Barbecue Pork Tacos

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 (4- to 5-lb.) boneless pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt), trimmed
  • 1 (18-oz.) bottle barbecue sauce (we used Jack Daniel’s Hickory Barbecue Sauce)
  • 1 (12-oz.) can cola soft drink (we used Caffeine Free Coca-Cola)
  • 10 to 12 (8-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
  • Toppings: chopped tomatoes, sliced jalapeños, shredded Cheddar cheese (we used sharp Cheddar cheese), chopped fresh cilantro (we also used sliced radishes)

Directions

  1. Take a 6-quart slow cooker out and lightly grease the inside of it using the cooking spray. Put the pork in the bottom of the slow cooker, pouring the barbecue sauce and cola in afterwards. Put a lid on the slow cooker, letting the pork cook on LOW heat for 8 to 10 hours or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.
  2. Take the pork out of the slow cooker and transfer it to a cutting board. Shred the meat using two forks, throwing away any chunks of fat. Skim any fat from the sauce before adding the shredded pork back in.
  3. Spoon the pork into the tortillas, adding on your choice of toppings afterwards.
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We recommend actually fixing this a day or two before you plan on it actually being eaten ‘cause while the flavors aren’t bad on the first day per se, it tastes a lot better after it’s sat in the fridge for a day or two. You get a nice sweetness from the sauce (not like candy sweet though) and the meat is really tender. If you choose to add the toppings then the radish will give a nice crunch, the jalapeños bring heat and crunch, cilantro and tomato bring a nice freshness, and what doesn’t cheese make better?

This recipe came from Southern Living.

We weren’t paid in any form to mention/promote Jack Daniel’s, Coca-Cola or Southern Living.

Take care everybody !

Chicken Parm Sliders

Ingredients

  • 12 dinner rolls or Hawaiian sweet rolls (we used Pepperidge Farm Golden Potato Slider Buns)
  • 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (we used breast meat)
  • ½ cup marinara sauce (we used Newman’s Own marinara)
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced (we used Kraft Slim Cut Mozzarella)
  • ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped (we used freeze-dried chopped basil)
  • ½ cup butter, melted (we used unsalted butter)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped (we used Italian parsley)
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cut the rolls in half lengthwise (so you have a top half and a bottom half). Put the bottom half on a 9 x 13-inch* rimmed baking sheet (we lined our baking sheet with aluminum foil before placing the bottom half of the rolls on it). Take the chicken and spread it out evenly over the bottom half, topping the chicken with marinara , mozzarella, and basil afterwards. Put the remaining half of the buns on top.
  3. Add to a small bowl the butter, garlic, parsley and Parmesan, stirring to combine. Brush the butter mixture over the top rolls, sticking the baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes or until the bread looks golden brown. Slice into individual sliders and eat right away.

*Our buns were pre-sliced so we didn’t have to cut them in step 2.

**It’s not going to affect the dish if you use a baking sheet that’s bigger than 9 x 13-in.

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This was such a nice portable way to enjoy chicken parm. The dish does need some salt to really bring out the flavors but once you’ve added that salt, you’ll realize why we thought this was tasty enough to post. We also loved the ooey gooey melted cheese and the light crispy crunch that the bread had. To us, we think that this is a great party/game day food !

This recipe came from Tasty.

We weren’t paid in any form to mention Pepperidge, Newman’s, Kraft, or Tasty.

Take care everybody !

Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs (we used large eggs)
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • Nonstick cooking spray (we used a tablespoon of peanut oil)
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped, peeled fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 2 cups chopped napa cabbage
  • 2 medium carrots, coarsely shredded (1 cup) (we went with the number of carrots rather than the cup measurement)
  • 1 cup fresh pea pods, trimmed (we used somewhere between 1 1/3 to 1 ½ cups snow peas)
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1/3 cup sliced green onions
  • 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons Sriracha (we used about 2 ½ teaspoons)
  • 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
  • Lime slices or wedges

