Carnitas in the crock

Crock pot creation of the week! I had a boneless pork lion roast in the freezer so decided to make carnitas in the crock. As I knew that my husband would be parked in front of the TV glued to the NFL draft (apparently this year's draft is "shocking")I thought that a low-maintenance eat-while-sitting-on-the-couch type dinner would be in order. Crock carnitas are a long-time favorite meal of mine from when I was a kid. Of course, because they're made in the C-P, they are super easy!

Here's what you'll need for the meat:
1 pork loin roast
1 small can of chicken broth
about a teaspoon minced garlic
about a tablespoon whole peppercorns
about a teaspoon red pepper flakes
a dash o' salt

I went ahead and thawed the pork in the fridge for a day and over night and the popped it in the C-P with some chicken broth. I actually made chicken broth with some bouillon as it's all I had on hand. While whisking in the bouillon, I added some minced garlic for some extra flay-vah. Pour the broth over the pork and add the peppercorns and pepper flakes. Aaaaaand, that's it. Seriously. Put on low for 10 hours and you're done.

Go to work, run your errands, yadda yadda etc. etc.... get home 10 hours later and smell the amazingness in your house! Bust open the lid and get to shreddin'. I leave the meat in the broth just in case the meat is a little dry, let it soak up those juices. I like mine to eventually look like this:

As for the fixins... you can do anything. Tonight I chose to throw together some grilled onions, simple guacamole, crumbled queso fresco, salsa and some sour cream.

For the guac, I mash up one avocado with some S&P and juice from half a lime... easy and awesome. For the grilled onions, I decided to bite the bullet and slice them thinly pre-sauteeing. It was painful. I cried. Post-onion-chopping-cry-fest, I got them grilled and ready to go. I heated up some soft taco sized flour tortillas on the stove and kept them warm in one of those handy tortilla warmers you see in Mexican restaurants when they bring you tortillas for your fajitas. If you don't own one, you might want to consider adding one to your next grocery shopping list. Mine was a total impulse buy (which I am notorious for any time I go grocery shopping really, but especially at Whole Foods after a visit to their wine bar, that's another story...) and I felt so funny putting it in my cart but seriously, swallow your pride and spend the $5. You'll thank me later when your tortillas stay warm for longer than 90 seconds.

Construct your carnitas soft taco to your liking. I finish mine off with a splash of my hot sauce of choice- Red Rooster. Mine looked like this and it was fabulous:

Pair with a cold Tecate and you're totally set to contently sit on the couch in front of the TV while watching something boring with someone who thinks it's really interesting :)

Kitchen Sink Noodles

Every once in a while I feel like a big bowl of veggie fried noodles... since I can't always go to Gingergrass for my favorite wok-tossed noodles, I improvise and make this healthy cheaper alternative. Before I give you the recipe, first I should preface that I do not own a wok. I used to have one that ended up marrying the dumpster... long story but you shouldn't assume that anything is non-stick and then proceed to fry up a storm in it. It ends poorly. So, in lieu of a wok I use a heavy cast iron deep skillet (designed by Mario Batali so that makes it legit, right?) It does the trick. I should also preface that I cut corners and save myself a ton of painful onion dicing by sucking up and buying the pre-diced onions. I have an abnormal sensitivity to onions. Every time I spend a little bit more on the packaged diced tear-jerkers, I end up thanking myself in the end. That is one of my not-so-secret-anymore cooking secrets. You're welcome.

I use ingredients that I like, you can throw in anything... the kitchen sink, if you will. I did all this shopping at Fresh & Easy. Here is what you will need for this tossed deliciousness:

1/2 lb. Spaghetti (I used Capellini because I had it on hand and although it worked, it was not hearty enough. Next time I would go with a heavier noodle)
2 lean chicken breasts diced
1 diced onion
1 handful broccoli coarsely chopped
1 handful diced snow peas
6 green onions diced
2-3 garlic cloves minced
2 handfuls bean sprouts
1 15 oz. can baby corn diced
1 8oz. can bamboo shoots
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use Tamari)
Sriracha brand chili garlic sauce (about 1-2 teaspoons)
Grated ginger (Or ground ginger will do the trick, too)

Dice the chicken and saute it until it's cooked through. Boil some water and cook the pasta until it's al dente.

In the wok/skillet/whatever you're using saute the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil until they're combined. Add the broccoli, snow peas, sprouts and green onions and saute stirring constantly until they're a bit reduced in size. Mix in some freshly grated ginger, or I sometimes use a dash of ground ginger, and the chicken, baby corn, bamboo and water chestnuts. Once they're a bit softened, add the beaten eggs... Stir stir stir! It should eventually start looking like this:

Toss in some pasta until everything is combined. Wisk the soy and chili garlic sauces together and toss in with the veggie/pasta amazingness. Season to your taste.

I serve the noodles in our Lenox china serving bowls. 1) It's fun to use wedding china on a random Monday night and 2) Our little salad bowls are simply too small. Plus it makes it look so fancy!! I also keep the extra chopsticks from Chinese/Pho takeout and they come in handy on nights like this...

