New recipe

I had a pork roast in my freezer and decided today was a good day to throw it in the slow cooker. I didn't want potatoes cooked in with it so I needed to find something new to do with them.  As usual I hit up Allrecipes.com for ideas.  What I found was a recipe for Neapolitan potatoes, however I only have regular potatoes, not red, I have 6 cheese Italian, not fresh Grated Parmesan, and all of my herbs are dried as I didn't get around to doing an herb garden this year.

Tonight's Supper:

Slow cooker Pork shoulder roast and Neapolitan Potatoes

1 Pork shoulder roast (free for me) about $2.50 lb at the store
1 package of Onion Soup mix $0.50 ..I had bought a package of 2 for $1 earlier in the month
1 cup of water
Combine in a slow cooker and cook on Med/high for 5 hours

Potatoes
5 large Idaho potatoes Sliced...around $0.50 as I got a 10lb bag for $1.99 last week on sale
1/2 med onion chopped
2 T. garlic (minced)
2 T. Oregano
2 T. Parsley
2 T.  Basil
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 can Diced tomatoes $1.00
1/2 cup Cheese I'm using the 6 cheese Italian
5 T. Olive oil

Combine 1 T. oil, Potatoes, garlic herbs and spices
Place 1/3 of mixture in 9x12 pan add 1/3 of the tomatoes and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese
Repeat 2 more times and bake at 375 for 1 hour or until the potatoes are tender. 

Just a reminder that I just found this recipe and I am experimenting so I am going to decide if I like it myself tonight.

I think I'm going to have my hubby stop at a roadside stand on the way home and grab some sweet corn too.

Just another Healthy but inexpensive meal to feed the whole family and feel good about.

Clearance fun.

Because I love to shop but have minimal money to do so the clearance rack is my best friend.  I always check out stores like Old Navy when I am near one because their clothes are relatively inexpensive to start with so the clearance items are usually under $10.

My favorite way to shop clearance however is a store remodel.  Most stores now days keep so many items on hand that when they do a remodel they need to clear as much space as possible to begin rearranging.  I am currently in heaven with our local Wal-mart doing a complete remodel.  I bought my husband a pair of bibs for winter for $9 and and myself a Bra and underwear set for $7.

The one thing I do recommend is to not get carried away and watch what you are buying.  People tend to see clearance and just buy. Make sure you watch the prices, a store like Wal-mart will put a clearance sign up and not actually mark down the price.

Happy Clearance Shopping Everyone.

Left overs

Earlier I was reading a article about how complicated we have made our diets with processed foods.  I am by no means claiming to be the queen of healthy and I love convenience, but I do my best to keeps to food some what healthy. So with the combination of reading the article about how much crap goes into Doritos (my favorite) I started to think about what to make for supper tonight.

Well I decided to use some leftover pulled pork that was in my freezer from a party and make Pulled pork tacos.  It is a very simple, inexpensive, especially if you have leftovers, and tasty.  I especially love that it is primarily fresh ingredients.  I really wish we were a little further into summer so I would have my own fresh veggies, but oh well.

So here is how I make them
1 lb of pulled pork - $0 for me since it was leftover
1 package taco seasoning -$0.50
1/2 cup salsa - $0 it's my homemade salsa
1 can chicken stock (only because it's left overs and already cooked) -$1.00
1 package of whole wheat taco shells -$3.00
veggie toppings of your choice
Fat free sour cream (optional)

I will put the pork taco seasoning, salsa and chicken stock in the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours, just to heat it through and get the flavors into the pork. then at supper time build the taco to my specs.

Yep THAT"S IT!!

I love these they are such nice change from a regular beef taco

If you don't have leftover pork, just buy a small pork roast add all the same ingredients, except chicken stock, put in slow cooker and cook on medium for about 4-6 hours or until the pork starts to fall apart.  take pork out put it on a cutting board and pull it apart then place it back in juice and cook on low for another hour.

I have been planning on making these for about 3 days but it hasn't worked out so it is going to happen tonight!!

Garden growing

I went to my parents house this morning to get some dirt so I could get  my squash and pumpkins planted and I checked on the garden and it looks GREAT.

For anyone that knows me the know I love to garden, I plant more food than I ever know what to do with but it's OK.  I plant vegetables galore..I have 51 tomato plants this year and hopefully they will stave off the blight and produce well.  I absolutely love making my own salsa and sauces..everything from pizza to pasta. I might even try Ketchup this year.  Today I put in zucchini, pumpkins, butternut, and 2 kinds of winter squash along with musk melon.  I am so excited to grow them at my house this year.

Just for fun  I planted one tomato plant and 2 green bean plants (my son started them in the house) in an old fashion wash tub in front of my house.

I think my next project is going to be a homemade compost bin. Simple enough to make I just need to decide where to put it.

It is a lot of work to grow a huge garden, but the money I save in the long run, and the health benefits make it worth it to me.