A Favorite Blogger Recipe and I'm the Luckiest Gal in the World...

Well the beautiful weather, a hectic work schedule and a slight back injury (ugh) has kept me away from my PC for way too long.. I am so behind in posting and what's even worse, I'm so behind in reading my favorite blogs. I hate that! I will catch up though.. some how. hehe I have been cooking and grilling.. lots. Mostly grilling - which I am falling in love with again. Thank the baby Jebus for aluminum foil, kids. What a wonderful invention. I tell ya, you just chop up some veggies, give 'em a lil sprinkle of sea salt & cracked black pepper, a lil drizz of EVOO, wrap it up and set it on the top rack of your grill and BOOM in a short time you've got perfectly roasted veggies. Ohhh and potatoes.. dear lord.. roasted to perfection, crispedy and creamy all at the same time.. Reynolds Wrap, I heart you! =) But this post is not about grilling. Actually this is one of those posts O'mine that I enjoy thoroughly (no, not a kitchen disaster - much to my chagrin), it's all about seeing another food blogger's phenomenal recipe and knowing without a doubt that this one isn't going to hit the "MUST MAKE" pile, it's going to be made hours after you read about it. There's a relatively new food bloggin' gal in town, some of you already know her. I've got the distinct pleasure of being her partner in this Salad Stravaganza fun-fest we've got going. Her name is Kelly and she's the author of Sass & Veracity. Kelly's cooking isn't pretentious.. most times it's not fancy at all.. it's the kind of food that assures your need for a huge glass of water after reading it because of all the fluid you'll lose due to the droolage. She's yet to post something that doesn't make me want to move in with her. By the way, Kel? Is that a possibility? I can pack up the pooches and be there in less than a week! :D One of her most recent posts was all about her and her son making tortillas from scratch. A very interesting and informative read, complete with step by step instructions. And although that was all good, it was what she did with those home made tortillas.. she wrapped them around delicious pork Carnitas. One of my most favorite items to order when I hit my favorite Mexican restaurant. I'd never even given thought to making it myself.. until I saw Kelly's post. I read that post early Sunday, and by 10:30 that morning Hubbs and I were on our way to purchase a pork roast that we could throw into the crockpot when we got back. Ya know, crockpots aren't just for Autumn/Winter. Which I'm sure many of you realize. For me though, when I think about using my crockpot it's for a rather heavy meal such as beef roast, chili, stew, etc. I don't think I've ever dragged it out in the summer before and how fakkin silly is that? It doesn't heat up your already inferno-like kitchen, you can spend 5 minutes in the morning, not worry about it all day long and then spend another 10 minutes in the evening and voila! You've got dinner. Perfect for those days when we are all about the garden and flower beds.. the last thing I want to do is slave over a hot oven or even a hot grill.. And so, I plopped my locally, humanely treated and raised, organic pork roast (Non Smithfield, I'll have ya'll know. *bastages*) into my crock pot with a lil chicken stock, a lil wine, some fresh herbies from my herbie gardens - dropped the lid on and forgot about it for 5.5 hours. When I came back in, the second - THE SECOND I touched it with a fork, it fell apart. Heaven. I pulled it with 2 forks, seasoned it a bit more with sea salt & cracked pepper and a big handful of chopped, fresh cilantro and diced green chilies. Another what? 3 minutes? sloppin the fixin's into cute lil bowls just like Kelly did - and we had dinner.. an amazingly tasty and filling dinner that didn't feel like we had just ingested an 80 lb. bag of mortar mix. I urge you to whip out your crockpots! Throw in your protein and some seasonings - and walk away people. Walk. Away. Go and enjoy your day.. don't stress over dinner.. let the pot O'crock do the work for you. hehee =) Huge thanks to Kelly for giving me the awesome idea (and courage to try it on my own).. now I can have Carnitas as good as what my favorite Mexican restaurant serves. Pork Carnitas 2-3 pound pork roast 2-3 c. chicken stock (veggie stock would work well too) 1/2 c. dry white wine - I used a Pino 1 handful each, fresh herbies - I used Thyme, Oregano and a sm. amount of Sage 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced 1 Spanish onion, sliced Sea salt & cracked, black pepper to taste 1 lime, juiced 1 large handful of fresh, chopped cilantro Fixin's Shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 Avocado, diced Salsa or 1 tomato, diced (I went with Chi-Chi's new Garden Salsa YUM!) Shredded lettuce Diced green chili (I used the canned kind) Light Sour Cream (Daisy's - it's the best) Flour tortillas, home made or store bought Place the stock and wine in the crockpot. Rub the roast with the salt & pepper and garlic. Sprinkle the herbs on the roast and in the stock. Cover the roast in the sliced onion rings. Turn on high, place the lid on and let it go - ours took approximately 5.5 hours. Once the pork is fork tender, remove from crockpot, and shred with 2 forks or your hands, whichever you prefer. Add the fresh cilantro and the lime juice as well as more salt & pepper (if you so desire), mix and serve with warm tortillas and the rest of the fixin's. Ohh and I also made my favorite Banana-Banana Pudding, but this time I added a layer of butterscotch pudding over the banana pudding.. delish! :D And finally, I couldn't resist sharing with you, what a proud, proud woman I am.. Everyone.. meet Hubbs! Yesterday, he was kneeling on a particularly sticky tar & gravel roof, doing his thing.. well the heels of his work boots were covered in tar and when he'd shift back and sit on his heels, well yeah.. the tar got all over the seat of his pants. You'd think he'd come home and just take the tarred pants off and throw his shorts on.. but no, not my hubbs. Bless him. Instead he decided to take a plastic bag and lay it down where ever he was sitting. So each time he'd get up the bag would be stuck to his ass. After reminding him that he had a bag stuck to his ass about 40 times, I decided to keep my mouth shut and snap a picture instead. *evil grin* Step back, ladies!! He's ALL MINE. xoxo Just a reminder - we're a little over the half-way mark until the due date for submissions gets here! Your salad doesn't have to be just leafy - we're accepting any possible variation, as long as you can call it "salad". Potato salad, Seafood salad, Cole slaw, Broccoli-slaw, fruit salad, jello-salad, twigs & berries salad.. you get the idea. ;) Thanks! xoxo