Pulled Pork Sandwich

I found this recipe in one of my favorite magazines, Canadian Living, and made it a few weeks ago!!  It was so yummy, tender & juicy that I am making it again today for dinner.  It is simple with very little prep, and it sits in the slow cooker all day just absorbing all of the saucy goodness!  Here it is for you to try...your sure to make apart of your family favorites.





Saucy Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

3 1/2 lb boneless pork shoulder blade roast

3/4 tsp each salt & pepper

2 tbsp veg oil

2 onions diced

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground coriander

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce

2 tbsp each packed brown sugar & cider vinegar

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 green onion, sliced

Sprinkle pork with salt & pepper.  In a dutch oven, heat oil over med heat: brown pork all over.  Transfer to slow cooker.

Drain all but 1 tbsp fat from pan, cook onions, garlic, chili powder, coriander & bay leaves over med heat, stirring occasionally until onions are softened, about 5 minutes.

Add tomato paste: cook, stirring until darkened, about 2 minutes. 

Add tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, & the W sauce; bring it to a boil scraping up the brown bits. Scrape into the slow cooker & cook on low until pork is tender. 8 - 10 hours. 

Transfer pork unto cutting board; cover with foil and let stand for 10 minutes.  With 2 forks, shred or "pull" pork. 

Meanwhile, pour liquid from slow cooker into large saucepan: skim off fat.  Bring to boil over high heat; boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes.  Discard bay leaves.  Add pork.  Reduce heat and simmer until hot, about 4 minutes.  Sprinkle with green onions.

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies with Strawberry Jam

I wanted to make a healither cookie.  I like having little snacks on hand but want to try to keep it as healthy as I can.  I made 2 batches of these cookies, the first time cutting down the oil however they were quite dry.  So the second time I use the whole amount of oil and put in extra peanut butter.  They were so much nicer!  You have to make sure that you do not over bake these as they will turn hard.

Allow to cool and top with a small dallop of strawberry jam!

Recipe:

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375*

2/3 cup conola oil

3/4 cup peanut butter

Mix both to combine, add

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all of the above ingredients until combined

In a second bowl stir to combine

3 cups rolled oats (perhaps a little less as the dough is pretty crumbly)

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

1 tsp baking power

1/2 tsp baking soda

Add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.  Roll into balls, flatten abit.  Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet!  Nice in the morning with a hot coffee!

I found this recipe (minus the few changes I made) along with lots of other yummy goodies here!!!

I am linking up to these SWEET SITES!!  Go check them out!

boogieboardcottage   Good life Wednesday   allthingsheartandhome   somedaycrafts

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Well I just celebrated my birthday last week and rather than do an actual cake I thought I would make this Mocha dessert that I saw on the Food Network! And it was SOO GOOD!!! The only problem that I have when making these large desserts is that it is way too much for 2 people. So usually half of it gets tossed. I think I will try to cut the recipes in half from now on.

I found this recipe on Food Network, it was on the Barefoot Contessa here!

Ingredients
2 cups cold heavy cream

12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Pernigotti

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies, such as Tate's Bake Shop

Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks.



To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch springform pan, covering the bottom as much as possible. (I break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.



Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate, cut in wedges, and serve cold.



Side notes:  the above is the recipe from the website.  However I did make a couple of changes.  I didn't have espresso powder so I added a little extra Kahlua.  Also I used 1 & 1/2 packs of Chips Ahoy cookies.

I am linking up my yummy dessert here -

Easy as {banana} Pie!

I wanted to make some mini pies for dessert one day and as I was picking up the pie crust I had planned on doing Lemon pies.  Those are a favorite that I've made before...with thick meringue.  But then I saw a Jello pudding pack for banana cream and knew that I wanted to try it!  They were easy to make (everything is from a box or can) but couldn't have been better tastier!  I made 6, ate 1 right away and had another for after dinner dessert and my hubby ate 2.  We each had another a few days later.  The pudding held up well even after 3 or 4 days in the fridge. 

Just bake the crust as directed.  Mix the pudding (this one is a cooked pudding which took a bit of time in front of the stove.  You have to stir constantly.  Add a little whipped cream and enjoy!

