Sweet Pulled Pork

This recipe is for about 10 lbs of pork, give or take.  It's not exact how much of the ingredients you put in.


1. Put pork in crockpot with couple cups of dr. pepper or coke (not diet) for 6-8 hours or until you can shred pork.
2. Shred pork and drain all juice.  
3. Put pork back into crockpot, add about 1 cup brown sugar (more or less to taste-depending on how sweet you like)
4. Add 1-2 can green chiles
5. Add 1 jar green salsa (I use Salsa Verde - Herdez brand - can get at walmart)
6. Add another cup of dr. pepper or coke


Mix all together and let cook on low for another couple of hours.


Courtesy Yuki Gross

Pizza Soup

Success once again. Naming a food after pizza magically makes it more desireable.

2 cans (10 oz.) Condensed Tomato Soup
3 cups water
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 cup short dry pasta (shells, ditalini, etc.)
1/3 cup diced pepperoni
1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. marjoram
4 extra large rolls
Mozzarella cheese

1. Mix soup, water, and garlic. Bring to a boil. Be careful not to boil over.
2. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add pasta, pepperoni,  italian seasoning, and marjoram.
3. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until pasta is almost done.
4. While soup is cooking, carefully remove the middle from the rolls to form bowls. Try to keep the extra bread in one piece. It will be served on the side.
5. Once soup is done, ladle it into the bread bowls. Top with mozzarella as desired and broil until lightly brown. Toast the extra bread on the same pan as a side.
6. Serve right out of the oven.

Pizza Pasta Salad

Gabriel is ten times more likely to eat something if it is somehow related to pizza. Thus, I came up with this recipe in order to try to get him to eat something somewhat healthy.

1 pkg. tri-color rotini
4 cheese sticks (2 mozzarella, 2 cheddar)
1/4 C. shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 C. ranch dressing
1/2 C. italian dressing
Pepperoni
Sliced olives

1. Boil the noodles based on package instructions. Rinse in cold water.
2. Cut the cheese sticks into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. In a large bowl, mix ranch and italian dressings.
4. Add rotini and cheeses to dressings and toss to coat.
5. Add pepperoni and sliced olives.
6. Refrigerate for approximately 1 hour before serving.

Slow Cooker Bajio Chicken

A friend of ours gave us the link to this recipe. We used Mt. Dew instead Sprite and used a little more than it says to use and really liked it.

5 chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 cup brown sugar (more to taste)
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
6 oz. Sprite (1/2 can)
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to crock pot and cook 1 more hour. Thicken the juices with a little cornstarch mixed in water.
Serve with flour tortillas, lettuce, cheese, black beans and any other taco fixings.
If you want it spicier rather than sweeter add a hotter salsa and more green chilies.

This would be easy to use as a freezer meal! Once it is all cooked and shredded, pour into a freezer gallon-sized ziploc bag. Freeze flat. When you are ready to use it, quickly reheat it (either in a crock pot or even a microwave!). (It works best if you let it thaw in your fridge for about 24 hours before reheating it)

Skillet Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1lb sausage
• 1 small chopped onion
• 1 medium zucchini, minced
• 1 large carrot, minced
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  
• 1 can tomato sauce, seasoned with oregano and garlic
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
• 2/3 cups cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• salt and pepper
• occasionally I'll throw in some diced peppers as well, if Chad is in the mood
  

Directions:

In skillet, cook sausage and onion until sausage is almost cooked through and onion is about the desired consistency. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 4 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce with seasonings. Return to a boil, and stir in pasta. Once it is fully boiling again, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 14 minutes. Stir once after 10 minutes.
Stir in zucchini, carrot, and mushrooms. (Peppers, if desired.) Return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 5-6 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Remove from heat.
Combine cottage cheese, parmesan, and pepper in a bowl. Drop in spoonfuls into lasagna. Don't stir! Sprinkle mozzarella liberally over the top. Let stand covered for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Enjoy!

Oyako Donburi

Oyako Donburi (also known as Oyakodon) is a Japanese dish that means "mother and child", because the two main ingredients are chicken and eggs. It's a delicious comfort food.


Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups cooked Japanese rice
  
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced for stir fry
• 1 small onion, julienned
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1 zucchini, julienned
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced into strips
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1 cup dashi stock (you can substitute with chicken broth)
• 2 tablespoons mirin (you can substitute with rice wine vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 4 beaten eggs

Directions:

Sautee chicken, onion, carrot, and zucchini in a little bit of oil, until the chicken is cooked through (about 5-7 minutes).
Stir in broth, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and salt. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and simmer for a few more minutes. Sprinkle in about half of the green onion and stir gently.
Pour beaten egg over the top, cover, and simmer until egg is cooked through (about 7-10 minutes). Serve over sticky rice. Garnish with the remaining green onion.

Taitum's Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups hot water
• 2 Tbsp sugar (or 1 Tbsp honey)
  
• 1 Tbsp of fast acting yeast
• 3-1/2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp salt

Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast. Make sure yeast is bubbling. Stir in salt and flour. Knead until smooth and elastic, add up to 1/2 cup additional flour if necessary. Let rise until double. Roll onto skookie pans. Add Jared's sauce and desired toppings. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. There is no need to pre-bake the crust.

Jared's Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic salt
• 1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper (optional)
  
• 1 cup warm water

Directions

Stir all ingredients except water until well mixed. Stir in water. Refrigerate. Best if made a day before use. Warning to those that use cayenne, we used to use 1 Tbsp until we bought a new package of it. Either the new brand was stronger or the old stuff had lost some strength, you may have to adjust it.

Captain Crunch Chicken

vegetable oil for frying

2 skinless chicken breast fillets

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal

½ cup panko bread crumbs

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Creole Mustard Sauce:

2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Mix together and chill in refrigerator.

Cut each chicken fillet, lengthwise, into 5 long slices pounded flat (chicken fingers). Put in a bowl, cover with buttermilk, and marinate overnight. Just before breading, mix in an egg to the marinade. Smash the Cap’n Crunch into crumbs using a food processor, or put the cereal into a plastic bag and start pounding. Combine the cereal, crumbs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Remove chicken from milk and completely coat it with the dry mixture. Discard leftover milk. When the oil is hot, fry the chicken for 4 to 6 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Remove to paper towels or a rack to drain. Serve hot with chilled Creole mustard sauce on the side for dipping.