Directions

  1. Whisk the eggs and water together in a small bowl. Take a large skillet out and coat the inside with cooking spray before preheating the skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet’s hot, pour the egg mixture in, not stirring just long enough for the eggs to set on the bottom and around the edges. Using either a spatula or large spoon (we used a large spoon), lift and partially fold the eggs so the uncooked eggs can flow underneath the cooked portion. Let the eggs cook another 2 to 3 minutes or just until the eggs are fully cooked, glossy and still moist. Leave the eggs in large pieces and gently place them in a medium bowl for the time being (we just put the eggs on a plate).
  2. Using the same skillet, pour the olive oil in, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, toss in the garlic and ginger, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Add in the cabbage, carrots, and pea pods, continuing to stir for 2 minutes. Add the following ingredients to the skillet, stirring for 2 minutes or until everything’s heated through: eggs, rice, green onions, soy sauce, and the sriracha. Take the skillet off the heat and top the fried rice with the cilantro. Serve with the lime on the side.
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This is supposed to serve 4 but it tastes so good that two people could easily finish this off ! The amount of sriracha in this makes the recipe live up to it’s name, you definitely get the spiciness but it’s not so strong that you need to drink something to cool your mouth down. We also loved the crunch that the pea pods brought to the fried rice. It tasted so good on it’s own that we actually forgot to use the lime but the lime probably only makes this taste even better !

We got this recipe from SHAPE magazine.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote the magazine.

Take care everybody !

Three-Cheese French Bread Pizza

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 loaf soft French or Italian bread, halved lengthwise
  • ¾ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
  • ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
  • Red pepper flakes, to taste
  • 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

  1. Preheat the broiler (we had the oven rack on the middle shelf). Take a large skillet and pour one tablespoon of the olive oil in, setting the heat to medium-high.  Once the oil’s hot, add in the mushrooms, seasoning them with salt and pepper afterwards. Stir the mushrooms around now and then for 5 minutes or until they’re lightly browned (we cooked them for 5 minutes). Take the skillet off the heat and leave it off to the side for now.
  2. Take a small bowl out and mix the ¼ cup oil and garlic together in it. Take a baking sheet out (we lined ours with aluminum foil) and place the bread on it cut-side up. Drizzle the garlic oil over both halves, sprinkling o salt to taste. Broil the bread for 2 to 3 minutes or until it’s lightly toasted (2 minutes did the job for us). Spoon the ricotta onto the bread, spreading it out evenly, topping it with the mushrooms and mozzarella afterwards (might not matter but between the two, we put the mushrooms on first). Stick the bread back in to broil for another 2 to 5 minutes or until the pizza is browned and bubbly (we went with 3 minutes*). Take the bread off the baking sheet and transfer it to a cutting board.
  3. Slice the bread into pieces, topping with the parsley, parmesan, and however much red pepper flakes you desire. Take the tomato slices and drizzle them with the vinegar and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, seasoning them to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the tomato slices with the pizza and enjoy !

Serves 4 (or two really hungry people).

*At 3 minutes the cheese was nicely browned and bubbly but the ends and the edges of the bread were browned a little more than we would’ve liked so next time we’ll try just going for 2 ½ minutes.

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When you cook a pizza using a pre-made pizza crust, the crust can be limp or make you think “so this is what cardboard tastes like”, you won’t have to worry about that with this french bread pizza ! The outside of the bread had a nice crispy crunch to it and the cheese became ooey gooey. We love eating mushrooms so we’ll be at least doubling the amount of mushrooms next time. We couldn’t really taste the parsley but it did add a nice pop of color ! We added enough pepper flakes to make the pizza spicy which is a nice counterbalance to the salty (in a good way), cheesy awesomeness of this pizza !

We got this recipe from Food Network.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Food Network.

Take care everybody !

Mini Lemon Cream Pies

Ingredients

  • 1 (11.5-oz.) jar high quality lemon curd (such as Stonewall Kitchen) (we used a 10-oz. jar of lemon curd from another brand)
  • 4 mini graham cracker piecrusts (from a 4-oz. pkg.)
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest

Directions

  1. Divide the lemon curd between the 4 piecrusts. Beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar together using an electric mixer set on high speed until stiff peaks form (we got the stiff peaks just whipping it by hand). Spoon the whipped cream over the lemon curd and top with lemon zest.
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This is such a quick and easy dessert to make. This is sweet enough that you get the lemon flavor without any of the pucker power ! It’s really nice when you’re busy making a lot of other dishes to have a dessert that’s so easy to make like this one.

We got this recipe from Southern Living.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Stonewall Kitchen or Southern Living.

Take care everybody !