Carnitas Tacos

Remember my Pulled Pork Recipe?

You'll probably have some leftover pork, so here's a delicious recipe to help you finish it up! If you are starting from scratch, keep reading and I'll share a recipe with you too!

Ingredients

Leftover Pulled Pork
Queso Fresco, crumbled
fresh cilantro
chopped onions
sliced avocado
small corn tortillas

Heat up your pork (the microwave is a great way to do this!)
Slap some pork in a tortilla, toss in the cilantro, a couple of slices of avocado, onions and cheese. Enjoy!


I serve this with black beans and rice! So simple and it's a great way to use up the leftover meat!

Now, if you don't already have the pork made, try this recipe for the meat and then follow the steps above.

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless country-style pork ribs or pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 large onion, cut into 4 pieces

Toss pork in bowl of slow cooker with salt, black pepper, and dried oregano to coat. Place onion pieces atop pork. Cover slow cooker and cook pork on low setting until meat is very tender and falling apart, about 6 hours.

Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to cutting board. Discard onion pieces. Using fingers, shred pork.

Meatball (subs)

Who doesn't love an occasional meatball sub? And I don't mean the kind that come from that sandwich shop that means 'underground train'.

I came across this recipe while browsing the web and thought I'd give it a shot. I really REALLY dislike store-bought meatballs. It never fails, I end up burping meatballs for 2 days. They're like the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving.

Of course, here's the original recipe that I adapted to make me happy!

Ingredients

1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 ground turkey (I used Jennie O's Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey) or ground beef
1 1/2 cups flour

if making sub sandwiches, you'll also need:
2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
hoagie rolls
mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease the foil.

In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients together EXCEPT the meat and flour. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes so the breadcrumbs can soak up the liquid a little bit. Add the meat and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are combined.

Form golf ball-sized meatballs and dredge them in the flour until lightly coated. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet about one inch apart. Bake for 20 -25 minutes until the meatballs are completely cooked through.

When the meatballs come out of the oven, let them sit for about 15 minutes.

To make the sandwiches, once they come out of the oven, toss them into a pot with the sauce and let the sauce heat up. Then place desired amount of meatballs on sliced bread. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake in oven until cheese is melted.


I suppose you could use these meatballs with a simple spaghetti sauce too, which is what I plan to do with the leftover meatballs.

July's Top 5

1. Mandolin SlicerThanks to this handy dandy gadget, I still have all of my fingertips! I always use this for cutting up veggies!



2. Cloud 9 Fabrics LOVE! My favorite collection is the Beyond the Sea collection seen here:


3. Shallots I've never cooked with these before, but I bought a bag for a recipe and have been able to use them in other recipes too. I think they're good for non-onion loving people (unlike myself!). They're very mild, but still flavorful.


4. King's Hawaiian Bakery BEST ROLLS EVER!! Just trust me on this and try them!


5. Seam ripper.


Sewers, need I say more?

img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4305927734_9b0c42d388_o.jpg"/>

Sliders with Shallot-Dijon Relish

This is a must-make meal! DELICIOUS!!
The recipe came from the Cooking Light Annual Recipes of 2009 cookbook. Of course I changed it up a bit, so if you want to see the original recipe, click here.

And here's my version:

Ingredients

Crazy Jane's Mixed Up Pepper (if you dont have this, use salt and pepper to season the meat)
1 pound angus ground beef (we used 85/15)
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons butter, softened
8 (1-ounce) King's Hawaiian sweet rolls (the small ones)
8 slices Jarlsberg cheese (you could probably get away with swiss, but you'd be missing out on the whole experience, so I strongly recommend the Jarlsberg!)
dill pickle chips


1. Divide meat mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Season with Crazy Jane's. Place patties on grill rack; grill for 3 minutes on each side or until done. Top with cheese just before they're ready to be removed from grill.

2. Combine shallots, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and butter in a small bowl, stirring well. Cut rolls in half horizontally. Spread shallot mixture evenly over cut sides of rolls. Layer 1 patty and 2 pickle chips on bottom half of each roll; top with top halves of rolls.


These were absolutely delicious-just the perfect combination of flavors.

June Top 5...........................

HAHAHA! I went to post July's Top 5 and I realized that I never posted June's Top 5. It has been written for well, a month now, but never got published! So, here ya go!

1. simple & delicious magazine
My grandmother gifts this to me every year. I find new recipes every month and I'm never disappointed!



2. Firefly Vodka
I have only tried the Sweet Tea flavor, but I can only imagine how delicious the others taste. If you're wondering how to drink the Sweet Tea Vodka, simply pour a 1:1 ratio of the vodka and your favorite lemonade over ice. Garnish with lemon, if you so desire.


3. Georgia Peaches
YUM! Need I say more?


4. Premier Fabrics I discovered this designer while searching for home deocrating fabrics. Make sure you check out the Christmas collection! There are so many to choose from, but here are just a few of my favorites...






5. Mixed Berries
I can't get enough of these berries!! I love to put them in a bowl and sprinkle some sugar on top and just go to town on them! Not only are they delicious, but they're healthy too!

Sloppy Toads

I thought that since Todd helped make this recipe better, I would name the meal after him!

The original recipe came from Simple and Delicious's June/July 2010 issue. It was good, but needed a little somethin' somethin'. Enter Toad-wart....


Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey - or ground beef, if you prefer
10 oz can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
hamburger buns

1. In a large skillet, cook turkey (beef) over medium heat until cooked. Drain.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes or until heated through.


This was really tasty. I served it with a green salad and corn on the cob! Delicious!

Take that, Manwich.

Tomato Bisque

I got this recipe from All Recipes, but I adapted it to make it easier for me. Todd swears I didn't follow the recipe, which is why it didn't turn out. On most occasions, that would be a truthful statement from him, but I really did follow it this time. I know, you're asking yourself why the heck I am posting this recipe if it didn't turn out. The taste was absolutely there. Being able to pronounce 'roux' got me nowhere with this one.

If you can conquer this recipe, more power to roux.

You liked that, didn't you?! I couldn't wait to use that!


Ingredients

3 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes. I used the kind that has basil, garlic & oregano. You could use plain if you'd like.
2 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart whole milk

Place the tomatoes in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the bouillon, sugar, salt, bay leaf, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in flour all at once to form a roux, cook 1 minute. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, cooking and stirring constantly until thickened. Stir into tomato mixture and heat through.



FYI-for the tomatoes, you could also use crushed, which is probably what I would do since I ended up blending the diced tomatoes in my handy Magic Bullet so it wasn't so chunky.