Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Earlier today I ventured out of the "go with what you know" zone and tried a new restaurant at lunch. This busy independent barbecue venue was a real treat and, truth be told, I can't stop thinking about it! I had a flavorful, super tender, shredded to perfection, pulled pork sandwich with pickles and onions on a super tasty bun. The meat was so good it didn't even need extra sauce. Since I've been obsessing over this sandwich all day, I decided to post our favorite pulled pork recipe. This isn't the same as the slow roasted sandwich I had today, but I haven't had any complaints.

If you are a fan of crockery cooking, you'll appreciate the no-fuss nature of this recipe; If you're one of those people who believes nothing good can come from a crock pot - here's a recipe that's sure to prove you wrong!

Ingredients:

• Boneless pork rib roast or chicken breasts (enough to feed all your guests - maybe count one breast per adult?)
• Chicken stock (3 boxes)
• Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (2 big bottles)

Directions:

• Put raw meat into the crockpot
• Cover completely in chicken stock (make a pool, basically, with the chicken swimming under water)
• Cook on high for 4 hours (if you have time to spare after the 4 hours, turn crock pot to warm mode).

• About 45 minutes before your guests show up, set your oven to 350.
• Remove meat from the crock pot and transfer to baking dish (I love to use the throw away foil kind because there's no cleaning required) shred meat with two forks (it should shred really easily).
• Gently mix with bbq sauce to your taste. I usually mix with more after it bakes.
• Bake uncovered in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Watch to make sure it doesn't brown.
• Mix gently with more bbq sauce if needed. :)

Quick and Easy - Baked Ravioli and Meatballs

Baked Ravioli and Meatballs:

Ingredients:

• 1 Bag of Frozen Ravioli
• 1 Bag of Frozen Meatballs (not Swedish)
• 4 Cups of Shredded Mozzarella or your Favorite Italian Blend of Cheese

Directions:

Layer a 9x13 casserole dish with the following...

• Thin layer of pasta sauce (something with chunky or with mushrooms adds a good flavor and a point of interest),
  
• 1/2 ravioli, 1/2 meatballs,
  
• 1/2 mozzarella cheese,
  
• Thin layer of sauce,
  
• 1/2 ravioli,
  
• 1/2 meatballs,
  
• Thin layer sauce, and
  
• Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
  
• Bake in the oven for 1hr at 350.

You can get a small bag of frozen ravioli and a small bag of frozen meatballs (not Swedish) and it works just great. No need to pre-cook.

Pineapple Upside Down Trifle

Pineapple Upside Down Trifle

Ingredients:

-1 Box Duncan Hines Yellow Butter Cake Mix
-1 Large Container of Cool Whip
-2 Small Jars or 1 Large Jar of Maraschino Cherries
-2 Large Cans of Pineapple Chunks (in Pineapple Juice - Not Syrup)
-1 Stick of Butter
-1/2 Cup of Light Brown Sugar

Directions:

-Bake cake according to package directions
-When cake is done, let cool then slice into squares (I baked mine in a glass 9x13 baking dish)
-In a sauce pan, combine butter and and brown sugar over medium to high heat (keep stirring to prevent sticking).
-When the butter/sugar mixture becomes thick, it's finished. Turn down to simmer or low and stir occasionally while you're assembling the trifle.
-Layer ingredients in the following fashion:
**Cake (break pieces up into chunks and create a layer on the bottom of the trifle dish
**Pineapple
**Maraschino cherries (not a solid layer, just spread them around)
**Half or a third of the brown sugar mixture

Repeat to top. Top with Cool Whip and Cherries. :)

Enjoy!!!

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

We had some friends over last night for an impromptu barbecue. I think pasta salad is a cook-out staple and I'm usually the one who brings it to our family's summer festivities. Unfortunately, due to lack of time and preparation - I didn't have the "usual" pasta salad ingredients that I use for my recipe so I got creative. :) This warm pasta salad was well-received and I'll probably be making it again.


Ingredients:

-1/2 box Rotini pasta
-1/2 cup of ranch dressing
-1/4 cup of bacon bits (fresh, cooked bacon bits would be best if you have time!)
-1 cup of shredded cheddar
-A handful of chopped chives (or green onions). I used freeze-dried chives because that's what I had.
-A generous sprinkle of Parmesan

Directions:

-Boil the Rotini according to package directions.
-Once drained, add the ranch dressing and stir
-Add the bacon bits, cheddar, and chives - stir
-Top with Parmesan and enjoy!!

