Easiest pork ever + another Sunday FUNday with my little man!!

Who would've thought that I could make pulled pork in my crock pot using only three ingredients including the pork??!! Well I'm pretty sure plenty of people before me already know this...and it is crazy yummy!!

Pulled pork made with Root Beer in the crock pot! You can use Coke, Dr. Pepper, or another soda of your liking as well. I even read that someone using orange with chicken (I may try that one later too).

Any-who back to today's Sunday dinner:

see I told you...crazy easy. Oh ignore the garlic please...I considered tossing some in (seriously I can't help myself, I seem to feel everything needs garlic! It's like Paula Dean & butter...), but didn't, instead I added salt, pepper, & no salt garlic & herb seasoning to the pork before setting it in the crock pot.

Hmmm how did little man & I pass the time since we were home all day you might ask??

 Winnie the Pooh Movie time with Pooh, Baby Elephant, & Little Foot....this was the first of two times we watched it today....reminded me of the millions of times I "got" to watch the Care Bear movies with T (my brother)...oh well the snuggles make it all worth it with my little man. At least it's not Barney!!!

He melts my heart every day. So sweet! The wall behind little man, is the wall we are thinking about doing chalkboard paint halfway up...has anyone done that?? Success or not so much??

Most of the pork cooking happened while little man was sleeping, and this momma was reading The Hunger Games. OhMmmGeee, it is a great book!! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend, in fact if I wasn't typing this right now I would be reading it!!!

 Shredding time!!! again crazy easy...hmm do you see a pattern here by chance??

 and ready for buns....yummmm

Root Beer Crock Pot Pulled Pork

2 lb Pork Loin (mine was 1.5)
12 oz (one can) Root Beer
1 18 oz bottle of your favorite bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet & Spicy to balance the sweet soda)

I rubbed salt, pepper, & galic/herb seasoning on the pork. Set pork in crock pot, pour Root Beer over it. Set on Low, and cook for 5 - 6 hours (depending on size & your crock pot, mine was finished in 4.5). Take pork out and shred, dump root beer out, and put pork back in. Mix the bbq sauce in with the pork, and cook for another hour. You can leave it on warm if needed until time to eat. This recipe makes 8 servings.

We also made these tasty fries as our side dish for the evening....

There is no better french fry to me than the simple homemade ones with garlic pepper!! My hubs makes waaayyy better ones than me, but these were pretty good if I do say so myself (well no one complained anyway...)

Happy Monday eve everyone!! I am headed to the couch to read my book :)

Good enough to steal!

Here it is folks....the Chicken & Dumplings recipe that was so tasty, someone stole my leftovers, and tubberware from the fridge at work.

This recipe is adapted from one I found on pinterest, and it is very simple but time consuming. So, it was perfect for a Sunday night meal!

I started with a 5 lb chicken (thawed), my veggies, & seasonings in a large soup pot, or dutch oven...you want to make sure the chicken will fit and that you will be able to cover it with water!

Once the chicken was cooking, I gathered the dumpling ingredients all together.

If I can do this, and it turned out this good....anybody can!

 Okay...so my dumplings aren't exactly the same size...trust me they taste fantastic either way!!!

And....time to let the dumplings dry a bit...which means it's time to check out the chicken!!

All done!! While the chicken was cooling, I strained the stock....
Toss the veggies, and run the stock through a strainer lined with cheese cloth or a coffee filter (I used the filter method since I didn't have cheese cloth). Be prepared this is time consuming....I did a little at a time! I ended up with almost eight cups extra of stock to freeze for later use!!!

After shredding the chicken.....adding the dumplings & chicken to the stock (plus salt & pepper)...
this is the result...

Chicken & dumplings that are good enough to steal!!

Chicken & Stock
1 3-5lb chicken
1 large onion
3 celery stalks

3 carrots
5-6 garlic cloves *I really like garlic
1/2-3/4 tsp rosemary
1/2-3/4 tsp thyme
*salt as needed
*pepper as needed

Dumplings:
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
4 1/2 Tbsp shortening
1 cup milk

Place all Chicken & stock ingredients in a large pot & cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
*You can make the dumplings while chicken is cooking.
Dumplings:
Mix flour, salt, & baking soda together, then cut in shortening with your fingertips. Slowly add milk 1/4 cup at a time just until the dough forms into a ball, don't over mix.
Roll out onto floured surface to 1/4 in. thickness. Use pizza cutter or knife to cut dumplings 1 inch wide by 3 inches long. Place them on wax paper to dry for at least 30 minutes.

Back to the chicken:
Once chicken is cooked remove and let cool. Once cooled remove chicken from the bone, and throw away bones & skin.
Also throw away veggies from stock, then strain the stock through strainer lined with cheese cloth or coffee filter.
In a large pot heat 6 cups of your stock (store the rest in the fridge or freezer for a future recipe), to a simmer, and drop in dumplings, cover and heat for 6-7 minutes. Reduce to low, add chicken and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes until thickened. Add salt & pepper to taste, and ENJOY!!!!!

Next up Crock Pot Pulled Pork & the Perfect French Fries!!

Chicken & Dumplings, Dinosaur Cages, & Thunderstorms...

This (Chicken & Dumplings, Dinosaur Cages, & Thunderstorms...) has been the makings of a very good January Sunday for me!!
I have never made Chicken & Dumplings or noodles before, well not from scratch anyway. I am proud to say they turned out amazing!! Maybe I do have a touch of my papa, & my mom's incredible cooking ability after all.

I promise they are every bit as good as they look!!

