Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas {Food Friday}

Well, hello, food Friday, how I have missed posting you.  One of my favorite things to do with and for my family is to try out new recipes. It gives us all something to look forward to & we get to try familiar things in new ways.  This week was particularly full of new recipes & the one that probably wins our vote for favorite new recipe was the Slow Cooked Porked Carnitas.  I found this recipe in the most recent issue of Taste of Home (my favorite subscription).  And although I didn't document the dish with photos, let me just tell you, it was DELISH! I'll mark my changes with an * and then tell you about it at the bottom of the recipe.

For this dish you'll need:
1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (3 to 4 pounds)*
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1-1/2 cups minced fresh cilantro
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chicken broth*
1/2 cup tequila or additional chicken broth*
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies*
12 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed
Optional toppings: fresh cilantro leaves, chopped avocado and tomato*
Cut roast in half; place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic, oil, salt and pepper. Add the onions, cilantro, salsa, broth, tequila and chilies. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.
Remove meat; cool slightly. Shred with two forks and return to the slow cooker; heat through. Spoon about 2/3 cup meat mixture onto each tortilla; serve with toppings of your choice. Yield: 12 servings.
**** I didn't use tequila, mostly because we don't have any. I also didn't use broth, but some water & a little bouillon powder. I omitted the green chiles, because my sweet little family doesn't do spicy foods (except for me). After I shredded the pork I didn't put it back into the crock, but strained the juices back into the pork because I know my kids & they wouldn't have ate it the other way. We didn't serve it with the avocado either, but only because I forgot to get them. I didn't have any limes and would have loved to squeeze a little fresh lime on them. YUM!

Tasty Tuesday-Balsamic Chicken & Whole Wheat Bread

I haven't posted a recipe in a while, so instead of Food Friday this week (not that I keep anything real regular around here, but hey I'm working on it) I'm going to give you a little Tasty Tuesday! 
Previewing a couple of recent recipes I tried out on the family & we loved!

1st on the yummy schedule (aka: we'll be making this one again & again) is this delicious roasted whole chicken. It was easy, delicious, moist & smelled wonderful while it was cooking; most of all healthy. A 3oz serving with sauce, comes to 182 calories.

The recipe comes from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking (which I LOVE getting), Aug/Sept '10, I didn't have everything on hand when I did it so I'll mark my adaptations with an * .

Balsamic Roast Chicken
1 roasting chicken (6 to 7 lbs)
2 Tbls minced fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried, crushed*
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 medium red onions, chopped*
1/2 cup dry red wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth*
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Pat chicken dry. In a small bowl combine rosemary, garlic, salt & pepper; rub under the skin of the chicken. Place onions in a shallow roasting pan; top with chicken. Combine wine & balsamic; pour over chicken.
Bake, uncovered, at 350* for 2 1/4 - 2 3/4 hours. Basting occasionally with juices, I set the timer to baste about ever 25 minutes. If chicken starts to brown too quickly, loosly tent with foil. Let stand for 15 minutes before carving. Remove & disgard skin before serving. Pour onion sauce into small bowl, skim fat & serve with chicken.


Thoughts, adaptations & notes:
*Fresh rosemary, I never use an entire container of fresh when I buy it, & I don't have an herb garden yet, maybe someday, so I keep stems in the freezer, they keep pretty well & work just the same.  So yes, I used 'fresh'.
*Onion, I didn't have 2 red onions, in fact I didn't have 2 of any kind of onion. I managed to find about 1/4 of a yellow onion in the bottom of the crisper, so that's all I used, but we really like caramelized onions here, so when I make this again, I'll probably try it with a red/yellow mix.
*Chicken broth/wine, I didn't have either. Seriously when I made this my pantry was slacking seriously. I just threw in 1/2 cup water & 2 bouillon cubes.
*If you know me well, you'll know that I'm NOT a fan of poultry on the bone, for strange odd reasons I'm sure, but this was good & it practically fell off the bones (yay!).
This recipe would work with boneless, skinless breasts too, I'm sure of it, in fact I'll probably be trying it sometime soon.

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Next, I'm going to share a Whole Wheat Bread recipe, again from a Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine. This time it's the June/July '10 issue. Throughout this fall & so far mild winter I've been making bread a couple times per month, sometimes a couple times a week. Trying different recipes & styles. This one was YUM-MY!

Whole Wheat Bread
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (110*-115*)
1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 Tbls reduced-fat butter, melted
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 to 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water*. Add brown sugar, butter, salt, whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour. Beat until smooth; stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough (will be sticky).  Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turn once to coat. Cover & let rise for 1 hour. Punch dough down & turn onto floured surface; shape into loaf. Place in a 9x5 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Cover & let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375* for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack for cooling.