Baked Spaghetti

Here's another pasta dish that I've gotten a few recipe requests for. The basis for this recipe was passed to me from family members - thank you :). I didn't get exact measurements for this one so started this dish the old fashioned way - throw things in until it tastes, smells, and looks right. It comes out well and is usually a crowd pleaser. This dish has the same "yum effect" as lasagna, but goes together with quite a few less steps.

I know making your own spaghetti sauce isn't always practical when you are trying to fix a quick dinner. I've included jarred sauce in this recipe (sorry Pops and Grandma!). I will also include the sauce recipe below for those of you that wish to make it from scratch for this dish.


Ingredients:

• 1 - 16oz Box of Pasta (I suggest Rigatoni, Penne, or Angel Hair)
• 1 - Jar Barilla Spaghetti Sauce (I buy the garlic and mushroom kind - it's always a crowd pleaser).
• 1 - Small Container of Ricotta (Use reduced fat if you so desire - I'm guessing no one will notice).
  
• 8oz - Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• A handful of Parmesan (or Romano is better if you have it!)
• A few pinches of dried basil (sprinkle it throughout the ricotta)
• 1 Egg or 3T of Mayonnaise (***see explanation below)
  

Directions:

• Boil water and cook pasta according to package directions
• In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeses (ricotta, Parm/Romano, and mozzarella).
• Add, to the cheese mixture, your basil and egg or mayo
  
• Layer your ingredients like a lasagna. I just poured sauce in the the dish to cover the bottom. I didn't make a lake out of it, but just a decent amount. Sauce first, then pasta, cheese - repeat to top. I only had room to go sauce, pasta, cheese, sauce. Then I think I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, covered and then another 5 minutes uncovered.

Sauce:

Ingredients

• 2 - 15oz Cans of Tomato Sauce
• 1 - 6 or 8oz Can of Tomato Paste
• 2 - Paste Cans of Water
• Minced Garlic (About 1 Tablespoon or 2 Cloves)
• A few sprinkles of dried basil (just enough so that you can smell it in the sauce).
  
• Salt, Pepper and Basil to Taste
• Romano or Parmesan Cheese (about a handful)
  
• Fresh Mushrooms [[optional]]
  
• Onions (Slivered) [[optional]]
• 1/4 Cup - White Sugar
• 1-2lbs - Ground Beef/Chuck
  

Directions:

• Brown Ground Beef/Chuck
• While Beef/Chuck is browning, slice the onion (I slice it in really thin slices straight down (so you have a circle of onion after you've sliced it...then slice the circles in half so your slices look like C's). When the beef/chuck is brown or almost brown, throw in the mushrooms and onions. Continue browning the meat until the onions are see-through.
• Drain and rinse all then return to pan
• Add sauce, paste and water - stir
• Add all salt, pepper, garlic, basil, sugar - stir
• Cook on high until sauce mixture boils
• Once boiling, turn sauce down to simmer (or low) and let cook about half an hour.

*** About the Mayonnaise...I know you guys are wondering (or gagging...). Once upon a time I was making lasagna and found myself out of eggs after I'd already started making the recipe. I looked everywhere to find suitable substitues for eggs. I found one source saying that I could sub 3T of Mayonnaise for each egg needed in the recipe. That's all I needed, just one person who claimed that it would work. I did it, and no one noticed. In fact, on this occassion, my husband continuously told me how much he loved the lasagna. I also sent some home with one of our friends and he awarded it it, "best lasagna ever". I've been using Mayonnaise in my lasagna ever since. If you can't get past the idea - just use an egg. No big deal. :)

This recipe goes really well with a toasty, buttery loaf of garlic bread and (make your own garlic butter with: softened butter, garlic, Romano/Parm, dried parsley, and basil). :)

Skyline Casserole

If you like Skyline Chili - try this recipe! I created this a few months back on a whim and ended up feeding it to unexpected dinner guests that night. Everyone enjoyed it and my husband requested that I make it again...and often!

