Pork Carnitas

This is the first time I have posted a recipe, although I do have a few that I wanted to post. Tacy found this recipe in a magazine so I tried it for dinner on Sunday. We all loved it...even Durell who doesn't really care for cilantro. It is very easy to put together and it just cooked while we were in church.

Pork Carnitas

2 lbs. pork loin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

(I didn't cut it in 1-inch pieces, I just cut the loin into about 4-5 chunks)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup cilantro leaves, plus 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp. orange zest

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I didn't have these so I left it out)

1 can low-sodium chicken broth (I used regular broth)

zest and juice of one lime

1 pkg. soft corn tortillas

lettuce, sour cream, salsa (optional)

1. Combine pork, garlic, 1/3 cup cilantro leaves, onion, oregano, orange zest, salt and red pepper flakes in slow cooker. Pour broth over top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours (I cooked mine on LOW for 8 hours because of the larger pieces).

2. Remove pork from slow cooker using a slotted spoon . Let cool slightly, then shred meat. Mix shredded pork with 1/4 cup cilantro, lime zest & juice, and 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Serve in warm tortillas with lettuce, sour cream and salsa, if desired.

PER TACO: 204 calories; 6 g fat (2 g sat.); 22 g protein; 16 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber

Carolina Style Barbeque Chicken

After having a lusciously fun weekend...me and Daron got home Saturday night and were too pooped to go to the grocery store to get stuff for Sunday dinner.  We figured we had plenty of stuff at the house to be able to scrap something together, especially since our church doesn't start till 2! (yuck)

So I got up this morning and figured I'd go through some of my cookbooks to see what I could conjure up...and let me tell you...this recipe is going to become a staple at this house!  Hannah and Bryan had eaten dinner at their moms house, so it was going to be just me and Daron eating dinner.  But, after we started eating the chicken, we made such a big deal of how good it was that they both came over and had a piece of chicken as well...and I was REALLY looking forward to having 2 pieces...OH WELL.

What was nice is that most of the ingredients are things you most likely already have, so it shouldn't take a special trip to the store to get an ingredient.  Well...maybe not the Franks Red Hot...but that stuff is a staple at this house...so we happened to have plenty!

CAROLINA STYLE BBQ CHICKEN

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves or thighs (but I figure you could use any type of chicken, we thought it would be good with wings!)

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar, divided

3/4 c. yellow mustard

3/4 c. Franks Red Hot

2 TBS. vegetable oil

2 TBS. worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper 

Place thawed chicken in a Ziploc bag.  Combine  1/2 c. of the brown sugar with all of the other ingredients in a bowl.  Pour 1 c. of the mixture over the chicken in the bag, seal it, and let it marinate for at least an hour but as long as overnight (ours marinated for about 6 hours and it was perfect)

Place chicken on a well-oiled grill, reserving marinade.  Grill over high heat 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (duh), turning and basting once with marinade.  Do not baste during the last 5 minutes of cooking, cause then you won't kill the nasties that are in the marinade.  Discard any remaining marinade, and serve chicken with reserved sauce.

Shortly before the chicken is done cooking, take the marinade that you set aside at the beginning, add the remaining 1/4 c. of brown sugar, and bring it to a boil on the stove.  Reduce heat, simmer 5 minute or until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly, stirring often. 

SO YUMMY!!!!!! 

Amazing Banana Bread!!!

Ok, so I have never done this before but I thought I would share a treasure with you all. The other day I had some bananas getting ripe and banana bread sounded delicious so I set out online to find a recipe to try. I found a recipe for Buttermilk Banana Bread on a blog, The Kitchen Cafe, that Katy has mentioned in her blog. It is absolutely amazing so try it!

It was simple to make and I topped it with a glaze which my family loved. I did add chocolate chips and walnuts. The walnuts were a big hit but the chocolate chips weren't as popular. Also I noticed that the loaf with the chocolate chips took quite a bit longer to cook so take that into consideration if you go that route.