Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork - Cafe Rio style!

Oh you ladies are going to LOVE this one (especially you Utah/Arizona transplants)! Plus, it's a skinny recipe - a lighter, healthier version of the original. Awesome.

Enjoy...

Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: about 10 • Serving Size: 3 oz • Old Points: 4.5 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 202.5 • Fat: 6.3 g • Protein: 26.2 g • Carb: 11.5 g • Fiber: 0.6 g
Adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

Marinade:

* 2.5 lbs pork loin roast, all fat trimmed
* salt and pepper
* garlic powder
* 6 oz Coke zero
* 1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
* 1/4 cup water

Step 2

* 8 oz Coke zero
* 6 oz can sliced green chilies
* 8 oz tomato sauce
* 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
* 1/8 tsp garlic powder
* 1/8 tsp cumin
* 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (to taste)
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1/3 cup brown sugar (unpacked)


Season pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in the crock pot. Add 6 oz of coke and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Marinate refrigerated for a few hours or overnight turning meat at least once while marinating.

Remove crock from refrigerator, add water, and cook on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks.

Step two: In the crock pot, combine 8 oz coke, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chile, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder and remaining brown sugar.

Put shredded pork back in the crock pot and combine with sauce. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook on high 1-1/2 hours more.

Serve it up with some cilantro lime rice and black beans...YUM!

Easiest Beef Stroganoff

So, if you haven't noticed, I've been on an easy-meals kick. And it doesn't get much easier than this one. It has never taken me more than 15 minutes start to finish. Beat that Rachel Ray.

-2 cans Beefy Mushroom Soup
-1 pint Sour Cream
-1/2 Brick of Cream Cheese
-cubed Beef or Ground Hamburger
-diced or julienned Onions (if you have them on hand)
-Mushrooms (if you like them)
-Salt & Pepper to taste. I also add garlic powder.
-Rice, potatoes or noodles of some sort.

Start your rice, potatoes or noodles cooking. Saute onions in oil or butter, add mushrooms (optional) and then your meat. In a separate pot mix your soup, sour cream and cream cheese. You can add milk to thin it out if needed. Warm. Once your meat is done add that pan to the sauce mixture and serve over rice, potatoes or noodles. So freaking easy and really yummy.

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

This is such an easy recipe! My friend posted it on her blog and I made it yesterday. It's very good, makes great leftovers, and bonus- I almost always have all the ingredients on hand.

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

4-5 boneless chicken breasts
1 (15 1/2 oz) can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 (15 oz) jar salsa
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste. I add a lot of salt once it's on the plate.

Take 4-5 frozen boneless chicken breasts and place in crock pot.
Add black beans, salsa and corn.
Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until chicken is fully cooked.
Add cream cheese (just set on top) and let sit for 1/2 hr.
Mix melted cream cheese and serve.

P.S. This would be amazing over cilantro rice if you were so inclined. I want to try that next time.

Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

This recipe is too good not to share! I made it for dessert for my family's Christmas dinner. It was delicious and so easy to make! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Sauce:
* 1/2 cup whipping cream
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup amaretto liqueur (or if you don't cook with alcohol, you can substitute 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for 2 tablespoons amaretto)
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bread Pudding:
* 1 (1-pound) loaf panettone bread, crusts trimmed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
* 8 large eggs
* 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
* 2 1/2 cups whole milk
* 1 1/4 cups sugar

Directions

To make the sauce: Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto (or almond extract) and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, and serve.

Panera Macaroni and Cheese

I tried Panera's Mac and Cheese and fell in love with it. I researched online to find a similar recipe and found this one from here. It turned out soo yummy!

Ingredients:
•11 oz medium pasta shells
•5 TB butter
•4 TB flour
•1 cup milk
•1 cup heavy cream
•4oz grated sharp Vermont white cheddar cheese (use more cheddar and less American if it’s mild cheddar)
•4oz white American cheese, crumbled ( I couldn't find crumbled so just sliced mine)
•pinch of salt
•pinch of white pepper

Directions:
1.Boil pasta shells until just cooked and tender. Drain.

2.In a microwave safe cup or bowl, microwave on high 5 TB butter with 4 TB flour for 2 minutes, stopping halfway to whisk. Whisk again when the roux is done after the second minute.

3.Mix 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream together. Pour mixture into the roux very slowly, whisking all the time.

4.Microwave mixture 1 minute at a time, stirring between minutes until the sauce becomes thick and creamy. (should take between 4 and 6 minutes)

5.While sauce is hot, add grated cheddar and American cheese in small handfuls while stirring to melt all cheese into the sauce. If all of the cheese does not melt completely, you can heat the whole mixture up a little bit and keep stirring.

6.The sauce should be liquid-y (is that a word?) and creamy, and have a taste that is not too sharp. You want to taste the cheddar but not have it be overpowering.

7.Season sauce with a pinch of white pepper and a pinch of salt. Mix pasta shells and sauce together in serving dish.


Recipe by Jon Van Dalen

Meijer sale this week

Hey ladies, FYI, Meijer is having their "Meijer Brand" sale this week. If you're new here, be aware that Meijer puts many of its house brand food items on serious sale a couple of times a year, and now is one of the times. It's a great way to stock up and build food storage. Check them out at http://www.meijer.com/. (And there's probably more stuff on sale than is listed in their ads.)

Easy Lemon Cookies -Marianne Firth

Hi Everyone- Haven't been on here in a lifetime. Anyhow, I got a lot of requests for this "recipe". Embarrassingly it is a total cheat recipe that I just tweaked a bit. Enjoy!

1 Lemon Cake Mix
1/3 cup Oil
2 Eggs
1-2 Teaspoons Lemon Extract (totally optional, I just like my stuff very lemony)
White Chocolate Chips- however many you want
Powdered Sugar

Mix the first 4 ingredients together. This will make a firm cookie dough. Mix in the chips. Form into little balls and coat in powdered sugar. I like to rub the powdered sugar in a bit- it makes for a slightly crunchy exterior. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes. Tell people they were really hard to make. Oh yeah, and bring me some.