Thoughts, adaptations & notes:
*Make sure the water isn't too hot, it will kill the yeast.
*SO yummy. Slightly sweet & just really yummy. I'm pretty sure we ate the entire loaf at one sitting.

Give these a try & then come back to tell me what you think. We're off for a little sunshine therapy with friends this afternoon. Who knows I may even be back later with some new images from our adventures today.

Have a great day.

A late Food Friday

If you're a regular you know that I love cooking/baking & have a rapidly growing, collection of cookbooks. If not, then you do now.

Last week I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, on a few new recipes.

One of my favorite sources for recipes is Taste of Home, I get 2 of their publications delivered through snail mail & occasionally pick up others from the store. Another place I visit quite often for inspiration & guidance is Allrecipes.com . It's like my insta-source, if I'm in a hurry & don't have time to search through the recipe box (which is actually a small kitchen cart).

This months issue has a little section on jams. The last time I went to the grocery store, blueberries were on sale (the big tubs), so I grabbed a few with this Luscious Blueberry Jam recipe in mind. (TOH Aug/Sept 2010, pg 49)

8 cups blueberries
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 pkg powdered fruit pectin
7 cups sugar
Basically mash blueberries, add lemon & pectin, bring to a roiling boil, add sugar, bring back to rolling boil, & boil for 1 minute, process into freezer containers, cool for 24 hours at room temperature & freeze.

Aside from a caution that says, this one splatters alot, so keep any little helpers out of the kitchen until it's off the burner. All I can say about this recipe is HEAVEN in a jar. It would be good on pancakes/waffles instead of syrup, tastes great on biscuits or directly off the spoon (I made extra on Sunday morning just to test it out), hubby took PB&J today, it's sooo yummy!

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The next recipe is a bit of a shocker, I gave some away & they had no idea what they were eating (in a good way). It's a great way to use up some of that zucchini that is over abundant in the summertime. I'm not really a chocolate cake kind of girl, but there's something about brownies that are irresistible.

Modified* Zucchini Brownies
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cups white sugar
1/2 cup Splenda*
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour*
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 8x12* inch baking pan. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flours, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.

To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

These are so delicious, you'll never know that there is zucchini in them. ;) Shh... feed them to the kids & they'll never know either & will get some veggies in while their at it.

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Last but not least on this Food Friday on Monday afternoon, is Martian Cookies. These are yummy. My first experience with them was last summer when I had zucchini overflow. I do make a few changes to the original though.

1/2 cup butter, softened*
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4* cups all-purpose flour
3/4* cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans*
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips*
1/4 cup white chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. (Taste. I'm not really sure why, but tasting that butter/sugar mixture is one of my favorite things)

In another bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, gradually add four mixture to butter mixture, beat until well mixed. With a wooden spoon*, stir in oats, zucchini, walnuts & pecans, chocolate pieces. (I just use the large paddle on my stand mixer for this, because it's pretty thick dough & I'm not really a stir it in by hand kinda gal)

Drop by rounded teaspoons (I like to use an ice cream scoop) about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Happy Cooking!

A new veggie {Food Friday}

Woohoo! It's Friday, which is synonomous with weekend (not that SAHM's really get a weekend), which means, Daddy will be home for 2 days & we have no real agenda this weekend, we're not camping or going anywhere significant, so it'll be nice just to hang out at home. However, I will be going on Saturday, hopefully early in the morning, to go to some Yard Sales.

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I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but in case I haven't, or you're new to reading my blog, we try to eat something new at least once a week. Whether it's a new recipe, a new way to eat a food we already enjoy, or something new all together, we try to expose our kids & ourselves to something new.

This week we tried a new veggie, thanks to the neighbors garden: Swiss Chard. I can't say it was my most favorite vegetable ever, but it was decent. I'm not really one for cooked leafy greens though. We've decided to try it again, but I'll prepare it a little differently, still cooked down & such, but we're going to add some sauteed onions to it.

The aforementioned garden is also producing zuchinnis that apparently didn't get the memo & took steroids anyways--these things are huge--and also lots yellow squash. The other 'new' thing from this week was my favorite Zucchini Pancakes, but with a little something extra. I made up my normal batter (except I was out of cheddar cheese, so used mozzarella) & instead of all zucchini, I added in yellow squash. Yum. These are seriously one of my favorite things to make in the summer, they remind me so much of my Granny ♥.

