Tasty Tuesday

We've been enjoying a lot of our old favorites lately, but I have tried a couple new recipes.  They both happen to use pork roast and the crockpot.  Both recipes make a lot of food and would be great to serve for company.  It was a toss up over which one was our favorite!

*We ate this tasty pork over baked sweet potatoes.  It was a great combination of flavors.*

Brown Sugar Chipotle Roast Pork
Ingredients

• 3-½ pounds Pork Shoulder Roast
• ⅔ cups Packed Brown Sugar
• 1-½ teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• ¾ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1 can Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce (7 Ounce Can)
• 1 cup Water

Preparation Instructions

Spray liner of slow cooker with non stick cooking spray. Slice roast about 3/4 of the way through (leave the bottom 1 1/2″ intact) every 3/4″ so that the slices fall open, but are still connected on the bottom.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and spices. Mix well to create a dry rub. Press this rub onto all surfaces of the pork roast. Really get it into the nooks and crevices to coat well. Place the roast in the slow cooker.

In a blender or food processor, blend the chipotle peppers & adobo sauce to create a thick sauce. Spoon about 1/3 (or more, depending on your heat tolerance) of this sauce all over the pork roast. Again make sure to hit all of those nooks & crannies!

Pour the water into the bottom of the cooker, being careful not to rinse all of the glorious seasoning off the meat.

Cover the slow cooker, and cook on high for six hours. When the meat is done, it will pull apart easily with two forks.

*This was great with garlic rice.  The glaze is amazing!*

Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

INGREDIENTS:
Pork:
2 pound boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of large fat pockets
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced or crushed
1/2 cup water

Glaze: 
1/2 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine the sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub the spices all over the roast. Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and pour in the 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Near the end of the cooking time for the roast, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce and let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred and place on a platter or plate. Drizzle the glaze over the pork and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

Kooky Project #514

Ryan and I (mostly Ryan) spent 3+ weeks replacing the flooring in our great room and hallway.  He did an awesome job and the floor looks amazing.  We choose a character maple and I love the wood, no two boards are the same.  I think it makes the house look bigger and I like the clean look it gives the room.  It looks great against the slate in the kitchen and foyer and really helps unify the kitchen with the rest of the house.

I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband with so many talents.

 

Wordless Wednesday, Hudson's Birthday Edition

  

Happy Birthday Hudson!

Oops!  I thought I had scheduled this to post on Saturday...

You are 6 today!  You are loving Kindergarten and your new friends.  You love to read, and are very good at it.  You have fun playing in chess club and ballet class.  You love to draw and write, especially when it is a roller coaster.  You are almost 48" tall, and you are hoping you will make that mark in the summer so you can ride the big roller coasters.  You love to play outside with your brother.  You are very adventurous and can climb a tree like a monkey!  You are very fast at mountain biking.  It's a good thing you go with your dad, I'm not sure I could handle watching how daring you are!  You are also adventurous in your eating.  You've had both cactus and beef tongue tacos in the past year and love spicy things, but you do not like macaroni and cheese.  You still love to cuddle with your mom.

We love you so much and are blessed to have you in our lives.

Wordless Wednesday

 

What a week!

We've had quite the week.  

We had our tree blown down, and then removed.

Hudson was in the hospital for mycoplasma pneumonia. 

He is feeling much better and returned to school today.

And we'll be busy with this over the weekend.

Trick or Treat?

We've all been hard at work ripping up our great room and hallway.  The carpet is gone and we're installing the subfloor (with screws every six inches!).  The hardwood should be delivered soon.

We did escape to Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati for a day over Fall Break.  The boys loved the water park and we had a fun time.

Here's my only picture for the weekend.  I didn't feel like dealing with my camera in the water park, I wanted to swim too.  This is from when the boys got to do a scavenger hunt around the lodge for candy.  Brooks was a little disappointed in the offerings.

But not last night!

Checking out their goodies.

CX #3

It was another beautiful fall day for a CX race, this time in Bloomington.  Ryan once again did 2 races.  The first race was his best yet, he finished 8th.

The sand pit!

Field Trip Fun

I was able to chaperone both Brooks and Hudson's fall field trips.  The Kindergarten went to Exploration Acres, a fun pumpkin patch and corn maze.  The kids had a lot fun, there was a lot of running around on that foggy morning. 

The 1st grade went to Fair Oaks Dairy.  We have been there before, but for many of the kids, it was their first time on a farm.  It was fun to hear their questions (and reactions) to what was going on on the farm.  This trip had more of a schedule (versus Hudson's trip), thus the fewer amount of pictures.

The cows on the milking carousel.