Balsamic Honey Pulled Pork

I have such an easy pulled pork recipe, where you just throw the pork roast in the crock pot with your favorite bbq sauce, let it cook on low all day, shred it and serve it over buns, potatoes, etc. Its really hard to beat it, because it is so easy and really so delicious. But, I saw this recipe on Pinterest and considering my love affair with balsamic vinegar, I knew we must try it.

My Aunt Judy was coming in from Baton Rouge, so it was the perfect occassion to try a new recipe. I had also seen the cute idea on Pinterest to serve pulled pork over a cornbread waffle instead of a bun (sandwich). So I whipped up some Jiffy cornbread (because seriously you cant beat Jiffy in the cornbread department), and made some cornbread waffles on my $5 waffle maker that has made its share of waffles. YUM!

I also made our favorite Bobby Flay's cole slaw.. and it was a perfect meal!


Balsamic Honey Pulled Pork
What You Need:
1 2 1/2 - 3 pound boneless pork shoulder roast

• 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
  3/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 medium)
  1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
  1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
  1/2 cup chicken broth
  1 cup balsamic vinegar
  3/4 cup ketchup
  1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  1/4 cup honey
  1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
  1 clove garlic, minced
  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  1/4 teaspoon salt

What You Do:

1. Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut meat to fit into a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker. In the cooker, combine onion and sweet pepper. Add meat; sprinkle with thyme and rosemary. Pour broth over meat.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 9 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.

3. Meanwhile, for barbecue sauce, in a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, black pepper, and salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.

4. Transfer meat to a cutting board. Using two forks, pull meat apart into shreds, discarding fat. Strain vegetable mixture, discarding liquid. Return shredded meat and strained vegetables to cooker. Stir in barbecue sauce. If using high-heat setting, turn to low-heat setting Cover and cook for 1 hour.

YUMMY!

Baked Pesto Chicken

Another EASY EASY EASY recipe. Again, everyone in our family enjoyed it. And you can change it up too.. since there are different options of pestos on the market, it would definitely work with any. But of course, if you make your own basil pesto (oh how i cant wait to have a garden), I am sure that would be the most delicious.

Baked Pesto Chicken

What You Need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto (or any pesto you prefer)
2 oz. (1/2 cup) grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (or you can leave it as a full breast)

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)

When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted. After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.

Serve hot.

YUMMY!

Cake Batter Cookies

I try not to make cookies very often, but it is such a treat for Jackson and he gets SO excited, I do make them sometimes. I made these twice now (2 different ways), and they were both delicious. So really, its a great base recipe and you can throw in whatever you want!

Cake Batter Cookies:

What You Need:
1 (18.25 oz.) box cake mix
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

What you Do:
1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2-Stir together the cake mix and baking powder. Add eggs and oil, then mix until well blended.
3-Stir in chocolate chips, or your choice of additions. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
4- Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

YUMMY!

Like I said, we made 2 different variations. The first time we made it like the recipe is written with chocolate chips. And the 2nd time, it was for an early Easter dinner, so we just made the cookies plain, with no chocolate chips. We had cool whip and diced up some strawberries and made sandwich cookies. They ended up delicious as well!

Crockpot Mongolian Beef

My FAVORITE dish to get at PF Changs or Pei Wei is their Mongolian Beef. It is just so yummy. So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew that we needed to try it. I made it one day when my parents were over helping up finish painting our living room. We all loved it. The only suggestion is I would do LESS red pepper. It was REALLY spicy. Even Craig thought it was a bit much and he likes spice in his food. So I will probably half the red pepper next time, but thats up to you! :)

Crockpot Mongolian Beef

What You Need:
1 1/2 lb. ball tip steak or flank steak
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 sliced green onions
1 t. dried onion
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. white wine
1/4 c. cooking sherry
1/2 T. white wine vinegar
1 t. sesame oil
1 t. molasses
1 t. ginger
1/4 t. black pepper
1 t. red chili flakes
1/2 T. peanut butter
3 T. brown sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch

1) Slice meat thin, put in baggie with cornstarch.
2) Put all liquid and dry spices into crockpot, add PB, mix well.
3) Add garlic and 3 green onions. Put meat on top, toss gingerly.
4) Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours (mine took around 4).

BBQ Shredded Chicken and Caramalized Red Onion Ranch Spaghetti

Yep. Another Pinterest recipe. But this one comes from one of my favorite food blogs, Picky Palate.

I am always looking for different ways to use BBQ Chicken. It can't get much easier than throwing some chicken in a crockpot with your favorite BBQ sauce, let it cook on low all day long and then have a yummy dinner to come home too. When I saw this recipe, I thought it sounded like something that everyone in my family would like and would be a different way to serve the BBQ chicken.

BBQ Shredded Chicken and Caramelized Red Onion Ranch Spaghetti

What You Need:

1 lb thin spaghetti noodles

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large red onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 Tablespoons dry Ranch Dressing Mix

3/4 Cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Shredded BBQ Chicken

What You Do:

1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Place olive oil into a large pot over medium heat. Saute red onions until softened and golden. Add cooked spaghetti to onions; mix and add dry Ranch Dressing seasoning and cilantro leaves. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Place noodles onto serving plates and top with warm shredded BBQ chicken. Garnish with cilantro leaf and serve.

YUMMY!

Ranch Chicken

Another Pinterest recipe. Easy. And everyone loved it! I think you could make these ahead of time and then freeze them, and just reheat like you would regular chicken nuggets/strips.

RANCH CHICKEN

What You Need:

3/4 cup crushed cornflakes
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 packet of hidden valley ranch dressing mix
melted butter
8 chicken halves (or 4 chicken breasts or the equivalant if you want to make strips, nuggets etc)

What You Do:
Combine the crushed cornflakes, parm cheese and ranch dressing mix.
Dip chicken in melted butter and roll in cornflake mixture.
Place in greased 9x13 pan. Bake @ 350 for 45 min.

Yummy!

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

You know I love new recipes! And Pinterest fits my obsession perfectly. I will be updating the blog as much as I can with all the new recipes that we have tried that we have loved and definitely want to keep in our rotation.

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

What You Need:
4-5 chicken breasts, cut
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup diet sprite or diet 7-up
2 -3 garlic cloves- minced
2 tbls soy sauce
1 tsp (regular black or cayenne)

What You Do:
Place chicken in crock pot. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or noodles.

Yummy!