Slow-Roasted EVERYTHING! Pork 5 ways!

For those of you who don't cook or stress about dinner, welcome to my new way of life.  Slow-roasted everything!

So, this all began 12 years ago when I was in college.  We went to Smithfield to stay with my college roommate's sister and her family.  Now, she has a big family (4 kids) and adding two more mouths was not an easy feat.  But, one evening, she made the most delicious chicken.  So, I asked for the recipe.  On a college food budget, a whole chicken is totally doable.  On sale, they are 5 bucks!  And, it makes multiple meals (when you talk about cooking for girls.  Maybe not so much if you are talking about boys.)  

When meats are on a good sale, I try to stock-up.  At Thanksgiving, I bought a 12lb turkey for $6.00.  When pork butts/shoulders go on sale for 1.49/lb, you buy!   

Just last month, I looked at the freezer and realized I had a huge pork butt and a huge turkey that I needed to cook.  In cooking either of these, my family is fed for about a week!  So, being the end of the month (aka the end of the grocery cash in our budget), it was the perfect plan.  But, then, there's the dilemma of how to cook it.  If I make BBQ, we will be eating BBQ every night for a week.  Though not a bad option, it's not ideal when your husband and kids don't care for leftovers.  If I make pork tacos, then, there's the same problem but it's mexican every night for a week.  So, I went in search of a yummy way to cook it that would all me the versatility to do many different preparations in hopes my family wouldn't notice they were eating pork every night.  

Light Bulb Moment

Enter the slow-roast chicken!  It's versatile.  It doesn't lean toward one culinary style or another.  Why couldn't I do the same with pork?  I can!  I did!  It was fabulous.   

The How-To

I used the rub from this RECIPE and doubled it.  I, just like for the chicken, rubbed the rub onto the meat.  (Note: If there is a fat cap, trim it off before adding the rub if you prefer.)  Then, I wrapped it overnight.  The next morning, I used my husband's dutch oven (you can use a roasting pan) and placed it in the oven at 250.  We cooked it for 8 hours.  After 8 hours, it was falling apart and still super-moist.    

What to do with all this meat?

Dinner #1        FRENCH DIPS

I shredded the meat which fell apart easily.  I sauteed an onion, added a little beef broth (probably about a cup) and let the meat simmer for a few minutes. Then, I split some crusty rolls and we had "french dip" sandwiches. Oh so good!

Dinner #2       TACOS

Tortilla shells toasted.  Top with meat, cheese, sour cream, avocado, and some salsa!

Dinner #3       BBQ Nachos

Lay tortilla chips on a baking sheet.  Top with cheddar, queso, colby jack, or whatever you have and need to use up.  I add pickled red onion.  (It's so easy to make and totally worth the effort even if you don't like raw onion.  It adds a completely different flavor.)   Layer with pork and add Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce drizzled on top.  My husband tops it with jalapenos.  The kids and I stop here.  

Dinner #4     Quesadillas

 Okay, I know, it's mexican again.  But, at least we got a break twice in the week!

Same deal.  A little butter into the saute pan.  Add tortilla and layer with cheese, meat, and pickled onions if you are a fan.   Top with another tortilla.  Brown both sides and allow cheese to melt.  Cut into quarters and serve with sour cream and salsa for dipping.  I made rice and black beans as a side.











Leftover Meat
Believe it or not, we still had meat left over.  Granted, my boys are 5 and 1.  So, they are not eating to their full potential, yet.  With the leftovers, I made 3 dishes of enchiladas.  At some point, I will share my husband's grandma's tortilla and enchilada recipe.  I stuck two of the dishes in the freezer.  (Super easy mid-week dinners) and gave the other to my in-laws.  

That's what I call "stretching a buck."

Turkey-Week to come in the next post.  Same rub, same method, different dinner options!

From crib set to twin quilt

A long-time friend presented a new challenge when she asked me to tackle transforming her crib set into a quilt for her, now, big girl. This is what I got in the mail.

She really still liked the colors and patterns and wanted to change it over for the transition. First task was deconstruction.  This ended up being a little more time-consuming than I anticipated. So, when it didn't come apart easily, I had to take time here and there when I had it. This picture is me working at the park while my four year old was playing. (It took about two weeks less than a year to complete.) 

