Easiest and Yummiest BBQ Pork

I haven't always been able to cook.  There might have been an incident when my mother-in-law gave me a recipe that "you can't mess up" that resulted in burnt pudding in the bottom of a pan that took over a month of scrubbing to come clean.  Yes, I did find a way to mess it up and mess it up big.     

This recipe however you really can't mess up- I promise and that is saying something!  This is always a crowd-pleaser so I highly recommend this for parties, baby showers, or any other random events with hungry people!

Easiest and Yummiest BBQ Pork
Pork Butt (however big you'd like)
Salt
Sliced Onions (I normally use about 4 medium onions for a large pork butt)
2 Liter of Root Beer (I use A&W regular or diet)
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

Trim the fat off the pork, if you want to be healthy.  Salt the Pork Butt.  Put it in your slow-cooker.  Cover with sliced onions.  Pour in Root Beer until your slow-cooker is just about full.  Cook over night (or for 8 hours) on low.  Drain off the Root Beer and Onions.  Shred the pork and add as much Sweet Baby Ray's as you'd like.  Enjoy!  

Slow Cooker Moussaka

Don't let the fact that this is a Weight Watcher's recipe fool you.  It is delicious, and Kevin even agrees! 

Moussaka from WW Slow Good Super Slow Cooker Cookbook

1 pound egglplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds lean ground lamb (we used 1 pound ground beef)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup read wine or low-sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups fat-free milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Spray broiler rack with nonstick spray; preheat broiler. Put eggplant on broiler rack and light spray with nonstick spray. Broil 4 inches from heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer to 5- or 6-quart slow cooker.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until onion is softened, 5-6 minutes. Ad lamb and brown, 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, wine, cinnamon, allspice, and salt; bring to boil. Simmer, stirring, until sauce thickens slightly, 10 minutes. Spoon lamb mixture over eggplant. Cover and cook until flavors are blended, 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

3. To make topping, about 1 hour 10 minutes before cooking time is up, whisk milk and flour in small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture boils and thickens, 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Whisk egg and nutmeg in bowl; stir in about 1/2 cup hot milk mixture. Stir egg mixture into remaining hot milk mixture until blended. Stir in parmesan. Pour topping over eggplant mixture. Cover and cook on high just until topping is set, about 1 hour.

4. Transfer stoneware to rack and let moussaka cool slightly, about 20 minutes. Transfer half of moussaka (about 3 cups) to freezer container and let cool. Cover and freeze up to 2 monhts. Divide remaining 3 cups moussaka among 4 plates. To Reheat: Thaw the moussaka in the refrigerator overnight. Transfer to a microwavable bowl. Cover with wax paper and microwave on High until heated through, 5-6 minutes.


Per Serving (3/4 cup): 251 Cal, 10g Fat, 4g Sat Fat, 0g Trans Fat, 91mg Chol, 412mg Sod, 14g Carb, 2g Fib, 25g Prot, 190mg Calc. WW Points: 5

Produce Galore = Cooking Extravaganza

We have been loving our weekly delivery of local produce via The Produce Box and highly recommend anyone in the Raleigh area checking them out! However this weekend it became apparent that our vegetable consumption has not been keeping up with these deliveries. So this weekend I was on a mission to cook (and freeze when possible) as many of these veggies as possible.

Saturday, we focused on using the 6 pounds of tomatoes we had accumulated. Our dinner consisted of Bruschetta, Summer Pasta Salad, and Stuffed Tomatoes. These are all super easy recipes to make and all use a good amount of tomatoes, although not enough to deplete our stash. The favorite of the night was definitely the Stuffed Tomatoes. We will definitely use these when we entertain.

I also made Slow Cooker Moussaka (amazing!) to use up our eggplant and Stuffed Bell Peppers to use our bell peppers. Both of these I popped in the freezer for an easy, yummy meal on a busy night.

Recipes to follow shortly- keep reading!

#26 Slow Cooker Recipe

Tonight we tried our first Slow Cooker recipe of 2009. Thank God this went better than my Shrimp and Grits experience the other night. The special of the night was Scalloped Potatoes & Ham. This recipe was super simple, not to unhealthy, and yummy! Although to bump up the veggie factor, we are going to add peas and canned mushrooms next go round.

Here's the recipe!
6 large russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 ham steak (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into cubes
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used the 98% fat free version)
1 soup can water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Grill seasoning to taste

1. Layer potatoes and ham in slow cooker
2. Combine soup, water, cheese and seasoning in large mising bowl. Pour mixture over potatoes and ham,
3. Cover and cook on HIGH 3 1/2 hours until potatoes are fork-tender. Turn slow cooker to LOW and continue cooking 1 hour.

Serves 5
Weight Watcher Points: 10
From The Rival Crock-Pot Cookbook