Carolina Pork BBQ

I can’t believe how delicious it was and how easy! It makes about 6-8 very healthy servings with left-overs! It’s definitely going to be one of my regulars from now on.

2 large onions, quartered

2 1/2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Paprika

2 Teaspoons Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1 4-6 Lb boneless pork butt or shoulder roast

1 1/2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar

8 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

3 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

3 Teaspoon sugar (white)1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Cut the onions into quarters and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker (crock pot).

Note: Don’t turn on pot yet!

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt, and ground black pepper and then use as a dry rub for the roast. Rub over the entire roast, top, sides and bottom. Placed rubbed roast in slow cooker/ crock pot, on top of the onions.

In a small bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, white sugar, dry mustard, garlic salt, and cayenne. Stir and mix well. Drizzle 1/4 – 1/2 of this mixture over roast. Then, cover and refrigerate the remaining portion, to be used later.

Cover, turn on pot and cook on low for 10-12 hours. After about 8 hours, start checking to see if roast is thoroughly cooked. The roast is done when it pulls apart easily with two forks. Just insert the forks and pull in opposite directions, meat should fall apart and begin to shred very easily.

After roast is cooked, lift it out of the pot and set on cookie sheet to drain. Remove onions and juices from bottom of pot and put them aside in a bowl. If your family doesn’t like onions, you can just throw them out, but they really do add a nice flavor and texture to the pork. Shred or chop the pork with knife and forks and stir in a few spoonfuls of the reserved drippings. You can also chop the onions now and add them to the shredded pork. If the mixture seems dry, add more of the reserved drippings/juice until it gets to the consistency you like. I like it fairly moist, so it holds together nicely on the buns, so I add most of the drippings. Add another 1/4 of the vinegar mixture to the shredded pork and put the rest on the table (I use a gravy boat) as some people may want to add more to their sandwiches.Serve on hamburger buns with creamy coleslaw as a side, although, to be authentic you really MUST put the coleslaw on top of the pork and eat it right in the sandwich.

Fav New Recipe - Bourbon Crack Chicken

I didn’t name it this but after one bite I certainly understood the meaning behind the word “crack” in its title, this could become addicting!I discovered this recipe last week on the Spiced Chefs website. 

The recipe made 4 generous servings with the rice (we are using the 3rd and 4th servings for our lunches tomorrow).

For those on Weight Watchers I ran the recipe on the WW site and it is 6 points per serving before the rice. Very reasonable for such a filling meal.

Here is the recipe taken directly from the Spiced Chefs website so you can enjoy it as well.

Bourbon “Crack” Chicken – Crockpot Style

“The original recipe comes from Busy Mom’s Cookbook but we turned it into a crockpot version”.

Ingredients-

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 garlic clove crushed

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup light apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons organic ketchup or chili sauce (depending on how hot you like stuff)

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

Whisk all ingredients into crock pot and add chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

Serve over rice with a side of ginger glazed carrots.

Easy Chicken Pie

This recipe was shared on a blog I enjoy visiting called Pink Papavera.  We really enjoyed it and will be trying it again and again.The ingredients are so simple!1 Pound of Chicken Breasts1 Bag of Frozen Mixed Vegetables4 oz. Cream Cheese (cubed)1/4 C Zesty Italian Dressing-Low Fat1/2 C Chicken Broth2 T FlourDouble Pie CrustCut the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Then brown the chicken in the low-fat dressing, (Yeah!! No oil!) Add the flour and mix. Now it’s time to stir in the chicken broth and the cubed cream cheese. When the cream cheese is melted, stir in the veggies until it’s all warm and gooey!Now just lay the bottom crust into your pie pan. I like to use a glass pan because it seems to keep the crust from getting soggy. Tuck the crust into the pan and cut slits in the bottom. This will keep your crust from bubbling up. Now pour your gooey-yumminess mixture inside the crust and take a pair of your kitchen scissors and trim the crust to the edges.Put the top crust on, flute the pie edges (flashback to 8th grade home-ec class) then make a fancy design on top to let the steam escape.There you go! So pretty! And, after years of trying homemade pie crusts, I proudly say that Pillsbury can win the blue ribbon on it. That is not for me!Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until your edges are nice and brown and Voila!

Amazingly Good Salisbury Steak

So while talking to mom the other night she mentions a new recipe she found that she thought I would like and was super easy to make (which is really why she mentioned it to me, she knows I am a no thrills cook, it must be easy, fast and good or I just don’t make it). 

She found the recipe in her new Kraft Home Cooking magazine and it was for Salisbury Steak, one of my top 5 comfort meals!She went on to tell me that she had made the recipe and it was “amazingly good” and she had extra patties for me to pick up so I could try it. I am never one to say no to a free meal from mom so I stopped by in between the downpour and after visiting for a while (I didn’t just drop by and dash) we were on our way with six of these “amazingly good” patties.

I made up some mashed potatoes, gravy along with some veggies and the last (sadly) the homemade applesauce while the patties were cooking in the skillet. They only took about 8 minutes and the aroma was awesome.I cleared my plate in record time (yes I ate two patties, they were small..don’t judge) and mom was right. They were “amazingly good” and I will be making them again soon.!

Here is a link to the recipe:   Salisbury Steak with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy recipe.

1 1/2 pounds groumd

1-1/2 lb.  lean ground beef

1pkg.  (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 onion, finely chopped

1 egg

3-1/4 cups  water, divided

1 Tbsp.  oil

1 jar  (12 oz.) beef gravy

MIX first 4 ingredients and 1 cup water. Shape into 6 (3/4-inch-thick) oval patties.HEAT oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add patties; cook 5 min. Turn. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 min. or until done (160ºF).

Mix gravy with 1/2 cup water; pour over patties. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on low heat 5 min.

*** Mom substituted the Stove Top Chicken Dressing with Stove Top Savory Dressing and it really gave it flavor. I think that is a change I will keep.Try it, I promise you wont be disappointed.