Soul Food Sunday

Things have been super busy lately. Works been crazy and Sean's back at school, so easy dinners are where it is at! Last night I made this amazing meal that warmed my soul on a freezing cold night, and required VERY minimal work. Slow cooked pork in the crock pot and an easy-peasy mac and cheese(y). (Sorry, I could not help myself). Here's the meal:

I based the pork off this recipe from 100 Days of Real Food (one of my favorite blogs) but changed it up, because I like more of a sauce to mine. Here's the recipe for this amazing, healthy, delish pulled pork:

• 3 tablespoons of paprika
• 1 tablespoons salt (if desired, you can cut back on the salt by only using 1 tablespoon)
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon dried savory spice
• ¼ cup light agave
• ¼ cup ketchup 
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ water in the bottom of the crock pot
• 1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin (or your preferred cut of pork)

Mix up all the spices in a medium sized mixing bowl, and then mix in the wet ingredients (except the water) to make a paste. Put the water in the bottom of the crock pot, place the pork in, and cover with the spice paste mixture. Cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, carefully take the pork out and it will be fall-apart tender. Use a fork to shred any big pieces, and pour sauce from the crock pot over the pork (or pour into a dish for everyone to put on as much or as little as they would like). That's it.  It's that easy! 

Later in the afternoon, I realized I hadn't planned any sides, and I thought mac and cheese would be super yummy, but I didn't have butter. A quick google search (God bless Google) revealed PLENTY of butter-free mac and cheese recipes. I went with this one.

I cut the recipe in half, since we're just two.  Here's the butter-free Mac & Cheese:

• 2 cups dry pasta of choice (we had Rotini, so that's what we used)
• 1ish cups shredded cheddar cheese (I might have used a little over a cup)
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

I don't like to use the microwave, so I just made it on the stove stop in the same pot I used to boil the pasta. 

After making the mac and cheese (took about 20 minutes by the time I boiled the water, cooked the pasta, mixed it all up), I decided to get fancy and I put it in little dishes, sprinkled with whole wheat panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on top, and threw it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp it up. 

Then I just steamed the green beans (Sean had raw carrots because he hates green beans) and we were done! This amazing dinner took about 40 minutes between prepping the pork at 10 a.m. and making the mac and cheese and green beans about 30 minutes before the pork was done. 

If you have a busy day ahead of you, I would highly recommend this meal! Whether it is Sunday dinner or a weeknight meal - you can't go wrong! Buon Appetit!