Spicy Green Chile Pork

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This is what we had for dinner.  Slow cooked for 8 hours, this is a very tasty dish.

We used homemade tortillas and had Spanish rice on the side.  My father-in-law, who can tend to be a bit picky when it come to “Mexican” foods, had 3 helpings and said I need to give him the recipe.

So here it is:

Ingredients ~ Serves around 8
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder roast
  • 1 (16 ounce) jar green salsa (such as Frontera®)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 serrano chile peppers, or to taste
Directions
  1. Layer the chopped onion into the bottom of a slow cooker. Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper; place atop the chopped onion. Pour the green salsa over the pork. Sprinkle the the cilantro over the salsa and pork. Drop the serrano chile peppers into the slow cooker.
  2. Cook on Low until the meat falls apart easily, about 8 hours. Gently remove the pork to a cutting board. Strain and discard about half the remaining liquid from the slow cooker, reserving the rest. Discard the onions, peppers, and cilantro if desired. (we kept it and used it as topping in the tortilla).
  3. Shred the pork shoulder with a pair of forks. Mix the pork with the reserved liquid from the slow cooker to serve.

    from allrecipes.com

    Daves Spicy Chicken, Beans and Rice Soup

    Photo by svenwerkI made this for dinner tonight out of leftovers in the fridge, pretty much because I was too lazy to head to the store.  I had no plan on writing this down, but surprisingly, my family loved this so I have to record it before I forget what went into it.  I prepped it after lunch and allowed it to cook during the afternoon football games and it was done by dinner.  I thought it was really good, and my son said it was tasty with just a little bit of “kick” which he really liked.

    Prep Time: 15-20 Minutes  Cook Time: 3 hrs 30 min

    Ingredients

    10 Cups of Water
    1 Leftover Chicken Carcass
    1 Onion (cut into 4 wedges)
    4 Cups cooked & drained Pinto Beans
    1 TBSP Crushed Red Chili Flakes
    1 tsps. Garlic Salt
    2-4 grinds Mt Shavino Grind
    2 Chopped Green Chilies
    1 Cup uncooked rice

    Instructions

    1. Put water into a large pot and bring to a boil
    2. Drop Chicken Carcass into boiling water and reduce heat to simmer
    3. Cover pot and allow chicken carcass to simmer around 2 hours
    4. Remove all bones and skin from your broth
    5. Place onion into broth
    6. cover and let simmer for about 30 Minutes
    7. Put in beans, chilies, and spices, replace cover and simmer 30 minutes
    8. Turn up heat and heat soup to a low boil
    9. Pour in rice, cover pot, reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes

      Todays Lunch~ Vegetarian Chili

      • Makes A LOT and is so good and easy, I think I’ll see if I can get my son to introduce this to his Boy Scout Troop on a future campout.
      • In all fairness this is leftover chili from Tuesday’s dinner.  This is a healthy alternative to a meaty Chili Con Carne’ and you can’t even tell it doesn’t have meat with the “faux” hamburger in it.  Good recipe as is, but next time I think I sauté up the onions in some olive oil to sweeten them up a bit before adding the rest of the ingredients and possibly throw in a touch of sugar.   Maybe throw in some green chilies for a touch of heat.
      • Ingredients
      • 1 (12 ounce) package frozen burger-style crumbles
      • 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
      • 2 (15 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans
      • 1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans
      • 1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
      • 1 (12 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
      • 5 onions, chopped
      • 3 tablespoons chili powder
      • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
      • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
      • 2 bay leaves
      • salt and pepper to taste
       
      Directions
    1. In a large pot, combine meat substitute, black beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, tomato juice, onions, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cover. Let the chili simmer for at least 1 hour before serving.
    2.  

        Tonights Dinner: Orange Chicken

        Many of you know that I have loved to cook as long as I can remember.  Some of my fondest memories growing are being in the kitchen with my friends experimenting with food.  We used to jar jellies, make tons of cakes and cookies, and even used to make our own candy.  On occasion we were slightly teased that this time in the kitchen wasn’t “boy like”, but it never stopped anyone from eating our attempts (well except the time we made “lady fingers” with tarter sauce instead of cream of tarter. Who knew there was difference.  I remember the dog wouldn’t even eat them.)

        I have decided, in an attempt to update this blog more frequently, to post some recipes that we have found exceptionally good.  Hope you enjoy them:

        Tonight we tried a recipe from Betty Sexton I found on allrecipes.com called Orange Chicken.  This was by far one of the better dishes I’ve made in quite a while.  Makes a very crispy oven baked chicken with just a hint of orange flavor.  A very easy dish ,with the only thing I would change would be substituting the stuffing with herb seasoned bread crumbs, as crushing up the stuffing was a much larger undertaking than expected.