Not everyone at our house could try the Swiss chard, but that's okay, he got something new this week too...Brody is now eating rice cereal & loving it. He needed something to make up for all that rolling & scooting he's doing now.

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So now that I've talked about all this new food, I've got the motivation to go plan out next weeks meals & search the 2 new Taste of Home magazines that came this week for another new recipe (or 2,3, maybe even 10) to try.
I think I'll also get some zucchini bread in the oven, as well as some really yummy zucchini cookies we tried out last year, and maybe some of these too. (yes we have THAT much & probably more).

Come back tomorrow for Scrap with Me Saturday--I've got a few new pages to showcase!

Waffles & Cupcakes & Fun, oh my! {Foody Friday}

YUM!
Can I just say that I really love making new recipes, especially when they turn out well & taste really good. There's only one slight problem with this--I'm really, & I mean REALLY going to need to start working out & managing my diet better. The bright side, that just means more tasty GOOD, nutrient rich recipes to try. :)

Last weekend I had some bananas that were in desperate need of being used, but being so hot out (90* at 8am) I didn't really want to turn on the oven & the AC, so instead of banana bread, the over ripe bananas became Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes. I was pretty excited about the way they turned out, especially because I used NO recipe what-so-ever, just off the cuff. Bananas. Pancake mix. Cinnamon. Mini-Chocolate chips. Vanilla. YUM!

Make a pancake batter. Mash up a banana stir into batter. Add cinnamon, vanilla. Put in chocolate chips after it's on the griddle or else they just sink to the bottom.

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My nephew is spending a few nights with us on his visit down here. Yesterday was our first morning so I made up some Waffles. I used this recipe, but did some modifications. We ended up with Whole Wheat Waffles with Peach & Berry topping. YUM!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 Tbls sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
Mix dry ingredients. Beat together wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Spoon onto waffle iron.
We had left-overs & had them this morning, reheated in the toaster to get that nice crispy waffle-y crunch.

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Shortly after breakfast there was a request to bake some chocolate cupcakes...although it took until after dinner to actually get it done, we did it. Yes I'm somewhat crazy & allowed 3 children in my somewhat little kitchen to 'help' bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from this recipe)

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cupcakes
(18 cupcakes)
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp instant coffe
1/2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup sour cream
3/4 tsp vanilla
12 Tbls butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chunks
Frosting (approximate measures here, I just whipped it up without measuring)
4 Tbls butter, softened
4 Tbls cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp vanilla
Chocolate & peanut butter chips & peanuts to garnish

Preheat oven 400* Line muffin tins with cupcake papers; spray with vegetable cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Measure cocoa and coffee in a medium bowl. Whisk in water to form a smooth thick paste. Stir in sour cream and vanilla; set aside. (The kids wanted to taste the chocolate at this point--LOL--I don't reccommend that, it doesn't taste like chocolate is expected to taste).

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy add in eggs, one at a time.
Starting and ending with dry ingredients, alternate adding chocolate mixture and flour, beating until each is thoroughly incorporated.
Melt the peanut butter in a medium bowl, add about 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate batter & stir until smooth. Add chocolate chunks.
Add peanut butter chips to the remaining chocolate batter.

(only 2 of the 3 kids, Grace was already kicked out of the kitchen by this time-for dumping things out on the counter/stove & trying to eat the flour mixture)

Fill each muffin cups about 1/3 full with chocolate batter. Using a two spoons, place about 1 spoonful of the peanut butter mixture into the center of each cupcake, pressing it into the center. Bake until fully cooked and golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cupcakes stand a couple of minutes; turn onto a wire rack to cool.

For the frosting: Beat the butter & cream cheese together until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency, then add in melted chocolate & vanilla. Spread over each cupcake. Garnish with extra chips & nuts.

Apple Pie {Food Friday}

I've only made 1 new recipe this week. It's been HOT & I haven't gotten everything caught up from out camping adventure (well I didn't get the menu planned & that usually helps). I did make a Farm Apple Pie, which I found at Allrecipes.com. The original recipe was to serve 20 (which would have been WAY too much for my house) so I pared it down & made a few changes. I didn't make the glaze because we ate it with Granny's Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

Farm Apple Pie
8 apples - peeled, cored and sliced (enough for a regular pie, needed more for deep dish)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup shortening

1 egg yolks

2 tablespoons water, or as needed
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400* F.

