara or I just add some seasoning to a can of tomato sauce. I'm cheap like that. Use whatever you like. Make this recipe your own.

Pizza Pot Pie
Crust:
1 pkg yeast
1 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tb vegetable oil
2 1/2 c. flour
Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add other crust ingredients and set aside while you prepare the rest of the pizza ingredients. (OR use a can of Pillsbury pizza crust and cook the pie 5 minutes less.)

Filling:
1 lb sausage, pepperoni, ham, chicken or combination of any meats
1 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. mozzarella
2 c. marinara or pizza sauce (we like it saucy, if you like less sauce, use less)
2 Tb melted butter
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 Tb dried basil
2 Tb parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Cook the sausage (or other meats) with garlic and onion. Drain well. Grease a 9x13'' pan well and layer the mozzarella cheese, sausage mixture, pepperoni, then the sauce. Then roll out the crust and lay it over the top. Brush the top of the crust with butter and sprinkle with granulated garlic, basil, and parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes. Let the pie rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving. Slice and serve upside down (crust on the bottom). Enjoy!

Boneless Country Style Ribs

I still can't get my PC to connect to the internet, which in itself just proves that I am not a smart girl. (Cue Forrest Gump impression.) Unfortunately the computer is 7 years old and has begun sounding like a quad riding though my kitchen. This cannot be good. I don't know how to use our external hard drive, so hopefully my husband makes it home from China in time to save all the pictures and documents from the computer before it actually dies for good!

Anyway, I have plenty of great recipes to share with you--just no pictures. SO I promise to update the photos if I get them back!

This recipe is a great option all year round. I can almost always find the country style ribs for $2 or less/pound and we really like them. They are a pretty lean cut of meat--I prefer the pork which is super lean but you need to cook them slowly for them to be tender.

This is a perfect main dish to serve with baked beans, sweet potato fries, OR if you're feeling crazy some homemade macaroni and cheese!

For this recipe I used a bottle of Kraft barbecue sauce which isn't generally my favorite, but I got several bottles for $.40 per bottle so obviously being as frugal as I am I will make do with the Kraft bbq sauce!

**Note, my friend Erin--who is a great cook by the way-- asked me what liquid smoke was and I figured if she didn't know (being as she is a cook) maybe someone else wouldn't know either. SO--here's a little explanation: liquid smoke is mostly used in bbq recipes, especially sauces to give that "smoky" flavor. A little bit goes a long way so just use a dash, taste and you can always add more. Here's a link to the brand I have on hand so you can see what it looks like. It's sold in any grocery store in the same aisle as the worcestershire sauce/soy sauce. Probably high on the shelf. Any brand will do!

Boneless Country Style Ribs

2 lbs boneless country style pork ribs

Sauce:

1 bottle barbecue sauce

2 Tb honey

dash of liquid smoke

2 Tb brown sugar

1 Tb worcestershire sauce

Tabasco to taste

1/2 onion, grated

Preheat oven to 250. Put the ribs in a pot of water and boil for 20-30 minutes (you can also add a dash of the liquid smoke to the boiling water for extra smoky flavor). While the ribs are boiling mix all sauce ingredients together, and set aside. When the boiling is completed, drain off the water. Place the ribs in a baking dish and cover with the sauce. Bake for one hour. The ribs should be super tender.

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

I love mushrooms. Sauteed mushrooms, grilled, roasted, and especially stuffed mushrooms! Of all kinds really--I've never tasted a stuffed mushroom that I didn't like. I just threw this recipe together for Rob's 30th birthday because he loves appetizers and he LOOVES sausage so this was a nod to that.

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

• 16 oz sausage, whichever kind you like (Breakfast sausage works great)
• 5 c. fresh spinach, chopped (or one box of chopped, frozen spinach.  Thawed and squeezed dry.)
• 1/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 block cream cheese
• salt and pepper
• 24 oz button mushrooms (3 containers)
• 1 T bread crumbs
• 1 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth or paper towel and remove stems. Place in a 9x13'' pan. Brown the sausage and drain the fat off. Add olive oil, spinach and garlic and cook over medium high heat until the spinach is wilted and the garlic is fragrant. Cube the cream cheese and add that along with the parmesan to the sausage mixture and stir over low heat until the cream cheese is melted and incorporated. Taste and then add salt and pepper. (Careful, sausage is already salty.) Stuff the mixture into the mushroom caps. Mix together the breadcrumbs and melted butter and sprinkle over the top of the stuffed mushroom caps. Bake 30 minutes.

Roasted Spare Ribs

Sorry, no picture. But I'm assuming that everyone knows what ribs look like so that's good. I usually do baby back ribs and boil them for an hour and then grill them with sauce, but I got some spare ribs on a really good sale at Fry's a few weeks ago so I tried something new. We found that we actually prefer the baby back ribs, they're a little meatier and smaller but the spare ribs were good this way and the price was right, so try it out! This is a great 4th of July recipe.

I found several recipes on allrecipes.com and compiled them together to make these. I found the recipe for the sauce on recipezaar.com and it turned out pretty good!

The recipe for the rub makes way more than you'll actually need so you can save some for later.

Roasted Spare Ribs

2 racks spareribs (about 10 lbs)

For dry rub--Mix together:
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. paprika
1 1/2 T. black pepper
2 Tb. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt

For wet rub--Mix together:
1/4 c. mustard
1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Coat ribs with mustard mixture, then sprinkle liberally with the dry rub. Lay racks of ribs on top of a wire rack in a large roasting pan OR stand the ribs up on a metal rib rack inside of a large roasting pan. You want to be able to get air around the ribs. (I used a large food service tin.) Bake at 250 2 1/2-3 hours or even longer, until meat is tender and almost falling off the bone. Brush with sauce and grill on an outdoor barbecue for a few minutes.

Sauce:

3/4 c. ketchup
1 Tb brown sugar
1 Tb vinegar
1 Tb honey
dash of tabasco (or more if you like spice)
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp worcestershire
1 Tb butter

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add all other ingredients and simmer 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Carnitas

We love Mexican food. Of all kinds. Texmex, ground beef and crunchy shells, authentic carne asada from a stand in Mexico...anything. I have several mexican recipes listed here , here , and here as well as the Carnitas listed today which is one of our favorites. My husband is a big pork fan. (In fact when Pei Wei took their pork option away he tried to boycott.) The leftovers are delicious and are great made into enchiladas or taco pie. The leftovers also freeze well which is what I did this time. I pared down the recipe for 2 lbs, but I actually used a huge 4-5 lb pork loin from Sam's Club--whatever you have is great.

Carnitas2 lb pork loin

2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic

3/4 tsp salt

Rinse the pork loin and dry with paper towels. Mix all seasonings together in a small bowl and rub generously all over the pork loin. Toss the whole thing in your crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours, until the pork falls apart with a fork. You could cook it on high, but because the pork loin is so lean it can dry out easily so it seems to do better cooked more slowly.

Serve the shredded meat on corn tortillas with fresh tomatoes and cilantro and homemade salsa. Yum. Or fry your own tostadas and make tostadas. Yum Yum.