Ingredients:

-1 box of Angel Hair Pasta
-2 cans of Skyline Chili
-4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
-4 to 5 hot dogs (uncooked and sliced)
-1-2 cups of oyster crackers (crunched up into smaller pieces, but not ground up)


Directions:

-Boil pasta according to package directions
-Transfer pasta into a 2qt baking dish
-Pour the chili onto pasta and gently until noodles are coated
-Cover casserole with two cups of cheese and sliced hot dogs. Gently stir until cheese and hot dogs are spread throughout.
-Cover the top of the casserole with the crunched up crackers. Use enough to cover the whole casserole.
-Cover the top of the casserole with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until cheese is melted on top (not brown) and enjoy!

Mama's Meatloaf

Here's a quick and super easy meatloaf recipe that my mom shared with me shortly after I got married. You can lighten this recipe up by using ground turkey. It turns out the same and is just as delicious.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf -

• 1 Egg
• 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix (with Mushrooms)
• 1 can (8oz) Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Oatmeal (original quick cooking oats)
• 1-1 ½ pounds Ground Beef

Topping -

• 1/3 cup of ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
  

Directions:

Meatloaf -

• Mix egg, ketchup, soup and oatmeal then add the beef. You can mix it up in a stand mixer, with a large spoon and a lot of mixing or by hand. If you do it by hand be sure to wash your hands afterward. Food poisoning is never fun.
  
• Place mixture in loaf pan and pat into shape.*You can also make this is a 1 1/2 - 2 qt baking dish as well.
  
• The meatloaf will look brown and will pull away from the sides of the pan when done.

Topping -

• Mix all ingredients together and spoon onto uncooked meatloaf. Spread with a knife to cover the entire meatloaf.

Bake for 1hr and 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Check the inside of the meatloaf to ensure meat is fully cooked before serving.

Summer Salad

For much of my life, I shuddered at the thought of eating a salad. I never realized that a bowl of salad contained so many wonderful possibilities until a few years ago. In the past, when I thought of salad the following image came to mind - a big bowl of cold, tasteless lettuce, covered in tomato slices (not my favorite) and ranch dressing. Blegh!

Recently, I've been doing some experimenting in the salad department. I want to share a refreshing summer salad recipe that I think you'll really enjoy; even if you're a non salad eater, you might be surprised. :) (The following recipe is for a single serving of salad - 1 bowl). You can modify it accordingly.

Ingredients:

-Spring mix lettuce
-1oz of crumbled Feta cheese
-1 peeled and sliced mini cucumber (or a few slices of a large one - English cucumbers are great!)
-1 slice of honey ham lunchmeat (or two slices if the slices are thin)
-2 medium sliced strawberries or one extra large strawberry
-2 tablespoons of a fruit salad dressing (e.g., cranberry, raspberry walnut, etc).

Directions:

-Add the lettuce, cheese, cucumber, and strawberries in your salad bowl.
-Roll the ham into a tight roll and slice into pieces.
-Add salad dressing
-Toss all to your liking and enjoy!!

This salad is like salad, lunch, and dessert all in one bowl of healthy deliciousness!

Pay Attention - Eat Your Veggies!

I am a chronic dieter, it's no secret around here. Recently, I felt myself slipping away from this perpetual diet I've been on so I forced myself to re-evaluate things. I didn't think I was eating *too* bad, but my weight loss had stalled and I knew I needed to do something. I've started counting calories; much to my surprise, I can only have 1098 calories a day to lose 2lbs a week - my goal. 1,089 calories doesn't get you too much these days. The first few days after cutting back, I was surprised to see what I could live on and not "starve." I cut the amount of yogurt I use in my smoothie by half (that eliminates 55 or so calories). I also went from eating a bowl of soup and crackers (chased by a chocolate cookie) to just a cup of soup - no crackers, no cookie. I replaced my cookie with a 50 calorie piece of candy instead; it gives me the same mental satisfaction and nothing to feel guilty about. If you want to see how what you're eating stacks up, I highly recommend it. Try a free online calorie counting tool to find out how many calories you should be eating to either lose or maintain your weight. After you have your target amount of calories, start recording everything you eat. EVERYTHING - even that broken cookie hanging out in the bottom of the cookie jar or left over food off your kids' plates. It all adds up.

Also, in an effort to stabilize my blood sugar throughout the day and continue the path to weight loss, I've been trying to eat natural, unprocessed foods, and those low in sugar. I have also been trying to eat small meals about six times a day instead of three large meals - starving myself to the point of disillusion in between each.

