Simple Shredded Pork

After seeing these sandwich rolls I knew I had to make them, so I was on a mission to find a way to serve them. I decided they would be perfect for a shredded or pulled pork sandwich, but I didn't want to do a typical bbq pork that my son wouldn't be able to eat. I surfed for some recipes to get ideas of times and amounts, and ended up coming up with the following recipe. It is a very simple but flavorful pork that falls apart when done and can be dressed up any way you like. We made sandwiches and added a little bbq sauce to the top, but it could easily be used for Mexican dishes or any other recipe calling for shredded pork.

Simple Shredded Pork

• 1 pork loin, approximately 4 pounds
• 1/4 cup onion
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• broth to make 1/2 cup

Place the pork loin, fat side up, in a crock pot or slow cooker. Sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper over top. Spread onions out around the pork. Measure Worcestershire sauce and vinegar into a liquid measuring cup and add broth until it measures 1/2 cup. Pour this and the water around the pork. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred with two forks.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Taco Stew

Yet another recipe from Kmay's blog, Food alla Putanesca. This is easy to make, hearty, and we almost always have all the ingredients on hand. The only changes I made to the source recipe was to use our home canned tomatoes and a can of chile peppers in place of the canned tomatoes with chiles. The recipe below reflects the changes.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Taco Stew

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16 ounce can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 16 ounce can red beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 16 ounce can corn (drained)
• 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 quarts canned stewed tomatoes (roughly 30 ounces)
• 1 8 ounce can chiles
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix everything together in a slow cooker except chicken. Lay chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.

Spicy Crockpot Beans

Another hit from KMay's blog. Beans, rice, and spicy? How can that go wrong? This was easy to prepare and tasted great. I had never used peppers in adobo sauce before and I have to say the smell worried me a bit. I'm not sure what it was, maybe the vinegar (which I don't like). The cooking did lessen the strength of the smell quite a bit, but I was still leery of my first bite. I was worried for nothing, it was delicious. So if you've never used this ingredient before either, give it a shot even if the smell concerns you!

Spicy Crock Pot Beans

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 15 ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 4 ounce cans diced green chiles
• 2 chipotle chiles from adobo sauce, minced
• 1 envelope chicken gravy mix
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tomatoes, chopped

Place chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except tomatoes and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Thirty minutes before serving remove chicken, shred, and return to slow cooker. Stir in tomatoes. Serve over white rice.

Could've had a V8

This is another recipe I found online years ago and have no idea where it came from. So again, if it's familiar, let me know so I can credit the source.

This is one of those recipes that's great because we generally have all the ingredients on hand to make a last minute supper. It's quick, easy, tasty, and full of your daily vegetable servings. It can be thrown in the crock pot in the morning or made quickly on the stove after work.

V8 Soup

• 1 46 ounce bottle Spicy Hot V8
• 1/2 to 1 pound ground beef, lightly cooked and drained
• 3 to 4 cups vegetables (can be fresh, frozen or canned)
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low and simmer 6 to 8 hours. -OR- Combine all ingredients in soup pot and simmer on stove top for 30 minutes.

Split Pea Sausage Soup

Bob Evans Hot sausage. Almost without fail, if I have a recipe that calls for any type of sausage, I will switch it to Bob Evans Hot sausage. It's the kind that comes in a one pound roll of ground sausage, and the hot variety is in the red package. It adds such good flavor to everything I use it in.

So many years ago when I was looking for a pea soup recipe and found one that called for cut up link sausage of some sort, I used my beloved Bob Evans Hot instead. And for 8+ years now I have never made pea soup any other way. I'm not sure exactly where I got this recipe, only that it was online, so if it looks familiar to anyone please let me know so I can give credit to the original.

Also, a little product rave. I am in love with mini saltine crackers. They are so good and so cute, and they get a cheapy like me to spring for name brand instead of generic (I'll even buy the store brand sausage if I don't have a Bob Evans coupon).

Split Pea and Spicy Sausage Soup

• 1 16 ounce package dry split peas
• 10 cups water
• 1 pound ground sausage
• 5 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrot
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 onion, chopped

Brown sausage. Combine all ingredients. Cook in a slow cooker on high for 4 to 5 hours, or simmer in a stock pot over low heat for 2 to 3 hours, stirring often.