Place apple in a bowl & toss with lemon juice. Mix white sugar & brown sugar with cinnamon & set aside

In a large bowl, mix flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, salt, & baking powder; cut in shortening. Beat egg yolks in a 1 cup measuring cup, add extracts & enough water to make 1/2 cup. Stir into flour mixture to form the pastry.

Divide pastry in half; roll out bottom crust to fit your pie plate & extend over the edges. Place crust in the pan.

Alternate layers of apples & sugar mixture on the bottom crust.

Roll out the top crust slightly larger than pan & place on top of the apple filling. Turn the extended top crust under to bottom crust at the edges and pinch to seal. Make small slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

Bake at 400, for 50 minutes or until top crust is browned. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. YUM.

Here's what I thought about this recipe: it was good, could have used more apples, which I noted above. Hubby really liked the crust (I'm not a fan of crust but it was good).

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One of the things my Granny used to make for me when I was a kid was strawberries with milk & sugar. It was a treat, especially when we spent the day out picking the berries in a field. If there weren't any berries we sometimes had peaches with milk & sugar.

This morning for breakfast I had a peach that needed to be used up & since the kids were having blueberries with their eggs & back, I thought, I would be nostalgic & have some peaches with milk for breakfast. Except I added the blueberries and instead of sugar, a swirl of honey.

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend. I'll be back in the morning with Scrap with Me Saturday & then I'll be off, kid-free to go to a photo shoot with twin newborn boys!

Yummy New Foods {Food Fridays}

In an attempt to be a better blogger, or at least more regular, I'm working on a few ideas for posting. Here's what I'm thinking so far: 1st of the month, update/recap life; Food Fridays; Scrap with me Saturdays; Sunday Specials.

Here is the first of (hopefully) many--Food Fridays! I don't always use recipes or stick to them if I am using one. I am horrible at measuring &/or timing my cooking times, so measurements & such may be approximate. :)

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Grilled Pizzas
I adapted this recipe for Pizza Dough & it was delish!
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 packet dry yeast (roughly 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/4 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning (my addition--approximately, I just did a large pinch)
1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (my addition --I used 1 handful)

In a large bowl add the warm water and yeast and sugar and stir to dissolve the yeast. Wait ten minutes and allow the yeast to activate.Add the olive oil, and honey and stir until the honey dissolves. Add the flour, salt, Italian Seasoning & cheese. Mix together until a dough forms. Remove the dough from the bowl and, on a floured surface, knead and form into a smooth ball shape. Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a clean, dampened towel. Place in a warm, draft free place for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut it into 5 equal pieces. Shape each into rounds by hand for "artisian" pizza. Heat BBQ on high, oil grates very well with oil, place each personal dough onto grill. Grill for 3-5 minutes, until side 1 is crispy, flip over & add sauce & toppings. Continue grilling until dough is done & toppings are heated through (about 5-7 minutes). (times aren't precise) YUM!

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The other day when I was browsing food blogs/sites looking for the perfect pizza dough, yummy cupcake ideas & then some, I came across this recipe for Watermelon Limeade. I thought it sounded so, so refreshing. I did change it up slightly & didn't let the melon sit for the amount of time it called for. Just passed it through the cheese cloth & rang it out. I didn't add vodka, however, this would be FABULOUS as a mixed drink (when mom tasted it she said tequilla, think Watermelon Margarita). It's sweet & tart & oh so yummy.

Watermelon Limeade
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp of lime zest (I didn't measure this, just zested 2 limes)
1 cup lime juice (I used 8 limes & 1 lemon )
Watermelon, cubed, enough to fill the blender

Place sugar, water, and lime zest in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Take off heat and add to lime juice and stir. Strain the lime simple syrup into a pitcher through a seive to catch the zest. Purée watermelon cubes in a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup lime simple syrup. Dump the puree into the pitcher, through the sieve lined with cheesecloth, when as much liquid as possible has gone through, gather up the edges & squeeze the watermelon out. Refrigerate for 2 hours to chill. Serve cold.

One of my favorite things that we used to have in the summer at my Granny & Pa's was Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. It was my job once the freezer started slowing down, to lick the paddle & make sure everything tasted just right (of course it always did--Granny's have a way of doing that) Here is the recipe that she used, I changed a few things, so this will have those things noted.

Vanilla Ice Cream--Granny's Recipe
This is for a 6-quart ice cream freezer
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 cups milk (I used 4 cups milk & 2 cups heavy cream)
4 cups 1/2 & 1/2
2 Tbls vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

In a (very large) bowl, beat eggs until they are frothy, beat in sugar until well dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients & mix well. Pour into freezer & freeze following manufacturers instructions.

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Oh Sweet Summer....