Here's one recipe that is surprisingly satisfying and tastes like summer to me. Even the kids like it. :-)

Ingredients:

-2 cups frozen green beans
-1-2 cups of fresh, sliced, cleaned, mushrooms
-1T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Coarsely ground lemon pepper
-Coarsely ground sea salt

Directions: ((simple!!))

-Using a medium to large saute pan add the beans, mushrooms and top with the olive oil.
-Stir to coat add lemon pepper and sea salt to taste.
-Cover and cook over medium-high heat until veggies are tender.

Serve and enjoy!!! You won't believe the delicious flavor in this dish. If you choose to, add some grated Romano or Parmesan for a delicious kick.

Smoothie...the ultimate portable breakfast!

I've been quite busy at work lately, hence the gap in my posts. During my absence, I developed a need for a quick and portable breakfast that would allow my blood sugar to remain stable through lunch. I've found myself eating a quick, sugary breakfast (cereal bar or similar) and then feeling my blood sugar take a dangerous nosedive well before lunch. I decided that I wanted something 1.) not processed, 2.) that contained health benefits, and 3.) low in fat/calories. Once I decided that a Smoothie may take care of those objectives, I started thinking about the most efficient way to get this breakfast thing taken care of. I don't have time to get out the full-sized blender and clean it everyday. That makes breakfast more of a hassle than it's worth. I ordered the Cusinart SmartStick Blender from Amazon.com. It is super easy to clean (about 30 seconds under the faucet with hot, soapy water!). I give this device 5-stars!!

Once my blender arrived, I started trying new recipes. Here are some that I love and hope that you'll enjoy them also!

For all recipes, use 1/2 cup of plain, fat-free yogurt as the base. Diet hot chocolate packet refers to the unprepared packet - just the powder. Mix all ingredients until well blended, serve, and enjoy!!

Strawberry Banana
-Yogurt base
-Frozen strawberries
-One banana (a good thing to do with your overly ripe bananas!)

Chocolate Covered Strawberry
-Yogurt base
-Frozen strawberries
-One packet of diet hot chocolate

Chocolate Covered Banana
-Yogurt base
-One banana
-One packet of diet hot chocolate

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana
-Yogurt base
-1T of creamy peanut butter
-One banana
-One packet of diet hot chocolate*

*You can eliminate the hot chocolate and just have a Peanut Butter Banana smoothie - that's delicious as well.

Frozen Mocha
-Yogurt base
-Handful of crushed ice cubes
-Pre-made can/bottle of expresso or other blended coffee beverage (I like Starbucks Doubleshot)
-One packet of diet hot chocolate

Chocolate Cookie Crunch (higher in fat/calories - better for a snack, not breakfast). :)
-Yogurt base
-Handful of crushed ice cubes
-One serving of chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreo minis work well)
-2T of chocolate syrup
-Tsp of vanilla

Banana Cherry
-Yogurt base
-One banana
-Frozen sweet cherries

Spicy Ricey Chicken Burritos

I really enjoy food with a little kick to it. Here's a quick and easy recipe that I concocted the other day while trying to prepare dinner without having to go to the store.

Spicy Ricey Chicken Burritos

Ingredients

• 1-1 1/2 lbs of chicken breasts (depends on how many mouths you're feeding)
• Cumin Powder (lightly dusted over the chicken - to taste)
  
• 1/2 sweet onion (slivered)
• 2 cups - shredded cheddar
  
• Chopped jalapenos, to taste (start with a tablespoon and keep tasting)
  
• Large tortilla shells
• Cooking oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 cups of cooked white rice
  

Directions

• Start your rice (either the conventional way or in a rice cooker - I recommend the Rival 6 cup rice cooker)
  
• Saute chicken, onion, and cumin in a saute pan until chicken is cooked through and onions are transparent.
  
• Drain, then simmer chicken and onion mixture
• In a sauce pan, add milk, cheese, and jalapeno sauce - bring to a boil then remove from heat.
  
• Combine jalapeno cheddar sauce and chicken/onion mixture.
  
• Cover and cook on low for another 20 minutes.
• When you're ready to serve it up - add one layer of rice and one layer of the chicken/onion/meat cheese mixture.
  
• Top with additional cheese, sour cream, or any of your other favorite condiments.
  

I served the burritos with this cornbread recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmothers-Buttermilk-Cornbread/Detail.aspx

** I added about 2 Tablespoons of honey to the above cornbread recipe. It made the bread nice and moist!

Heartwarming Food

Whenever I'm making a pot of spaghetti, I'm always taken back to Sunday afternoons at my grandparent's home.