        Ingredients
        • 1 egg
        • 1/3 cup orange juice
        • 1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix, crushed
        • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
        • 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
        • 1 teaspoon salt
        • 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
        • 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
        • Orange slices
        Directions
        1. In a shallow bowl, beat egg, add orange juice. In another bowl, combine stuffing mix, paprika, orange peel and salt. Dip chicken in to the egg mixture, then into crumbs, turning to coat well. Pour butter into a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Place chicken in baking dish, turning once to butter both sides. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender and juices run clear. Garnish with orange slices if desired.

          Moms and Back to School

          Another great e-mail I had to share, applies to dads as well as moms.

          Photo by Rupert GanzerMisconception Number 1: Moms miss their kids when they go back to school

          Seriously. I’ve had enough of you by now. Every morning with the “what are we going to do today, Mom?” is finally over. I’ve had looked at your face twenty-four seven for the last 77 days. It’s time to go learn something. No more asking me about the pool, when is the next snack or if you can stay up late and watch a movie. It’s over….You’re going back to Hogwarts and I get to have a life again. There is a Christmas morning for parents and it’s called “back to school”.

          Misconception Number 2: Moms like to go school shopping.

          Are you freaking kidding me? Why do I pay taxes?…so I can rack up a 200 dollar bill at Staples for crap that we have laying around my house in junk drawers. Why does it have to be new pencils? What’s wrong with the chewed up, broken strawberry shortcake pencils sitting in the bottom of the toy box for the last 6 months? And how many subject books can you possibly need? What happened to reading, writing and arithmetic. If they added a couple of things for parents to that list I wouldn’t mind so much….why not pencils, erasers and vodka …..or some Nyquil.

          Misconception Number 3: Moms like back to school night.

          Why must we do this every year? I got it already. You’re the teacher…I’m the parent. My kid is either going to be smart or dumb. If he gets a certain number or colored dot on his discipline chart, he can’t get a prize from the prize box. Pretty simple stuff. Listen, I’m pretty old school. If he doesn’t listen to you…you can throw something at him. I don’t care. But I got a lot of work to do at home and I’m paying a babysitter right now. Plus, I’m pretty sure you are going to assign some project on wigwams made by some Indian tribe I’ve never heard of, so I need to get home and start my research. So, I got it. We’re all here for the betterment of the kids. Blah Blah Blah. Can I leave now?

          Misconception Number 4: Moms like school paperwork.

          How many trees are you planning on killing to tell me the same stuff I had to pay a babysitter to listen to the other night? You know our name, where we live and our emergency phone numbers. He doesn’t have a nickname….call him “stinkbutt” for all I care. We don’t have any “special circumstances” that you need to know about. He lives in a home with two parents who may or may not like each other at any given time and they will fight. If that qualifies as a reason he can’t get his homework done on time then he won’t be able to function as an adult and have a real job so you may want to “educate” him on that life lesson.

          Misconception Number 5: Moms like covering books in that annoying sticky paper.

          What exactly will you be doing with these books that I have to cover them in a plastic laminate? Do you often teach in the rain? Or while the children are drinking soda and eating soup? Do you know how long that takes? Has any parent in the history of education been able to do it without any air bubbles in it? From now on I’m covering it the old way…brown paper bags. That way I can cover the books and pack their lunches at that same time. Who says moms can’t multitask?

          PS. Please tell my son if he can’t find his lunch to look in his science book.

          Misconception Number 6: Moms like helping you with your homework.

          What? I am scared out of my mind. I’m pretty sure that I forgot everything I learned in fifth grade by the time I was in sixth grade. I have no idea what you are talking about most days. I don’t really know my 12 times tables, I read the cliff notes to all your summer reading and I don’t know how to conjugate anything but I do know that song “conjunction junction what’s your function” if that helps at all. And please don’t even say the words “new math” to me. What the heck was wrong the old one?

          Misconception Number 7: Moms can’t wait to pack your lunch every day until we die.

          I hate doing laundry. Making dinner every night is the bane of my existence, so making your lunch every day for an entire year, in terms of “mom fun”, lies somewhere between brushing plaque off the dogs teeth and scheduling my annual pap smear. Listen, as a child I hated what my mom packed me for lunch. But, like every kid before me, and every generation to come you will find a kid to trade with…I’m sure someone likes sardines.

          Misconception Number 8: Moms love after school activities.

          I don’t know who made up this idea of organized clubs and sports but they should be the ones in charge of carting your ass around. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against all after school programs. I just wish they would offer it during hours that would work best for me so that dinner wasn’t at 8:30 at night followed by 4 hours of homework. Why not do it on the weekends and call it “after-hours activities” so mommy and daddy could actually go out one night and pretend that we have a life of our own. Don’t worry about us though I’m sure that me and “what’s his name” will be married a very long time.