Winter Soup

Well sometimes when I have free time to check out some of my favorite blogs, I'll have the TV on with either a design show or cooking show on.  I like the Sunny Anderson show Cooking for Real.  I saw her make a Butternut Squash soup one day and it looked GOOD.  While I didn't keep track of a recipe I did get the basics of what she did and had to try it myself a few weeks later.  This is my first time trying butternut squash and I LOVED it!!

How good does that look!!!  It was sweet and savory, hot and creamy!  And HEALTHY!!!

Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium size butternut squash

2 medium carrots peeled and diced

1 medium onion diced

2 celery stalks diced

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

pinch of nutmeg

Chicken or Vegetable stock, reduced sodium

light sour cream

Preheat oven to *350.  Slice squash in half, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and fresh ground pepper.  Place on a lined baking sheet cut side up, bake until tender.  It takes about 20 minutes but check with a fork.

Next in a soup pot heat a small amount of olive oil and saute the diced veggies until tender.  Scoop out the seeds from the squash and discard.  Scoop the remaining squash from the peel and add to the pot with about 3 cups or so of stock.  Let it simmer for another 10 minutes to let the flavours meld.  Next blend with a stick blender right in the pot until smooth. Sprinkle in some fresh nutmeg.  Add a dollop of sour cream.  Serve with crusty bread.

Cupcake anyone?

Like most people (except Duff), I love a sweet cupcake every now and then.  Have you ever watched the show on Food Network, Ace of Cake?  I would love to make those type of cakes, but really making cupcakes is ok right now.  So when in Calgary I stopped into Crate & Barrel and wanted to get some of the cute things they have.  We don't have this store here so I was having fun just looking around.  I got my first Kitchen Aid stand mixer for Christmas and when I saw this cute recipe box called The Cupcake Deck I knew I had to have it!

There are 25 cupcake & frosting recipes with beautiful pictures!  So I hope to go through each one and take a picture and share here on my blog.  I am also going to share the cupcakes with my husbands co-workers after taste testing with him at home!

The first cupcake that I wanted to make is the Carrot Orange and Golden Raisin Cupcakes  They were a success!!  The frosting has cream cheese and grated orange peel! 

Ooops!!!  Did I say that this was my first time using my mixer?!  I paid a little more attention when switching it on!

Recipe:

1 Cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 lg eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp grated orange zest

1 cup finely chopped or grated carrots (about 2 carrots)

3/4 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325*F  Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper liners.  Spray the paper liners with nonstick spray.

Make the Cupcakes

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon into a med bowl & set aside.  In a large bowl, with mixer on med speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and thick, about 1 minute.  Scrape the bowl as needed.  On low speed, mix in the oil, vanilla, and orange zest until blended.  Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it.  Mix in the carrots, raisins and walnuts.

Fill each paper liner with 1/4 cup of batter to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner.  Bake just until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 28 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then move to a rack to cool completely. 

Make the Frosting

In a large bowl, using a mixer on low beat the butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly blended, about 1 minute.  Scrap the bowl as needed.  Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, about 1 minute, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute to lighten the frosting further.

Use a large spoon to mix in the orange zest into the frosting.  Spread onto cupcakes with spatula or piping bag as desired.  Top with a walnut half and orange zest!

They were yummy!!  And a hit with my husbands co-workers :)  So much so that they are requesting more!!

Brownies with a Kiss!

I saw a version of these brownies on another blog (I just went through my blog list but can not find where I saw these!  So if it was your blog, let me know and I will link back to you!!).  It is a simple way to take the average brownie up a notch! 

First you need to get your favorite brownie mix and a bag of Hershey carmel kisses.

Mix the brownie batter as instructed.  I did my brownies in muffin tins, they are the perfect size and if sprayed with cooking oil they pop out easy.  Evenly place the batter in the muffin tin (I got 8 brownies!) and add one unwrapped kiss.  Push the kiss into the batter but not to the bottom. 

Bake as directed.  Let cool for 5 minutes, frost and enjoy!  They are yummy warm and gooey!