When you think of a big Italian family sitting down to a meal together, you probably picture exactly what I remember at grandma and grandpa's. Their dinner table was long and extended to the length of the room. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and whoever else happened to be there when the meal was ready sat down to ate. They took great care to prepare pasta, meatballs (grandma and grandpa always sparring about the correct size of meatball), bread and salad each week. I can remember the table lined with RC Cola cans and grandma in her apron - always being the last one to sit down to eat. I sat quietly at the end of the table on my stool...just observing all of the grown-ups and all of the wonderful things they had hanging on the wall.

It was an experience that I love and memories that I will always cherish. Grandma and Grandpa have been gone for more than twenty years now; and, oh, how I wish I could see them today. I wish I could show them love and kindness through a heart warming meal like they did for so many others. Although they are physically gone, I am reminded of them each time someone comes through the door close meal time and I instinctively ask, "have you eaten yet?" I absolutely love sharing meals with my family and others around the dinner table. It's the one time of the day when we all get to look at each other, pray together, and have genuine family conversations. I highly value meal time and look forward to it each and every day.

Here's the recipe I use to make spaghetti in a hurry. It's not the big production that grandma and grandpa put on, but it's heartwarming and delicious all the same. :)

Quick Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 2 - 15oz Cans of Tomato Sauce
• 1 - 6 or 8oz Can of Tomato Paste
• 2 - Paste Cans of Water
• Minced Garlic (About 1 Tablespoon or 2 Cloves)
  
• Salt, Pepper and Basil to Taste
• Romano or Parmesan Cheese (about a handful)
  
• Fresh Mushrooms [[optional]]
  
• Onions (Slivered) [[optional]]
• 1/4 Cup - White Sugar
• 1-2lbs - Ground Beef/Chuck
  

Directions:

• Brown Ground Beef/Chuck
• While Beef/Chuck is browning, slice the onion (I slice it in really thin slices straight down (so you have a circle of onion after you've sliced it...then slice the circles in half so your slices look like C's). When the beef/chuck is brown or almost brown, throw in the mushrooms and onions. Continue browning the meat until the onions are see-through.
• Drain and rinse all then return to pan
• Add sauce, paste and water - stir
• Add all salt, pepper, garlic, basil, sugar - stir
• Cook on high until sauce mixture boils
• Once boiling, turn sauce down to simmer (or low) and let cook about half an hour.

Serve over pasta and enjoy :)

Raise your hand...

If you are nervous and/or weirded out about cooking a whole chicken. If you were here in my living room, you'd see my hand raised and waving with great enthusiasm. I've cooked a lot of chicken parts, but I've only finagled a whole chicken (from its uncooked state) one time. I guess I've just never taken the time to figure out what needs to be pulled out, dissected and so forth. Also, I really just don't care and feel that I've found an easier (and maybe even tastier solution).

Next time you're in the mood some for home-cooked chicken goodness, but don't have the time (or the desire, like myself) to mess with a whole chicken stop at your local grocer and pick up a rotisserie chicken. Rotisserie chickens are delicious and inexpensive! I can pick one up for $6 or less. It feeds the whole family and we usually always have leftovers. For $6, the rotisserie bird well out weighs the price of buying one of his raw counterparts and taking the time to do whatever it is you have to do to make things right.

If you're in a real hurry, you can even usually pick up some tasty side items from your grocer's deli - mac & cheese, potato salad, pasta salad are usually all there and available. Don't forget to pick up a pound of tapioca for desert as well. :) If you just want to pick up the chicken and make a side at home, try baked my baked garlic mac & cheese recipe (below) always a crowd pleaser. :) I've also included a recipe for the chicken leftovers (below). Enjoy your dinner!!

Baked Garlic Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 cups of shredded cheddar
• Handful of crumbled feta cheese
  
• 2.5 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 tablespoon (or so) of minced garlic
• 8oz of large elbow noodles
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Few twists of pepper from your pepper mill (to taste)
• Milk

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 350
• Boil the noodles (about 6min), drain
• Pour noodles into a 2-2.5qt baking dish
• Add garlic, salt, pepper, melted butter and half the cheddar - gently stir to combine all
  
• Once combined, top the mixture with feta cheese and the remaining cheddar.
• Pour milk into one corner of the pan and fill until you see the milk around the edges of the mac & cheese mixture (about 2-3 cups).
  
