Monday, May 14, 2012

Dinner for one.. in a slow cooker for 15.

Pinterest really is where I stash things now... good ideas mostly.. and it might actually be thievery, but its ok, because its good ideas and everyone should want to share their good ideas!!

Dr. Pepper Pork was a good idea that I've been wanting to try for a while.

1.  It's easy.  I'm all over easy.
2.  It is 3 ingredients.. and I was only missing the pork...
3.  Refer back to #1.

On the other hand, that recipe would probably feed a family of 12.  So, I was going to fix it while Teh Bear was here at the beginning of May, but we ran out of days to cook for (since we had leftovers from the night he cooked dinner).  I put this off till this weekend, because I knew that I was going to eat all the carrots (or give them to Phil as treats) if I didn't make this soon.

So, Friday after I got off work, I went by the commissary and picked up fruits (finnnnaaallllyyy, I've been out for a while, and that makes me sad), pork tenderloin (or so I thought), eel rolls for dinner, oreos, and swiss cake rolls.  I was going to make the pork Saturday, but I was gone all day and didn't really feel motivated to throw the ingredients into the crock pot before leaving for the Animal Fair...  that's a serious level of unmotivated by the way... its 3 ingredients and my slow cooker is almost at arm's level on my shelf.

I decided Saturday night that I was going to put it together Sunday morning, then it would be ready by dinner time that afternoon.  It was only 3 ingredients.  So this morning, before I left for church, I did as the instructions said.

*additional step* rinse out your cooker if you live with a dog who sheds.
I rinsed the pork.
I laid it nicely in the cooker.
I added a bag of carrots.
I added a can of Dr. Pepper.
I added italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic.  (I know those last 3 ingredients really just threw some people for a loop.  It's true, I used garlic, salt, AND pepper.)
I set the cooker on high for 6 hours.

My changes to the recipe:
-I did NOT use a 7-8 pound tenderloin.  Woah, so much meat!  (that's what she said).  I think I ended up with an almost 2 pound roast.  It was pork, I didn't really care much (and I didn't read the label that closely).
-I only used 12 oz. of Dr. Pepper instead of 20 oz.  I already had a can of Dr. Pepper and 20 oz's are expensive these days!!
-I don't do spicy, but if you do, good on you.

I only had to cook this for 5 hours, probably due to the fact that my pork was significantly smaller than what the directions called for.  I put my food thermometer in the roast and it was at 210°...  it was done.  It flaked apart easily with a fork and it met the temp requirements, so I turned off the cooker and put the meat and carrots in a plastic bowl (to separate it from the fatty stuffs while they were still melted).

The carrots tasted sweet, but when I think of sweet carrots, I think of Japanese hibachi carrots, and these weren't like that.  They weren't bad, but they weren't what I was expecting.

The meat is delicious!  The flavor is good and the meat isn't dry.

I made jasmine rice to go with it, which was also delicious.

I didn't take any pictures.... it was too scrumptious.  But this is what it looks like from the fridge:

YYYYYYYUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM.
There are more carrots in another bowl since they wouldn't all fit in this one... YUUUUUMMMM x2.


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