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.

Dijon Green Beans

Jessie and I made these green beans the other day for dinner. I thought they sounded really good, and my mom (who hates green beans) thought they were delicious. When she cleared the table she at the extra green beans, so she must have liked them.

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

place beans in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Meanwhile, for dressing, whisk the vinegar, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Drain beans; place in a large bowl. Add tomatoes and onion. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.

I suggest letting the sauce sit on the beans for a bit so they can absorb some of the flavor. I noticed when I made it the onions tasted a lot like the sauce because they had sat in it for longer.

Bread Bowls

I learned this nifty little trick from my mom.  Buy one of the bags of Rhodes frozen bread loaves.  Once the loaf has thawed, cut it into thirds and then roll each piece into a ball.  Place each ball on a greased jelly roll pan, I usually do 3 to a pan cause they get pretty big.  Let the balls raise until they are about the size of a bread bowl.  Once they are big enough, carefully brush the tops with an egg wash and then bake according to time and length on the back of the bag.  I HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE!  I like do do a whole bag at a time so I can have bread bowls on hand.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

My parents started making this salad a few years ago and since then it has become a regular in their house.  I made it last week and forgot how good it was!  I made it on a Tuesday and someone requested I make it again for Sunday! 

2 c. crushed pretzels
1c. and 3 TBS. sugar
3/4 c. melted butter
8oz. cream cheese
8 oz. cool whip
1 pkg. strawberry or raspberry jello
20 oz. frozen strawberries or raspberries (my Walmart only has 16 oz. frozen bags of whole strawberries, I used one bag of those, microwaved them for about 10 seconds, just enough so I could slice them, but they still needed to be mostly frozen to set up the jello, so don't thaw them!)
2 cups boiling water

Mix the pretzels, 3 TBS. sugar and butter together.  Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan and bake for 9 minutes at 350.

Mix together cream cheese, cool whip and 1 c. sugar and cool whip. Spread on cooled pretzel crust.

Dissolve jello in boiling water, then add berries and stir till thaw.  Let it sit in the fridge until it just barely starts to set up.  When it's barely starting to set up, spread on the other layers in the 9x13 and let it set up the rest of the way.

I think this is even better the 2nd day when the bottom layer is a little 'softer'...
I do have to admit I had to make this a couple times before the layers set up nicely.  But, the good thing is, even when it doesn't set up, it's still yummy to eat! You just have to use a bowl!

Olive Garden Breadsticks

I was looking at a blog the other day to see if there was a new recipe I wanted to try. She had added a recipe for Olive Garden breadsticks! I knew I had to try them...since I am a big fan of these. We had them for dinner tonight and they were great! I knew I needed to post it on here since I have many great memories of the "OG" from my college years with Katy! :)

the general blog address is here

the website for the breadsticks is here