Carnitas

1 1/2 pound pork roast

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock

I got this recipe from one of the many cook books I check out of the library. This one was low cost slow cooker meals. It worked out great for a Sunday meal.

Carnitas is slowly roasted pork that is then cooked in dry heat until crisp. Serve with heated flour tortillas, chopped vegetables, and let everyone make their own.

1. Sprinkle roast with salt, pepper, and cumin, and place in a 3-quart slow cooker. Surround with onions and garlic and pour chicken stock over all. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours until pork is very tender.

2. Preheat oven to 400°. Remove pork from slow cooker and place in a large baking pan. Using 2 forks, shred meat. Take 1 cup of pan juices from the slow cooker and mix into pork.

3. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until pork is crisp on top. Stir pork mixture and thoroughly and bake for 15-20 minutes longer or until the pork is crisp again on top. Serve with crisp tacos, flour or corn tortillas, and lots of salsa.

Cooking Mama

We made some yummy treats and meals for Mother's Day- light and healthy meals! The desserts however were not too light of healthy, but it was a special occasion. Saturday I made Cobb Salad. It has your classic components, but really I just did what I wanted that day. I used mixed salad greens including spinach and butter lettuce, carrots, cucumber, grape tomatoes, cheese cubes, boiled eggs, crispy bacon pieces, and turkey. I lined it all up and let everyone put on what they wanted. Easy!

The girls made some yummy blueberry muffins for breakfast Sunday morning. Then for dinner I did fish tacos. These were not the classic either, just what I could do at home to resemble those California style tacos. I used Swai, which I had never cooked before. I think it is my new favorite fish. It kind of reminded me of a sweet lighter catfish. I just cooked it in my electric skillet with a little olive oil and butter, for color. I dusted the filets with Montreal chicken seasoning, which has a nice flavor. I also grilled on filet on the George Foreman grill, just to see how it did. I flaked the fish into chunks, put them in warmed corn tortillas and all the other traditional taco toppings. I loved this meal, served with fresh fruit.

Over the weekend, the girls made two pies. One was a kind of a cobbler in a pie pan called "Died and Gone to Heaven Peach Pie" - it was good. Like having cobbler and ice cream all in one. The other was the three layer chocolate pie that I usually only make at Thanksgiving, but it came out this weekend for an encore performance. I am glad to be a "cooking mama" and am raising cooking girls. They did all the clean up- so that was the best. Thanks, girls!