Sunday In The Kitchen

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve spent so much time in the kitchen. Our weekends seem to be busier and busier each month. While I’ve been really good about getting snacks ready for each week, yesterday was all about grocery shopping, snacks, planning meals, and making a great new-to-us dinner.

Hubby and I went to the store yesterday morning right when they opened. We are fortunate to live literally up the street from our favorite grocery store, Publix. I have a love/hate relationship with grocery shopping, so I prefer to do it in the morning before it gets busy. So, list in hand, and the recipe I wanted to make for dinner, we went shopping and were home in an hour. Not too bad.

The recipe I made was taken from Skinnytaste, a favorite site of mine for low fat recipes. And as a bonus, they include Weight Watchers points plus values, and the pictures of the foods are always amazing. I saw this recipe awhile ago and had it on my cookbook rack and yesterday was the day we would try it.

Here is the recipe directly from Skinnytaste…

Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork)
Gina's Weight
Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 4 oz (1/2 cup) • Old Points: 4
pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories:176 • Fat: 7.7g • Protein: 25.8 g •
Carb: 1.3 g • Fiber: 0.1 g

Ingredients:

Directions:

Season pork with salt and pepper. In a medium sauté pan on medium-high heat, brow pork on all sides for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Using a sharp knife, insert blade into pork, cutting small holes and insert garlic slivers. Season pork generously with cumin, adobo and garlic powder all over.

Pour chicken broth in the crockpot, add bay leaves and chipotle peppers. Place pork in crock pot and cover. Cook low for 8 hours. After 8 hours, shred pork using two forks and combine well with the juices that accumulated at the bottom. Remove bay leaves and adjust salt and cumin (you will probably need to add more). Let it cook another 15-30 minutes.

I could not find a shoulder blade roast, so I asked the butcher at the store and they suggested a boneless Boston butt roast. I cut most of the fat off, but I left some of it on for flavor and extra juiciness. It came out amazing, all pretty on a whole wheat tortilla with black beans and avocado….

It was super easy to make! It had a nice little kick to it and was very filling. ubby liked it too, which surprised me with the little kick. We have enough left over for lunch tomorrow and then some.

I also spent about 2 hours getting snacks and such ready for the week. The less I have to do in the morning to get ready, the better. Any time I spend on the weekend to make my mornings easier is always a bonus and absolutely worth it. I cleaned,cut, and bagged celery sticks. I bagged baby carrots. I mixed a bag each of Italian salad blend and baby spinach and made up 3 containers, ready to go. I just have to add whatever veggies I want each day. For hubby, I cut up fresh strawberries and put them in single serving containers. I also made hard boiled eggs and peeled them. They are great for a snack or as a topping on a salad. Protein! I even went a step further and made part of tonight’s dinner so I would have one less thing to do. Who else out there likes a well stocked refrigerator?

And for dessert, I made pineapple cake. We’ve had this several times in the last month, so it’s definitely a favorite in our house. It’s literally the world’s easiest recipe with just two ingredients, one that I got from WW years ago when I first joined.

•  Box of angel food cake mix
• 1 can crushed pineapple (in juice NOT heavy syrup)

Put cake mix in large bowl, add can of pineapple, and mix. Bake in a 9x13 cake pan for 38-40 minutes.

That’s it! Super simple! I actually like to make mine in a disposable foil tray, for some reason it cooks better than in my metal cake pan. If you’re following WW, it’s 2 points plus value for a 2x2 piece. You can have 3 tbsp. of fat free Cool Whip on it for no additional points.  

And because I just have to, I am sharing a picture of my sweet boy Blue… This sweet face was laying right next to me as I was reading yesterday afternoon. Sometimes I just cannot stand the cuteness!

I hope you all have a great week! Please visit my blog for full post and more! http://thiscrazylifeofmine.com

How much time do you spend prepping foods for the week? What is your favorite go-to snack?