• Bake in preheated oven for one hour. If you notice the cheese browning too much, cover with foil.

Chicken Potpie ((easy!!))

Ingredients:

• Left-over cooked chicken
  
• Shredded cheddar (1/2 cup or so)
• 1 can of cream of (whatever) - cream of chicken works well.
• Mixed veggies (I prefer the large mixed veggies - Normandy Blend) You can buy a giant bag at Sam's Club that will last you for quite a while.
  
• 1 can of crescent rolls
• Onion salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350
  
• Steam veggies until they are tender (an easy way to steam veggies: fill a large 4 cup measuring cup with veggies; add water up to the 2 cup mark then microwave for 5 minutes)
• On the stovetop, heat soup and cheese until you get a nice creamy cheese sauce
• Mix the veggies, chicken, soup, onion salt and pepper into a pie plate
  
• Bake in your preheated oven for 30 minutes
• While the veggie/chicken mixture is cooking, open your cresent rolls.
• Roll the entire can of rolls into a ball, then roll out into a circle large enough to cover the pie plate.
  
• Once the veggie/chicken mixture is done, cover the mixture with your rolled out dough.
  
• Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
  

Enjoy :)

Kitchen Mishap Turned Fabulous!!

Welcome to my blog! I'm a self-proclaimed foodie who writes for a living - isn't it only natural that I would have a food-related blog? I come from a long line of people who love to eat, cook and consider feeding others a sign of love and comfort.

A little bit about the foodie writing this blog - I'm a work-at-home mom with two small kids - this often makes dinner time a challenge, but I'm finding new ways to manage it all of the time and I look forward to sharing those breakthroughs with you. :)

I'm going to kick-off my blog with a kitchen mishap turned fabulous that happened to me just last night...

Since I'm a work-at-home mom, the Crockpot is one of my very best friends! I'm able to prepare meals ahead of time and work during my kids' nap time instead of cooking. Last night I was planning to have short ribs. I was going back and forth about what to do with them. Finally, seeing that it was 1 o'clock and my chance to cook something on High and have it ready by dinner was dwindling with every second, I decided to start browning the ribs. I browned them off in my skillet and threw them into the Crockpot. I covered the ribs (generously) in brown sugar and then poured in beef broth to ensure supreme meaty tendernous! No one likes dry pork, right?

I put the lid on the Crock, cleaned the kitchen and returned to my routine. About 4:30 I went to check the ribs. I lifted the lid and thought..."huh...they look cooked (forgetting I browned them), but why am I not getting blasted in the face with steam...?" I felt the side of the pot..."uh oh......" I turned the Crock on and definitely forgot to plug it in.

I made a quick trip to allrecipes.com and looked up how long to cook short ribs. Two hours seemed to be the common answer. I quickly dumped everything that was in the Crock into a baking dish (including the broth). I covered the dish tightly with foil and let them bake. About an hour and 45 minutes in, I turned the oven down to 250 because we had to make a trip out. They cooked at 250 for another hour and they were ready and delicious when we got home. The meat literally fell off the bone as I lifted them out of the baking dish.

I served them with leftover baked mashed potatoes from the night before (see recipe below). My husband and our friend, who was joining us for dinner, absolutely loved them. My husband asked how I learned to cook pork so well..I smiled and said.."It's kind of a funny story..."

Cheesy, Garlicky Goodness Potatoes

Ingredients

• 8 red potatoes
  
• Garlic (minced) a few cloves worth or to suit (I love garlic).
  
• 2-3 cups of shredded cheddar
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Milk
• Butter (about 4 tablespoons)

Directions

• Scrub your potatoes then chop them into quarters
• Boil the potatoes until they pierce easily with a fork
• Drain the potato water and transfer potatoes to a mixing bowl.
• Add butter, garlic, salt, pepper and half the cheese to the mixing bowl
• Mix the potato/seasoning/cheese combination until it contains few lumps
  
• Add milk (half a cup or so...to your desired level...I like my mashed potatoes a little firmer than some).
  
• Mix again to your desired lumpiness or non-lumpiness
• Transfer potatoes to an oven safe baking dish 9x13 or a little smaller will do.
• Add the rest of the cheese to the potatoes
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 until heated through and the cheese is melted on top.