Feeling Domestic

This past week I have been trying to get everything together. There is less than 3 weeks left until I am back in Honduras. And while it sounds like I still have a bit of time, those last 3 weeks will fly by. They already are flying by, LOL.


This time packing to leave is harder than last year. Last year everyone went down with me, so everyone had a ticket, which meant everyone had 2 suitcases - 100 pounds - that they were able to bring. This time instead of 8 people going down, it is just 4 of us (plus the baby, but she doesn't get a luggage allowance). Which means only 8 suitcases. Well my mom is going down too, and I told her I was getting one of her luggage allowances as well. So I have 9 buckets total, and in those 9 buckets I have to pack all of Andre and Jordan's stuff. As well as Ari's stuff, my clothes, Levi's clothes (he had none when we came up here, and now he has a bunch). Then I have to pack clothes for Lana, Johan, Mickey, Isa, Gisela, and Sendi. There is stuff that I bought for the house. Shoes and what not for the kids. School supplies and so much other stuff. I have 6 of the 9 buckets packed, and I dont know how I am going to fit everything else in the last 3 buckets.


Anyway - to give myself a break from the stress of packing, I have been cooking. (I know I mentioned it in the last post). I thought I would share some of the recipes of what I made this week.


I am sorry that there are no pictures. My laptop is having issues (it turned itself off the other day, and now wont turn on) and I still havent gotten a card reader, so I can't upload pictures with my moms desktop.


On Wednesday I made BBQ meat for sandwhiches, mashed potatoes and spinach. YUM. This recipe is one of my favorites. It is easy, its cooked in the crock pot, which means dump it in, and forget about it until time to eat, and it is just so good.


On Thursday we had Baked Soy Lemon Pork Chops, PW dinner rolls, and butter noodles.

On Sunday we are having PW Brisket - but I am more excited about leftovers on Monday. PW Cowboy Nachos. I have been wanting these for awhile.

Lets get started shall we?

Barbecue

• 2.5 pound boneless roast
• 2 medium onions
• 1 (12 oz) can cola (Coke/Pepsi)
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 TSP beef bouillon granules
• 3/4 TSP dry mustard
• 3/4 TSP chili powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 TSP ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 TBSP butter or margarine

Place roast in a 4 quart crock pot/slow cooker. Add onion. In a seperate bowl combine soda and next 7 ingredients. Remove 1 cup of sauce and chill covered in the fridge. Pour remaining sauce over roast.* Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours, or LOW for 9 hours or until roast is super tender. Remove roast with chopped onion from cooker using a slotted spoon, and shred meat with 2 forks.

Combine reserved sauce, ketchup and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Pour sauce over meat and stir.

I also have made this recipe using chicken breasts. I just threw some boneless skinless chicken breasts into some seasoned water and boiled them until they were done. Then I shredded the meat, and added it to the sauce and let it heat through. Then I took the meat out and added it to the reserved sauce/ketchup mixture. I don't know why I didn't just throw the chicken into the crockpot to cook. Maybe I didn't know that was what I was going to make, and had to do a rush version?

I have used the left-over BBQ chicken meat and made BBQ pizzas for the kids too. I just take some pizza dough, smear it with cream cheese, put on some of the BBQ meat, top with cheese and bake. The kids love it.

*I usually make an extra batch of sauce to add to the crockpot, but thats just me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soy Lemon Chops

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 1/2 TSP ground black pepper
• 1 TSP vegetable oil
• 4 pork chops

In a large ziploc bag or shallow dish stir together the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, pepper and oil. Add the pork chops, and turn to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour, up to 8 hours. The longer they marinate, the better they taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pork chops in a dish and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes*, basting often with the marinade.**

*I use those thin sliced boneless pork chops, so my cooking time is alot less than 35-40 minutes. Your time can vary too depending on the type of pork chop and thickness that you use.

**Even though the recipe says to use the marinade, I made an extra batch of marinade to baste with.