Brooke's Sweet Pork

From:  Brooke Mease


Pork loin(3-4 lbs)
1 c. brown sugar
1 can red taco sauce
1 T. cumin
1 can coke

1. Cook pork in crock pot with water covering part of the pork for 6 hrs or until able to shred. 
2. Three hrs before serving drain liquid and add all ingredients. Cook for an additional 3 hours.

Oven Baked Bacon

I wish someone told me about this long ago!! We don't eat a lot of bacon, but I hate making it when we do because it's SO messy. This takes the mess out of bacon.....


Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Line a pan (that has edges) with foil
Bake bacon for 15-20 min. or how crispy you want it.

That's it. Nice and simple, the bacon stays flat, there's no splashes to wipe up, and the foil cuts cleaning in half!

Sweet Pork Burritos or Salads (Costa Vida Style)

Tried these, LOVE them, and they are so much cheaper than a trip to the restaurant! It makes a TON (like 12-15 burritos) so you can freeze some for later too. Also, it ends up being between $1.50-$2.00 per burrito verses $6.99 in the restaurant! These are very similar to the real thing, which would have been nice to have this recipe in TX since they don't have a Costa Vida or Cafe Rio in San Antonio!!

To make a Sweet Pork Burrito...

Add the following to your tortilla

1. Black or Pinto Beans (we just bought Bush's Black Beans in a can)
2. Cilantro Lime Rice (recipe below)
3. Sweet Pork (recipe below)
4. Green Chile Enchilada sauce (just buy a can from the store)
5. Mozzarella Cheese (We used the Mexican Blend Cheese from Kraft)

Smother with additional sauce and cheese if desired.

Put it in the oven or microwave to melt the cheese.

And on the side (if you want to):

Green Leaf Lettuce

Pico de Gallo

SWEET PORK MEAT:

4 lb. pork roast (make sure it's the butt/rump roast)

I made the roast the day before to cut back on time the day of making these

2 cups brown sugar

1 (12-14 oz.) jar salsa

1 can Coke (12 oz.)

Place roast in crock pot, fill half way with water and cook for 6-8 hours on high

Discard water and shred meat; return to the crock pot

Combine sugar, salsa, and coke in a separate bowl.

Add mixture to the meat in the crock pot.

Cook an additional 3 hours. Stir occasionally.

CILANTRO LIME RICE:

2 cups rice

4 cups water

1/2 cup lime juice

chopped cilantro (use about 1/4 of the bunch)

Add everything to a pot and cook according to package directions

***SALAD***SALAD***SALAD***SALAD***

Do everything you did above, except instead of making a burrito, add it to some green leaf lettuce and make the following dressing...

TOMATILLO RANCH DRESSING

In a blender combine:

1 Buttermilk Ranch Mix packet

2 cups mayo

2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup milk)

2 tomatillos

1 jalapeno, seeded

1/2 - 1 bunch cilantro

1 Tbs lime juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

(I didn't add garlic and it still tasted YUMMY!!)

Sunday Baked Ham

1 (6 ½ -7lb) low sodium, smoked, fully-cooked ham (Do NOT use spiral cut! or it won't turn out)
40 whole cloves (yeah, it's a lot of cloves but it tastes so yummy!)
Vegetable spray
¼ c. firmly packed brown sugar
¼ c. honey
3 Tbs. unsweetened pineapple juice
½ tsp. dry mustard

Trim fat and rind from ham. Score outside in diamond pattern and stud with cloves.
Place ham on a rack coated with cooking spray and place rack in roasting pan.

Combine sugar and remaining 3 ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir well bringing it to a boil. Cook 1 minute more then remove from heat; let cool.

Brush over ham and bake at 425º for 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to 325º and bake 1 additional hour, basting ham with sugar mixture every 15 minutes.

Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing

I got this recipe from our friends Jason & Dayna Bangerter who use to be our upstairs neighbors in our Provo, UT. apartment. It is SO yummy!! I can't wait to make it this year for Christmas.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork

1 boneless rolled pork loin roast (3-4 lbs.) halved.
2 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
1 can (16 oz.) whole-berry cranberry sauce
¾ c sugar
¾ c cranberry juice
1 tsp. Ground mustard
1 tsp pepper
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ c cornstarch
¼ c cold water
Salt to taste

In a dutch oven, brown roast in oil on all sides over medium-high heat.
Transfer to a 5 quart slow cooker.

Combine the cranberry sauce, sugar, cranberry juice, mustard, pepper and cloves; pour over roast.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Remove roast and keep warm.

In a saucepan combine cornstarch and water and salt until smooth.

Stir in cooking juices. Bring to boil. Cook and stir until thickened. (About two minutes)
Serve with roast.

Note: Trim the fat off your roast and this is very lean and healthy. Cloves are the secret to success. This dish is great because you can cook it all day in the crockpot while company is over, and have a delicious main dish that seems like it took a lot of work.

**This is Lisa Hill's recipe. She use to be in the Leon Valley ward in TX