Shredded Sweet Pork (Cafe Rio)

The sweet pork at Cafe Rio was Paul's favorite. As far as meats at Cafe Rio go, the sweet pork was more at the bottom of my personal list. But again, when you search for Cafe Rio recipes, it's the sweet pork that shows up pretty exclusively. Oh well! I will keep looking, of course, and I hope to someday find a good steak or chicken recipe.

Until then, enjoy this recipe for shredded sweet pork, Cafe Rio style!

Shredded Sweet Pork (Cafe Rio)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. pork*

Marinade:

about 2 1/4 c. (or 1 1/2 cans) Pepsi (not diet, but we were good since I'm pregnant and bought caffeine free and it works just as well)

1/4 c. brown sugar

To cook the pork:

2/3 c. (or 1/2 can) Pepsi

garlic salt

1/4 c. water

Sauce:

2/3 c. (or 1/2 can) Pepsi

1 can diced green chiles

3/4 can enchilada sauce

3/4 c. brown sugar

*I read that you should NOT use a pork roast for this recipe. The pork should be a more fatty cut. We used boneless pork shoulder ribs, but I also heard that pork butt works well.

Directions:

Place pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag and add 2 1/4 c. Pepsi and 1/4 c. brown sugar. Marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight (I chose overnight). Remove pork from the bag and place in slow cooker. Discard the marinade. Pour water and 2/3 c. Pepsi over the pork. Sprinkle with garlic salt to taste. Cook on high for 3-4 hours (or on low for 8 hours) until pork can be easily shredded. Remove pork and shred (I find this easiest to do in a pie tin with two forks). Empty excess liquid from the slow cooker and place shredded pork back in it. Prepare sauce by mixing 2/3 c. Pepsi, enchilada sauce, green chiles, and 3/4 c. brown sugar in a blender until sauce is smooth. If it seems too thick, add more Pepsi (mine was not too thick). Pour sauce over shredded pork and cook on low for 2 more hours. (Although now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I left mine on high...oops!)

Wondering what Paul's verdict was? He said the flavor was spot on, but the texture was slightly different. I can only assume this is because Cafe Rio uses a different cut of meat. All in all, though, Paul absolutely loved it. I thought it was yummy, too. :)

Here's the original recipe on Favorite Family Recipes: Shredded Sweet Pork.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is actually a recipe that my sister got from someone on her mission. It is definitely the easiest soup I've ever made and it's way yummy! It also makes a ton (serves about 8-10 people).

Ingredients:
1 can (29.2 oz) enchilada sauce
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2 cans chicken broth
2 uncooked chicken breasts*

Spanish rice (Lipton works well but you can use another brand)
1 can black beans
2 cups corn (I just did one can of corn last time)

Directions:
Put the first 4 ingredients in your crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken, shred/cut and return to pot. Prepare spanish rice. Add beans, corn, and as much rice as you want.

Garnish with all kinds of yummy things like: olives, green onions, tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, and sour cream.

*Avocado tastes amazing on this! I don't really like avocado when I'm pregnant and I really like it on this.
*The recipe says to put as much of the rice as you want. I ended up putting most of it in last time I made it because it was for a lot of people.
* If your chicken breasts are small you can do three. I did two large chicken breasts both times I made it and it turned out great! The chicken goes a long way.
*I bought mild enchilada sauce both times I made this because that's all they had in the big can so I added a little cayenne pepper with the sauce and it just gave it a little kick. That's definitely not necessary though.

Thanks Jamie, for such a great recipe!

Slow Cooker Mushroom Beef Stew

Another successful slow cooker recipe! This was very yummy (even though it's not very beautiful to look at), and it smelled good all day long as it was cooking.

*Note: The original recipe is called "Wild Mushroom Beef Stew" and calls for shiitake mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms were way expensive, so I just got regular ones. It was still yummy. :)


Slow Cooker Mushroom Beef Stew
Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. beef stew meat, cut into 1 in. cubes (we bought ours already cubed at the grocery store)
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced (I used two ;) )
1 bay leaf
1 t. paprika
1/2 package sliced mushrooms (or 4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced...see note above)
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium red potatoes, diced
1 small white onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced

*Side note: I thought all the different words used for cutting things up in this recipe were humorous. Sliced, diced, chopped...ha ha ha. Okay, maybe I'm just silly. ;)

Directions:
Place beef in slow cooker. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl. Sprinkle over beef and stir to coat beef evenly. Add all remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to mix well. Cover. Cook on low 10-12 hours, or on high 4-6 hours (I did about six hours on high). Stir stew and remove bay leaf before serving.

I just love slow cooker recipes! So easy! This was a nice, fall meal. Very warm and comforting. We had bread and butter with ours, but I wish I had thought of making homemade rolls. That would have been even better. :)

Three-Bean Turkey Chili

I really enjoy slow cooker meals. They usually take very little hands-on time, and I love the feeling of a meal just cooking itself. This recipe is another good one for the slow cooker.

Three-Bean Turkey Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 can (28 oz) petite diced tomatoes, juice included
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
1 to 2 T. chili powder

Directions:
Brown turkey with onions in a skillet on medium-high heat. Cook until onions are tender and turkey is no longer pink. Drain the fat. Pour into slow cooker. Prepare to make use of your can opener. ;) Pour all three cans of beans into a colander and rinse well. Add beans, and all remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Mix well. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours.


There are a few things I especially liked about this recipe. Using ground turkey instead of beef was a nice change of pace (although beef would work just as well). I've never used garbanzo beans before, and Paul and I both decided they were very yummy. And, like I said, it was a very easy recipe. You can serve it over rice (that's how Paul likes his chili), with cornbread, or on its own. We sprinkled cheese on top, and we also would have added a dollop of sour cream, but we didn't have any (shocker!). Good stuff!

Fiesta Chicken

This is the easiest dinner I've made in a long time. The active preparation time was less than ten minutes, and that was only because I defrosted the chicken enough to be able to cut it into smaller pieces. You can even put the chicken in frozen.

Fiesta Chicken

Ingredients:
2 lbs. chicken pieces (that's what the recipe calls for...I actually just used about 1 lb)
1 1/2 c. uncooked rice*
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
2 jars water
1/2 bag (1 lb) of frozen corn

*We used Japanese short-grain rice and it was pretty mushy in the end. It's probably best if you use long grain.


Directions:
Pour uncooked rice in the bottom of your slow cooker. Place chicken pieces on top of rice. Pour salsa on top of chicken, and then pour on the two jars of water. Sprinkle corn on top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (on high for about four). Stir together before serving. We topped ours with sour cream. :)

Overall review:
This recipe was just too easy not to post here, but it really wasn't that amazing taste-wise. It was mushy (like I mentioned--probably due to the type of rice I used), and it tasted a little bit bland. I bet with a little tweaking (adding spices or using a different type of salsa) it could be quite yummy. FYI- I used Pace Picante Medium Salsa.