Shredded Pork

Continuing with my current love affair with the ciabatta rolls I made, here is another stellar use for them...or really any bread for that matter. Or just a fork. Heck, finger food. Being a person who normally tends towards vegetarian meals, one might find it odd that I adore shredded pork sandwiches. Or pulled pork, whatever you want to call it. But for real, I love it. There is just something about it. And this recipe is a little bit sweet, a little bbq'y, a little just plain awesome. Its one of those slow cooker meals. Put it all in  in the morning and by the afternoon your house smells so good you want to eat the air. I slathered on a little homemade jalapeno mustard that made this one tasty sandwich. (2 parts yellow mustard to 1 part dijon mixed with some chopped jalapeno and a dash of garlic powder....yum!)

INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tbls cider vinegar
2 tbls Worcestershire
1 teas chipotle pepper
2 tbls brown sugar
1 teas cumin
2 teas garlic powder
1 tbls dry minced onion
1/2 teas salt
1 teas black pepper

*Trim off any large chunks of fat on the outside of the cut of meat. There's plenty of marbled fat to give you nice flavor, no need to keep excess fat on there.
*Place pork into slow cooker. Smoother with all the other ingredients. Turn to coat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
*About an hour or two before you're going to serve, shred up the pork-while still in slow cooker-with a couple of forks. This way the meat can soak up even more of the awesome sauce juice it's sitting in.
*Serve and enjoy!

Lentil Loaf

Today I am thankful for my parents. I got to pick them up from the airport today, they were off escaping the winter by golfing in Arizona for the past week. I got to puppy sit for their dog-loved having another animal in the house. But back to what I'm thankful for, my parents...there really isn't much to say except that I was once an unruly teenager and now, finally, at the age of 25 I can say that I am friends with my parents.

I'm going to call this dish a work in progress. I loosely followed the recipe from this vegan blog. When I make this again in an (inevitable) week or two, I will most likely put 2/3 in a food processor and blend. This is because I had some consistency issues. I would also add a little more ketchup into the mix....I've accounted for that in this recipe. But taste wise...fantastic. Al asked if I put "meatloaf spice" on it. HA! Oh, he'll be a vegetarian yet! :]

INGREDIENTS:
1 bag lentils, cooked
1 onion, chopped
1/2 a sleeve of ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 bag of frozen veggie mix(carrots, peas, and beans)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teas garlic powder

*Heat oven to 350.
*Put lentils, onions, veggies, apple sauce, and ketchup in a large bowl. Mix well adding the garlic powder and crackers.
*Process a portion in the food processor. Mix back together.
*Pack in a loaf pan, top with ketchup. Cook in the oven for 45-50 min.
*Enjoy!