          Misconception Number 9: Moms don’t mind taking you to school if you miss the bus

          Your bus comes at 7:10 am….which means that you should be standing by the door at 7:05 am. Not eating breakfast , chasing the dog around the house or in the bathroom, asking me to check your homework while I’m taking a shower. Get it together! I don’t like running down the street in my jammies at 7:12 screaming “Please wait” or “If you stop I’ll show you my boobies.”

          Misconception Number 10: Moms cry on your first day of school

          We do cry but they are tears of joy. I have done my job. I have successfully kept a human child alive for at least 5 years without doing any major

          damage. Motherhood is the hardest job in the world!! Sure, doctors save lives and CEO’s run million dollar businesses but…you teach a kid not to poop their pants and then you can say you’ve made the world a better place.”

          Scallops Mascarpone Recipe from Allrecipes.com

           

          Scallops Mascarpone Recipe from Allrecipes.com

          Source: allrecipes.com

          Scallops are simmered in butter with asparagus and mushrooms then served with seashell pasta in a rich cream sauce.

          Here is the recipe I used to base what I made for dinner… Don’t know if I can call what I made Scallops Mascarpone, because I didn’t have any Mascarpone cheese and was to lazy to go to the store and look for some. I made tons of substitutions… brocolli instead of asparagus, canned mushrooms, dried parsley, cream cheese instead of Mascarpone… It was still delicious!

          Good Day!

          Today way a pretty busy day, believe it not:

          1.) Went to Sky Sox Stadium to check on Little League for the boy

          2.) Stop at JoAnne’s (is that spelled right) for Blue and Gold stuff

          3.) Lunch at Smash Burger

          4.) Off to Denver to pick up more Blue and Gold Stuff

          5.) Early Dinner with my dad and step mom at Carl’s Pizzeria  (John can still bake a great Pizza Pie)

          6.) Back to Co Springs

          7.) Off to Hobby Lobby for more Blue and Gold Stuff

          8.) Home for some cleaning

          9.) sent off paperwork for Dad’s n Donuts

          10.) a little FB Mafia Wars

          Terrific Tuesday

          Sunrise at Lakenheath Fen
          Photo by Bob & Jane

          Today was a pretty good day as days go.  Got to go have lunch at the Fox and Hound with an old “cop” friend of mine from the ol’ Lakenheath days.    We’ve both lived here in town for awhile, but other than a few passing moments on base, we’ve never gotten to talk. It was great to get caught up.

          This evening was spent “Scouting”… starting with a trip to the Ruth Holly branch of the Pikes Peak Library.  Tonight the boys worked on their Communicator Activity badge.  Gwen, the librarian, took the boys on a great tour of the library and taught them how the library catalogues all the books and other materials.  Then we got to use all the computers in the “Teen Section” of the library where we covered the computer belt loop, learning about parts of a computer, and typed up a letter using a word processing program (MS Word). I think they had fun, though it was hard for some of the boys to stay “quiet”. 🙂

          After, the Den meeting I got some dinner for “the boy”, and Ryan (our Boy Scout Den chief) some dinner at Jack-in-the-box, and then it was off to the monthly Pack Planning Meeting.  This is where all the Pack leaders get together monthly and plan out what we are going to do over the next few months.  Not exciting, bur necessary.  Tonight’s, big meeting highlight was collecting all the popcorn order forms.  I see a few long nights ahead of us while the wife and I put in what appears to be a record number of sales into the online ordering system.

          Only downfall from today, is i still don’t have a new cell phone.  I mentioned yesterday that we were getting new ones, but the particular model we wanted wasn’t in stock.  Supposed to get a shipment in today, but it never came.  Hopefully I’ll get it tomorrow…

          Manic Monday

          Sillon de Dentista
          Photo by dmmalva

          Well, an interesting day today.  Shortly after school started I got a call from the school nurse.  Seems the boy had an extreme toothache and had to come home.   Not a huge deal.  Spent the afternoon heading to the dentist to see what was going on.  Turns our nothing obvious was found, but if there is an infection or other problem it can take weeks or months even to show up.  The dentist “sealed” the tooth, and now the boy seems fine.  We’ll see how thing work out.

          Went to get a new cell phone this evening.  We currently subscribe to Qwest wireless ant they are shutting down service on 31 October.   I am not too happy with the increase in cost, but it will be nice to have a new phone as I think mine is about 6 years old.

          Dinner tonight was at the new Red Lobster on Powers.  I love new restaurants, always so clean.  Cost was a bit more than I care for, but the food was good and service excellent.