Making it Stretch - Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Apple Coleslaw

I don't feed my family sprouted grains, but I don't feed them Fruit Loops either.  I'm not a "green" mom, or a "crunchy" mom.  I would consider myself a wholesome mom with a splash of frugal, fun, and old-fashioned mixed in.  If your family is like ours, any chance to save a few pennies and minutes is always a plus!  Here is my go-to feed an army or my family for days meal with little effort, and some inexpensive but wholesome ingredients.

Do large slabs of meat scare you?  Walk over to one of the guys in the white coats at your local grocery store.  Put on your sheepish smile and ask for a pork shoulder.  Don't worry.  They won't laugh at you. . . at least not to your face.  When you find the pork shoulder, give it a slap.  I don't know why, just do it.  Then heave the large slab of yummy marbled piggy into your cart.  There aren't many more ingredients necessary.  Here's the recipe:

Pulled Pork

1 pork shoulder
2 cups apple juice or cider
salt and pepper
barbecue sauce (your own secret concoction or a bottle.  I'll never tell)
2 TBS prepared mustard
1 c ketchup

Place piggy in the crockpot with some salt and pepper.  Pour in the apple juice.  Cook on low for 12 hours or until pork is fork tender.  ( I usually put mine in before bed.  By the next morning, voila!)  Pull out of the pot and let cool.  Pull the pork off the bone and place in a large pot.  Add barbecue sauce, mustard and ketchup.  Heat and serve while wiping the sweat from your brow.  You barely did anything but people will rave.  Trust me.

Apple Cole Slaw

1 package slaw mix (or shred cabbage and carrots yourself if you are a glutton for punishment)
1 apple shredded
1 1/2 cups mayo
1/4 c vinegar
1-2 TBS sugar
1 c salted peanuts

Mix together mayo, vinegar, and sugar.  Pour and toss over slaw mix and apples.  Mix peanuts in at the last minute.  This is awesome on top of the pork on a roll.  Yum!





 

I've got the Power . . .

Okay, you know you're a terrible blogger when you daily look at your own blog (with the last post from December 2) and expect to magically read something new. Where are the blog fairies when you need them?

In the midst of my mom's diagnosis of leukemia, my terrible habit of staying up to watch Downton Abbey on Hulu, and our recent war against snot, I succumbed to my own laziness and slept each day until . . . . gasp . . . . 7:30 .  (I'm spoiled with late sleepers and a hubs who saws logs until at least 8 before rising to make me breakfast and coffee!)  What I notice in these gray and indecisive winter days is that my relationship with the Lord is the first to suffer.  Why is that?

Somehow I've convinced myself in my little ant shaking its fist to a giant way that I can do it all,  and all in my own strength.  This is the height of hubris (pardon my vocabulary nerdness - pride).

I've been reading Ephesians with the Good Morning Girls and this mornings verse put me in my place:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith -                                         Ephesians 3: 14-17a

Notice it doesn't say, "Do it all on your own because you are perfectly capable", it reminded me that God in His rich mercy has granted me strength that I didn't have.  This same power gives me strength in my soul, not just my body and the craziest and most awesome fact is that CHRIST dwells in my heart.  When the storms in my life seem to knock out the power, I will remind myself that the same God who created the universe has given me His power.