Pull Pork Sandwiches

Pulled Pork seems to be popular
I'm not a big fan of pork
but I wanted to give it a try
I spoke with my Aunt
at Gelderman Farms
where they raise all natural pigs
and sell the wonderful product

My aunt helped me out
found a nice pork roast
for me to use
gave me many ideas
on how to make pulled pork

In the end
I went with the easy route
but if you feel adventures
search the web
and you will find many
different variations of pulled pork

I started with
smashed garlic cloves

piled a sliced onion
with the garlic
and a bit of water
all in the slow cooker

I cooked this
for about 6 hours on low
then out come the roast
and my wonderful mom
removed any extra fat
that was left on it

use two forks
to pull the meat apart
it will be very tender
and be very easy to shred
I added the BBQ sauce
I had in my fridge
and a bit of the liquid
left in the slowcooker
until it was a consistancy
I thought was good
We piled it on
nice fresh grain buns
and topped it with
some coleslaw

this meal was very good
and very simple
served with a nice salad

my girly
she loves
jumping
on the trampoline
even in the rain

Chicken Meatball Soup

The night before
I made the chicken meatballs
I cut up 1/2 an onion
added 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp of cumin
3 tsp of worcestershire

salt and pepper

I added an egg
and the ground chicken

mixed it all up
and made the meatballs
and put them in
the fridge for the night

in the morning
I added some squash
a cut onion
some carrots
some celery
some chopped spinach
and some Orzo (pasta)
along with a carton of chicken stock
and enough water to cover everything
along with the meatballs
into the slow cooker

I let this cook
for most of the day
I was out at dinner time
my family had this for dinner
when I came home
I had......

CEREAL
this soup was
SLIMY
blah
the problem
I need to remember
to not add the pasta
UNTIL closer to the end
the orzo totally disintegrated
and made it all slimy
it's not often I won't
eat what I cooked
my husband
bless him
he ate it
and took it to work
he said the meatballs
were amazing
so there is my failure of a dinner
fingers crossed tomorrow is better

BBQ Beef Sandwiches and a Jesse Tree

I found some frozen
cooked roast beef
in the freezer
I can't recall
when I froze this
I think is was long ago
one of the freezer mystery's
so I made
BBQ Beef Sandwiches
I had no clue how to
but that won't stop me


I put the cooked Roast Beef
into the slow cooker
added a bottle of BBQ sauce
a bit of water
and some mango juice
mostly because it was there
and I thought what the heck
I also added a chopped onion
and put the slow cooker on low
I cooked this for about 6ish hours
be sure to spray you slow cooker
with a non stick spray
I served this on fresh buns
and topped it with a type
of 'slaw' topping
something crunchy
this was left over broccoli slaw
mixed with mayo and asian dressing
it was what I had
and a salad on the side


this was very good
very very good
next time I find
some mystery roast beef
I'll be making this again

Now, you may or may not
have heard of a Jesse Tree
I've heard about it
the last few years
I did a bit of research today
I didn't want to spent any money
but I want to start
some traditions with my kids
to put the focus of Christmas
back on Christ
and off the commercialism
my kids are still young
I would think to young
to understand what a Jesse Tree is
but they are not to young
to understand the gifts
the commercials
and the Santa's
they understand the want of that
so I want to start the Jesse Tree now

I found the Reformed Church of America's
site had good info and pictures
for the kids to color
and the devotional
was done for me
and I that it was written
towards young kids
I felt my kids might
understand this a bit better
this version of the Jesse Tree
started yesterday
so today,
my kids had two ornaments to color


they each must have their own
other wise it would
only be fights
they really enjoyed
doing this tonight
I look forward to seeing
how the month goes
I just took butcher paper
taped it to the wall
and drew a 'tree'
they didn't turn out pretty
I did have 'helpers'



nothing fancy
just simple
and Christ centered

Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili

My cousin sent me the recipe
it's from a blog I had not seen
but now that I know about it
there are some very yummy recipes
for me to try

Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili
this recipe had a lot of interesting
ingredients in it
I didn't have the instant coffee
I used brewed coffee
I also forgot to pick up tomato sauce
so I used tomato paste and mixed it with water
I also used a little less hot sauce
I had kidlets to consider


now, let me just say this
and I've said it before
if I'm using a slow cooker
I REFUSE to double cook
I just don't understand
why you would do that
I put the hamburger raw
into my sprayed slow cooker
yes RAW, you read that right
and I didn't cook the onions
I'm a rebel
by cooking the hamburger in
the slow cooker
it's much more tender
and you don't end up
with the large chunks
I prefer it more tender
I just made sure to
break it up
and stir it a few times


I used the butternut squash
I had saved half of it from
the Autumn Mac and Cheese
and I roasted it
to add to the chili


This dish was
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G
seriously
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G
I wasn't sure
the ingredient list
was very interesting
I took a bite it was good
I took a bite with the squash
it was fantastic
really you need to try this

I also made the
fluffy buns
however this time
I used half the amount of sugar
as well as
I did half white flour
and half whole wheat flour
YUM

my girly
she has now been hit
with the cold
she looks so sad
she had a rough day

Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew

Tonight was a new recipe
Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew
I came across this recipe
in the better homes and garden magazine
it wasn't my magazine
so when I got home
I found it online

My husband and I really enjoy
Indian food
my kids
not so much
but they will eat it eventually

I followed the recipe
Mostly
I read the comments
and added some extra spices
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 can of chickpeas
1 can of chicken stock
curry powder
ginger powder
cumin
coriander
cardamon
bay leaf
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
4 large chicken breasts
cut into pieces
2 tblsps lime juice
some handfuls of spinach


the cardamon didn't make it into the picture
here is what dried cardamon looks like
it smells good
you just need to remember
to take the pods out and not eat them
they are small so they are hard to find
but you'll know if you hit one


everything goes into the slow cooker
with the exception of
the lime juice and spinach


I served this on Quinoa
with some Naan bread
we really really liked this
I think I'll play with the spices
a bit more next time
adding a bit more of most of them
I think it will even taste better tomorrow


my husband is off this week
our plan is to get the yard
cleaned up for winter
and our trailer cleaned and stored away
we are all enjoying our time with him