But, it's finished!  Just in time for me to start the quilt for my new addition, sweet Abram!  That's what I am most excited about.  Now that my project "slate" is clean, I get to work on fun boy stuff! 

I decided to use the leftover sheet to make a matching pillowcase.   

This is what Jonas has been working on while mom sewed. 

It's a monster trap. Maybe I will get a picture of the quilt on the bed at some point. 

Baby Gift

Using the pack of fabric from a kit, I made a complicated but inexpensive baby gift. When she said that her colors were bright pink and baby blue, I had the perfect pack. The back is a cute flannel with a circle pattern. 

Family Vacation 2014

I am pretty sure that this is the first vacation the three of us have ever been on. Groupon had deals for hotels in Pigeon Forge which seemed like a good deal. So, we thought, let's try it. 

On the way, we passed the Ball Factory and the Bush's Bean Factory. They have a museum and merchandise store.  We needed a break anyway. So, we stopped. 

This little contraption shows how the beans are taken from the farm, and moved through the process to be canned.  

Then, the boys found their weight in beans. (I don't really care to know my bean weight.) 

We also got a certificate for completing Duke's Paw Print Challenge.  Cute stop and free if you don't buy anything from the merchandise store. 

Our motel is right across from The Island.  The first night, we went there for dinner. The Island has a fountain where the water is timed with the music and the whole thing is lit at night.

We enjoyed listening to the music, listening to the water show, and watching the sun set.

Other Projects

There are some projects that I never posted, forgot about, or that I didn't document well. So, I wanted to take a second to gather pictures for the purpose of having the projects in one place. 

These are some close that I "pieced together" from different clothing. 

These are some of the baby gifts that I made for different, sweet, mommas.

And these are a couple of the quilts that were not well documented. 

This was for my cousin. She wanted the gender to be a surprise. So, I did what I do, made it colorful.

This was my first quilt that I ever started. When I decided that I HAD to finish it, I knew immediately who it would be for, my longest friend.  So this went home with her for her birthday. 

These are some tags that I made for our trip to Alaska. 

Old patterns/New colors

How much do I love Bonnie & Camille? Well, I only watched her half square triangle video a million times before deciding to make this cute quilt. 

This was the first version.  I got three squares partially done and then decided the green and gray was all wrong for the nursery.  So, I pulled those out and replaced them with Aqua and added more blues. The color change also allowed me to add more prints from Bonnie and Camille, which seems oh so fitting. 

Yes, I may have a hard time parting with this one. From the very beginning, I was in love with the fabric, the colors, and the pattern.  The more I worked, the more attached I became. But, it's about to go to its new home. I know the mommy will Iove it and I am pretty sure the newest sweet addition to their family will give it lots of love, too. 

The front 

And because I always work like an artist instead of a "prepared" quilter, I had to find backing with the colors because I didn't have enough of any one color/print from the front.

Imaginon with Friends

Summer is ending and it's the time to freak out about all that you didn't get to do which you had planned on getting done. At the beginning of the summer, I saw a post about things to do in Charlotte with munchkins. Imaginon got my attention because... it's free.  So, when my water fun day was rained out, I thought about Imaginon.  Our water day friends and mommies decided to come too. 

First of all, it's a library. So, there is a great story time for families.  The librarian (I assume) was so good with the kids. She read stories, sang songs, and even "flew kites" (aka scarves) with the kids. 

Somebody enjoyed covering my face in the selfie.  "Squishy face" had to come to the rescue so that I could get one shot.

Story time ended with bubbles.

After story time, we let the kids play. It's a library with play areas. Such a cute place to take the kids and perfect for a rainy day.

Luke drives the wooden fire truck. 

Ryleigh rides the wooden fire truck. 

Jonas hangs on to the side.  

There was also a section for storybook play, in which I decided, there was no possible way to corral all three kids and get a picture. So, what we have next is an attempt of the mommies to get a photo of the six of us. Notice that there is no change in the mommies' faces, only the kids.

And finally, we finished with lunch at the market.