Throughout the day, as the cooking was going on :), my little man very much wanted me to help him build dinosaur cages over & over...as his dinosaurs kept "jumping out mommy" and "dinosaur knock it down mommy". This kept us very busy all day long....

As you can see this is a very serious building plan....

And as this day is coming to a close a loud thunderstorm complete with hail decided to hit...seriously thunder lightening & hail in Missouri, in January..awesome..
Well at least little man seemed to like it; "go see rain out there mommy"...he meant looking out the back door.

I must say this out of the ordinary three day weekend has been nice and relaxing. I truly love just being at home hanging with my little man.

I hope everyone else had equally relaxing Sundays!! I will probably enjoy a nice glass of....

while I sit back and listen to the rain...
Have a great Monday everyone!!

I'm a Runner!

Let me just start off by saying, I have NEVER been a runner before! I considered myself to be one of the "I'm only running if someone is chasing me with a weapon" kinda people. Really it was mostly... okay completely about the fact that I am a wuss these days. Anyways..a while back I saw (on FB of course) my childhood BFF was doing the KC Trolley Run, the charity benefits the school her son goes to called CCVI. So, I had a fabulous idea!! I called my Aunt B (just B from here on out), and suggested that she (being the awesome runner that she is) run the 4 miles, and I would push Landon in his stroller for the walking part. B said 4 miles was nothing, and how fun woulf it be to do it together..before I knew it she was online and convincing me that the yellow wave (slow joggers) would be perfect! Somehow before I had thought this threw ;) I was in! We were planning away for the upcoming April 17 2011, KC Trolley Run, umm did I mention it's 4 miles long....75th and Wornall to the Plaza basically." In my head" (up until now obviously) this is clearly a distance for driving! 
So, the training began, I ran everyday at first, then switching to every other day after two weeks. I hurt! Clearly I am more than out of shape! Then my right ankle and knee starting revolting or so it felt like. Apparently a sudden jolt into running may have sped up my psoriatic arthritis....booo, dislike, or feel free to insert your unhappy word of choice! Needless to say the running slowed down greatly and the run day grew nearer! 
EEK!!!
Well the day arrived, and my alarm went off at 4:50 am.....yup I', totally serious....and I got up!! We got to the plaza a little after six, took the bus to the starting area, and waited till just before eight to get into place...
We started on time which I'm told is rare, we also started slow because there were so many people in front of us. We finally got going, and the first mile was slow but I almost ran the whole thing!! and actually my pace got better along the way!! I did need to have some walking breaks along the way, but who cares I finished a 4 mile run in 50 minutes and 47 seconds and not once was I wanting for breath!!! I am not only a rock star, I'm a runner!!! And I can't wait to do it again...once my ankle swelling goes down anyway.

A little Friday afternoon vent to clear my head.

Diabetic Vent Alert!



*Disclaimer - I'm not looking for pity or sympathy with this vent...it really is just a vent on a less than fantastic day. Should you encounter me on a day when I'm less than my sunshiney, rainbows and sprinkles self this may help you to get why. I know most everyone has something affecting there life and this is simply mine. I hope and pray that one day soon there will be a cure for these and many many other diseases out there that affect people every single day.



Most days I don't think much about what it would be like if I wasn't a Type 1 Diabetic. But every now and then a day comes along where things just don't go according to plan....no matter what I eat and even though I take the right amount of insulin, my blood sugar goes through the roof anyway. I have been following it all day, I have checked 6 times so far today, which means at least 3 finger pricks each time since after more than fifteen years of multiple daily finger pricks, most of my fingers don't cooperate any longer (ouch). Current Blood sugar reading.... 440 = VERY BAD, ALERT ALERT...that's what the machine screen should say. It has steadily been rising all day. I just changed my infusion site (place where insulin pump hooks to deliver insulin into my body), so that means yet another "prick" (more like a shot, then the needle comes out and tube stays in)...High blood sugar makes me tired, thirsty, hungry, headache, and just plain a little grouchy.


All this makes me wonder sometimes what it would be like if I wasn't a Type 1 Diabetic. I mean really how different my health would be...Not only would I not be Diabetic, but I wouldn't have Kidney Disease or be Anemic either. I most likely wouldn't have Psoriasis, or Psoriatic Arthritis(newest thing) since along with Diabetes they are all autoimmune diseases. I most likely wouldn't have the High Blood Pressure or Cholesterol (possibly would since these two are hereditary).


Now that I have this off my chest I feel better already, and I'm on to enjoying this beautiful Friday afternoon leading into the weekend!
Hopefully I haven't put a damper on anyones day!!
Feel free to include your own vents, consider this a safe venting place :)


Beth

Slacking!

Major slacking on my part already for my blog!! Advice, thoughts...anyone? I'm thinking Late at night, but that's when i do my best sleeping :)
Hmm, Maybe if I gave myself an additional challenge?
Clearly this blog stuff is harder than it looks, or at least for me it is.
Boo!
I used to be so good at writing on a regular basis.

Maybe I need to have a good chat with someone who has a successful blog!!

Good thing I know of a couple!!

New Years Resolution...a month late

Better late than never...right? I set up this blog 2 years ago....seriously 2 YEARS AGO, and somehow I just kept meaning to write but never was getting to it. So, here it is my 2011 New Years resolution (being made on January 31st).

BLOG, and blog often! I love reading blogs plus I miss the writing that I used to do. I mean what could I possibly have to keep me from blogging....(certainly not my 1 yr old son, working full time, or going to school..lol maybe this will be challenging.)

If you are reading this, please feel free to hold me to this resolution. Who knows where "In my head" will go from here but, feel free to stick around :)

Happy Monday to you, and if you are in the KC area..... look out here comes the blizzard!