Because this makes a boat-load of food, I put the remaining in a freezer bag and will heat it up for dinner one night next week when the last thing I feel like doing is cooking. Perfect!

Front Yard Face Lift: Part I

There's something about visiting the Pasadena Showcase House that makes you feel insanely inadequate as a homeowner regardless of how much time, effort, blood, sweat and tears you have poured into making your home absolutely perfect. Every year I go, I glean hundreds of decorating ideas from the poster-child of impeccably decorated and designed homes and file them away into my mental idea vault. So, naturally, after going yesterday morning I turned my slight depression (the Showcase House's guest house was about the size of our actual house...) into motivation and we kicked into gear to do some sprucing up. This time the project is the front yard.

While I was en route coming home, Chris made a Home Depot run and stocked up on plants and supplies, I trust his judgement and the idea of going to HD on a Saturday with the masses makes me feel claustrophobic. Here is the before shot:

The front yard has been on our fix-up to-do list since we moved in and we couldn't take it any more. The front flower border and side yard were the targets. We bought drought-resistant plants to cut down on our water bill :) and also picked plants that are deer/animal resistant, since there is quite a wildlife contingency in our neighborhood and many of our previous plants had been breakfast/lunch/dinner for many deer families. So we started tearing out, chopping down, sweating, raking, hoeing, sweating, planting, weeding, sweating...

All the while we had an audience...

In the process of tearing out the rose bushes sprinkled throughout the front border, we realized that they are pretty old but in great shape. I kind of loved them once we took them out of the planter and stripped them of dead leaves and weeds. So I replanted them on the side yard... see:

I think they will like their new home!

And after 3 hours... we're not looking too bad!

Ok, now we are talking business! Here is the after shot:

I love how you can now see the cute gate on the north side of the house that was covered by this hideous overgrown palm plant. There is still more to be done, but there is only so much you can do in one afternoon! 

To be continued...

Tri-Tip Tuesday: A New Tradition!

In honor of possibly the most delicious tri-tip dinner I have ever made, we considered last night's meal the Inaugural Tri-Tip Tuesday in our house. Here is why I love this dish this much:

1. It is cooked in the crock pot. I have an abnormal love-love relationship with my crock pot. It's perhaps one of the greatest kitchen purchases I have ever made. If you don't own one, I suggest you follow suit and invest. (Target has a bunch, for cheap!) It will change your life.

2. I throw everything in the crock pot dish the night before and pop it in the fridge. The next morning when I'm running around like a chicken sans head getting ready for work, I pop the dish in the crock pot base and... voila! Dinner will be ready in about 8 hours!

3. When I come home at the end of the day, my whole house smells less like dog and more like heeeeaaaaven! Sigh... I feel like I've been cooking all day but in fact the good ole c-pot has been doing all the dirty work. Love that thing. My favorite moment (besides doing the consuming) is opening the pot for the first time and watching that flavorful steam escape. You can't see the steam in the photo below, but just imagine that it's there and give it a waft...

4. Just like a fine wine, leftovers are even better the next day. Gotta love double duty dinners. And fine wine.

Ok. So would you like the  recipe?

Here is what you will need (I don't do measurements. Get used to it, that's how I roll...):
1 Tri-tip (whatever size you want for however many people you're cooking for)
1 can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (available at Fresh & Easy)
1 yellow onion thinly sliced
5-6 whole cloves garlic, trust me
1 small can of beef broth
about 1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce (I can never spell this)
Montreal seasoning

Rub some Montreal seasoning on that chunk 'o beef. Place the meat in the crock and cover with remaining ingredients. And the manual labor portion of the job is done. Cook in the crock pot for 8-10 hours on low. I usually go with 10 hours. Once it's been in there for 8 hours, what's another 2?

Once it's done the meat will shred and the veggies will be all soft and yummy. The garlic will be amazing, too. I usually pull out a clove and eat it whole. You can serve it with mashed potatoes and use the juice/veggie fixins as gravy, use it as filling for tacos, or do what we did and make open faced sandwiches on toasted garlic bread (again from Fresh & Easy)... heavenly! You could also add more beef broth and some roughly chopped celery and carrot (or Mirepoix for you francophiles) and dice up the beef prior to cooking and it would make a lovely stew.

You might wonder where the green in the above photo came from... As a last minute side, I sauteed a diced shallot in a couple tablespoons of butter and then added some fresh haricot verts (or green beans for you non-francophiles) and cooked them for a few minutes. I like my green beans with a nice bite but if you like them mushy and soft, just blanche them to your desired crispiness before sauteing.

Also of note, all the ingredients in this meal cost just under $20 and it could have fed 4 people... totally budget-friendly!

So thus began Tri-Tip Tuesday. Who will help me in starting this new catchphrase?

Welcome to Frugal, Fresh and Fabulous!

I wish I had all the time and money in the world to be Martha Stewart reincarnate but I don't think that's happening any time soon. I am all about finding quick and easy ways to cut corners and still feel like I'm putting my best foot forward on the path to becoming Suzie Homemaker. I like to think I have good ideas, I hope you agree.