Ridiculously Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork

As if crock pot cooking couldn't get any easier, I find this ridiculous recipe. I found it in the allrecipes mini magazine that came with an issue of Good Housekeeping (why does this magazine making me feel old?).

This recipe is perfect in every way. It's simple, quick, and delicious. Actually, simple is an overstatement. What's 5 notches below simple? I know. This recipe.

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork loin (didn't know it shredded!)
1 can of root beer
1 bottle of your favorite sauce

Seriously, that's it.

1. Combine loin and root beer in crockpot.
2. Set it (low) and forget it! BING! Leave it for about 6-8 hours.
3. Drain and mix with sauce.

Seriously, that's it.

I also used steamed cauliflower to make mock mashed potatoes. (Because fried potatoes are out of the question) Insane.

 

You're welcome.

Baby Joaquin: 4 and 5 Month Update

My little booger monster turned 5 months this month. A lot has happened in these past two months and we hit so many milestones. I can't help but squeeze him tight because it's going too fast for Mommy.

 

 

 

Size: 6-9 months. Real Babies have curves. Joke.

*I'm going to start a petition to change the sizing of baby clothes. They need to drop the "months" because it is no longer accurate. Babies are born in all sizes and grow at different rates. Who's with me?

Cuteness level: Epic proportions (not to brag or anything)

 

Eating: Soy formula and Brown Rice Cereal with Probiotics (Hipster baby)

Sleeping: Beat the sleep regression monster! Sleeps from

8:00pm- 3:30am/Bottle, back to sleep until 6:00-7:00.

(Note to self: Write posts about these two things later.)



Milestones: Sitting up for a few seconds on his own, cut his first tooth (!!!), eating cereal, rolling from back to front and back again, dropping and picking up his toys,

and toy to mouth coordination is spot on.

 

 

Likes: Mommy and Daddy, jumping, playing with anything with a washing instructions tag on it, staring at the time on the oven, the colors black, white, and red all in the same object, and his feet.

Obsessions: Sonic and splashing in bath water

Sonic is still coming around.

Dislikes: His carseat, an empty bowl of cereal, men with deep voices, when mommy burns something in the oven and the fire alarm goes off.

Next Up: Pureed foods, sitting unassisted, crawling, and turning half a year old!

 

 

As for me, I'm obsessed with my health right now. Hubby and I finally agreed that eating out as many times as we do and being addicted to coffee is not ok. We are eliminating most starches when we can and incorporating Paleo ideas (Yay, MEAT!) but still staying true to the foodies that we are. This is called the "DUH" diet which stresses the obvious: more veggies and fruit, no junk, quinoa<brown rice<white rice, sugar makes you fat, and limit the treats. DUH.

I've also been hitting well over my Nike Fuel points everyday and making sure I'm up and about instead of being comatose in front of the TV. I took out my running stroller the other day and I'm slowly working up to running again. The weather has been very cooperative.

I'm feeling good.

 

Pineapple Fried Quinoa

SUCCESS! I made a quinoa dish that I just love! Bonus, Hubby loved it, too. We were both pleasantly surprised and it gave me hope that I can finish the rest of that bag!

I used my recipe for regular, delicious Pineapple Fried Rice and made a few changes to make this dish bomb diggy.

Ch-Ch- Changes:

• Switched up the rice for quinoa...duh.
• Cooked the quinoa in my rice cooker and I sprinkled  some chicken bullion powder in before cooking. Chicken stock would be fine, too.
• Instead of minced garlic I used garlic salt. The dish wasn't too salty but for heart healthy sake, next time I will cut the sodium. (i.e. less soy sauce, galic powder instead of salt, and stock instead of bullion.)
• added corn and edamame because that's all I had
• forgot the raisins
• kicked out the sugar and added some of the pineapple juice

I highly recommend this dish if you hate quinoa. I have hope that I can use my noggin and some old recipes to use quinoa in delicious ways. Quinoa, we're going to be alright. We're going to be alright.

Random Wednesday: Priorities

1. I'm giving up Facebook. My promise was to give it up for a week. I only failed once. I'm ashamed that my willpower is so weak that I HAD to check it. Did I find anything cool on my "give in check?" NO! Same ol' Like this picture because I want a puppy, Like this picture if you don't want to go to Hell, Like my picture because I went to the club this weekend and I'm showing my boobies. Wow, I am addicted to what now? Yeah, I'm definitely going to do this.

2. I have 5 drafts of unfinished posts in my Blogger. I write them during my lunch, on my phone, or when I'm on the loo, but I'm big on pictures and I can't upload pictures quickly at any of those times. I like to post lots of pictures because I like blogs with lots of pictures. I would rather gawk at pictures than read sometimes. I'm a first grader apparently.

3. Tonight, I will be making Pineapple Fried Rice, but with quinoa. All I can think about is that I'm going to hate it. I tried quinoa and I'm not a fan of the texture. I want to like it, mostly because I bought a big box of it and I don't want to waste it. If you have any recipes that I might fancy, please pass them to me.

4. Joaquin is starting to get a little too attatched to me. Sometimes he wants just me and only the warmth of my arms. I love it.

5. I really hope my dinner turns out edible.

6. I'm not posting pictures today. The first grader in me is crying.

Balance the Evil. Be the Good.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of world I brought my son into. I'm sad that when I turn on the news, I see madness and a society that is broken. How do I raise my child in THIS world?

I think the best thing to do for my son and for this world is to be a light. I want to be a positive light in Joaquin's life, in my students' lives, and in any other life I am put in. With a smile or a joke or a silly blog, I think the best way to balance the evil, is to be the good. Watching the horrible events unfold in Boston today reminded me that you can be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or, I guess you can be at the right place at the right time for someone. You can be the helper.

Mister Roger was a light for so many of us. His words are powerful today.
My prayers go out to those in Boston today.

Drizzles of Sunshine: Busy Bumble Bee

1. I thought I was being a good Rosetta Stone student. I finished Unit 1 and I was feeling so fantastico. I could put simple sentences together and my vocabulary was overflowing with mucho spanish words...or so I thought. I got to my Unit Test, where you pretty much have a full blown conversation with the computer. I wonder if I got points deducted for crying into the mic. In my defense, the Unit went from teaching me "Yo tengo dos sandwiches." to pretend you're camping and have a conversation with this couple. I would've passed if the damn couple wanted two sandwiches.

.via.

2. Sonic stepped on a bee yesterday. Naturally, he flipped out and wouldn't even let me touch his poor paw. I let him be and he licked his owee as he hid under the table. A half an hour later, I flipped the eff out when I saw that his face was swollen. I called Hubby in a panic and thought Sonic was dying right in front on me. We called the vet and she told us to keep an eye on him and luckily he survived his first and hopefully last battle with a bee. Poor guy. I let him eat a whole box of doggie treats. That should even things out.

3. I have a fear of security camera videos. Too many times, I catch that story on the news of a group of hoodlums who do something horrific and it was all caught on camera...lucky us. Oh, and don't forget scary movies that love to incorporate ghosts that suddenly appear on the little monitor there...eeeks! I would crap my panties. But someone sent me this and all hope was restored. I'd like to think that people catch more of this and less of hamburglar types.

 

 

4. Lastly, I read the most beautiful birth story this week. I think it's the most beautiful story I've ever read. Get ready to cry. This woman tells the story of the day she gave birth to her daughter who has down syndrome. Talk about heart-warming. Her words just cry through this blog post. Absolutely beautiful.