October Week 2 Menu

Ok... here goes week 3 of meal planning and trying to stay within the food budget. Went to the grocery stores today and already spent the budget, fingers crossed.... hope we can make it through :) So this is what's on the menu:

• BBQ Pork Chops w/ Diane's famous Pilaf and Salad
• French Onion Soup (using my friend's recipe here)
• Spaghetti Squash smothered in Homemade Meat Sauce

Upcoming for recipes on the blog: Cranberry Orange Walnut Soda Bread (new favorite breakfast bread) and Pots de Creme (Nate's current dessert of choice, well maybe this week's dessert of choice).

Pork Carnitas

So this has been my favorite recipe from the last few weeks. SUPER easy and soooo versatile! We have also been eating off of it for the last week in tacos, burritos and even added BBQ sauce to it for a little BBQ pulled pork action. I believe I used a pork loin roast and threw it in the crock-pot for about 9 hours. FYI: If you leave this in your house, your house will smell like pork for a while (I put it out in Nate's shop/garage to cook all day). Can't stand smelling something all day and then be able to eat it for dinner.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (I didn't have any so I didn't use)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups chicken broth

Directions

1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.
2. Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/slow-cooker-carnitas/Detail.aspx