Easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sliders with Coleslaw

Though I am not a vegetarian, I really don't cook a lot of meat.  If we do eat meat (or chicken, or seafood) it is often grilled by hubby.  And when I do cook meat, I stay away from large cuts. They kind of freak me out.  Especially ones with bones.  The first and only time I cooked a whole chicken I was jumpy about handling the raw and flesh and bones of this headless bird.  Creepy. I felt similar the first time I worked with a whole rack of ribs.  When I reached to grab the ribs from the package they came in, I literally pulled my hand back like it was on fire because the squishy meat with bones protruding out gave me the heebie jeebies. I am a wimp and I made Hubby take over.  I enjoy eating meat, just not working with it.

So I wasn't all that thrilled to buy my very first pork shoulder for our Father's Day celebration.  But my dad definitely likes meat and I wanted to do something that would be easy.  I had bookmarked Easy Crock pot Pulled Pork from My Baking Addiction a few weeks back and it fit the bill perfectly.  Off we went to Costco to buy a huge hunk of pork.  The smallest size they had was 9.8 pounds (twice the size called for in the recipe).  Hello.  The one redeeming quality it had was that it was boneless. 

Easy is in the name of the recipe and it really is easy.  Especially if you aren't weirded out by dealing with a large slab of meat.  You make a simple rub and give the meat a nice coating.  Slice up some onions, make a vinegar based sauce and cook on low heat for up to 12 hours.  Easy, easy, easy. 

The pulled pork was delicious and was a big hit with the boys on Dad's Day.  It's even more delicious served on a sweet Hawaiian roll with a little barbecue sauce and topped with coleslaw or pickles.  Yum. 

Easy.  Delicious. What more could you ask for? 


Easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sliders
adapted from Easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork from My Baking Addiction

1 large Vidalia (sweet) onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 4-6 boneless port butt or pork shoulder
3/4 cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

24 Kings Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls
Barbecue sauce
Coleslaw or thinly sliced red onions

Place onions in the bottom of crock pot.  Rinse pork in cold water and pat dry.  Make a rub for the pork by combining brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Rub evenly over all sides of the pork and place in the crock pot on top of the onions.  Whisk together vinegar, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.  Drizzle 1/3 of the vinegar mixture over the pork and refrigerate the remaining mixture.  Cover crock pot and cook on low for 10-12 hours. 

During the last 30 minutes of cooking drizzle 1/3 of the vinegar mixture over the pork.  When pork is done, remove the meat into a large bowl or 9x13 baking dish.  Using 2 forks, shred the pork and remove and discard large pieces of fat.  The meat should be incredibly tender.  Skim off remaining onions and add to the meat.  Once meat is shredded drizzle 1/4 - 1/2 cup liquid over to keep meat extra moist.  You can serve the pork with the remaining vinegar mixture or your favorite barbecue sauce. 

Assemble sliders.  Cut rolls in half and top with pork, barbecue sauce, coleslaw and or red onions. 

Click here to get the coleslaw recipe.

A Gym Membership and Hot Mess Meatballs!

When Hubby and I joined a gym (for the first time in our lives) February of last year we also changed our eating habits. Perhaps I should take a step back here and say prior to this I was in complete denial about the food I ate. I ate what I wanted and to be blunt, didn't think much about it. I didn't want to know. I mean, I knew that certain things I ate, lots of things, were not "healthy". But I didn't care, because I enjoyed eating the food I loved. The problem with that is obvious. Eventually it catches up with you. I was able to "get away" with it for quite some time, which is fortunate in some ways. But I had some work to do. It took a change in eating habits and my view on food. Though exercising is great and it certainly helps expedite weight loss, for me, it's really all about the food. Healthy ingredients, portion control and moderation are key to successful weight loss and maintenance.

Fast forward a year and 2 months and I'm still maintaining my goal weight. I won't lie and say it's because I go to the gym 5 days a week or that I eat all healthy all the time. I work out less than I'd like to admit, but by and large I try to make good food choices on a day to day basis and then I splurge here and there, and there. Joining Sweet Melissa Sundays baking group is going to be one of those splurges. But I digress.

Not long after we started our journey to better health and fitness we came across a new cooking show that surprisingly is NOT on the Food Network. It is on Lifetime. Cook Yourself Thin is a half hour show that features one woman each episode who wants to change her eating habits without giving up flavor and still lose a few pounds. The three hostesses of this show take favorite calorie laden dishes, including comfort foods and desserts, and make low cal versions. Low cal doesn't mean a sacrifice in flavor or satisfaction in this case. I have tried several Cook Yourself Thin recipes and have not been disappointed with one. Some favorites are Penne Alla Not-ka (the first time I made the Hot Mess Meatballs I served them with this dish--delish!), Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Oatmeal Cookies, French Onion Soup, and of course meatballs.

This meatball recipe is actually part of the Cook Yourself Thin "Scumptious Skinny Spaghetti & Meatballs". I skipped the Scrumptious Spaghetti part which took away the marinara sauce cooking mechanism. What about baking them instead? Yeah, that sounds like it might work. This is where the "Hot Mess" enters the picture.


Now I know this isn't pretty. But trust me when I say it was tasty. Baking actually worked out fabulously in my opinion (if you can look beyond the mess). The meatballs were lightly browned on top and caramelized with flavor on the bottom. The Parmesan cheese melts in the meatballs and oozes out all over the baking sheet. That oozy goodness browns up into a delicious Hot Mess packed with flavor. Serve these with your favorite marinara sauce and a side of steamed or roasted veggies and you have a healthy, tasty meal on your hands. Enjoy!


Hot Mess Meatballs adapted from Cook Yourself Thin's "Scrumptious Skinny Spaghetti & Meatballs"

I'm only including the meatball part of the recipe here:

2 slices of favorite sandwich bread (I used wheat)
3/4 cup water
1/3 pound group veal
1/3 pound ground pork
1/3 pound ground turkey breast
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1/2 small onion
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I only used a pinch)

Remove crusts from bread, place bread in medium bowl and pour water over. Let sit 10 minutes, and gently squeeze out excess liquid. Put bread in a large bowl; discard water. Tear bread into small pieces.

Add all the ground meats, cheese, egg, onion, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and red pepper flakes to bowl with bread. Gently toss to combine, maintaining a light touch to keep air in the meatballs. Roll the meat mixture in your hands to create meatballs slightly larger than a golf ball.

Here's where the recipe takes a turn. The original recipe calls for cooking these meatballs in simmering marinara sauce and serving it with whole wheat pasta. But the first time I made these I wanted to use the meatballs in another Cook Yourself Thin recipe for "Penne ala Notka". So I baked mine instead.

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat lightly with non stick cooking spray. Place meatballs on the sheet leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each meatball. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.