Ashley’s Oven Ribs

Rinse ribs and pat dry.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Rub with fresh minced garlic.
Wrap the ribs in 3 layers of foil... One layer at a time so that all the seams are on top and the ribs are well sealed.
Place foil wrapped ribs (seam side up)on cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 3 hours.

Meanwhile either make BBQ sauce or use store bought.
After 3 hours, open foil packet and brush with BBQ sauce. 
Then either close the foil back up and let it sit in the oven for 20-30 more minutes or place the open foil packets under the broiler for a few minutes until bubbly.  

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

2-1 1/2 lbs. pork (I used boneless pork loin)
oil
kosher salt
black pepper
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder

Preheat slow cooker on low for about 15 minutes. Drizzle a bit of oil over the bottom. Sprinkle one side of the pork generously with all the seasonings, and place seasoned side down on the oil. Generously season the other side of the pork.

Mix together:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar, to taste
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

Pour sauce over the pork and cook on low for 8-9 hours. About 1/2 hour before serving, shred the pork (a kitchen shears works great) and make sure the sauce is mixed throughout the shredded meat. Serve on toasted buns with this version of Central Texas Slaw piled on top.

Sausage Rice Bake

1 lb sausage (not links)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (optional)
1-2 cups mushrooms, chopped (optional)
4 cups water (3 1/2 if you're using white rice)
2-3 bouillon cubes, any kind OR 1 envelope chicken noodle soup mix
2 cups brown (or white) rice
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp parsley
salt and pepper

Brown the sausage with the vegetables. Boil the water with the bouillon cubes. If you use the soup mix add it to the rice, not to the water. Put the rice in a 9x13 with the poultry seasoning, parsley, salt and pepper. Add the meat and broth, cover with foil and bake for about an hour at 450 F.  

Comfort food and easy peasy too. Brown rice makes it especially satisfying. I hear this is from the More With Less cookbook, but these are my adaptations. Eat it with green beans and some applesauce for the full Mennonite effect. :)

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Okay, for those of you who think you need a recipe for this and don't trust yourselves... :-)
Here it is:

1 medium-large spaghetti squash
1 large jar spaghetti sauce (or 1 1/2 "regular" size jars) I like to use PC 7-Vegetable Primavera
1 lb ground pork
peppers, onions, mushrooms, any other vegetable you like in spaghetti (zucchini, grated carrots, etc.)
plenty of mozza

Cut your squash in half. Place cut side down on baking sheet lined with tinfoil. Pour some water on the foil to keep the squash from burning. Bake at 350F just until you can poke a sharp knife into the skin. Don't over bake or your kids will not like the squash.
Next, fry the pork with the onions. Add any other vegetables you are using. Then add the sauce.
Jazz it up with some more garlic, basil, salt and pepper, cayenne, whatever you like.

When the squash is cool enough to touch, use a fork and gently scrape out the "spaghetti", taking care not to mush it all up.
Put in a 9"x13" pan and salt it lightly.
Pour meat sauce on top, fold together. Top with lots of mozza and bake until bubbly.

Since you aren't eating any carbs, be sure and serve with garlic bread. You can afford it.

Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin

2 tablespoons steak seasoning rub
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 pounds boneless pork loin roast

Dissolve steak seasoning in balsamic vinegar, then stir in olive oil. Place pork into a resealable plastic bag and pour marinade overtop. Squeeze out air and seal bag; marinate 2 hours to overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place pork into a glass baking dish along with marinade. Bake in preheated oven, basting occasionally until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 1 hour. Let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

My notes: I used 2, 1 lb. pork loins, and I think this may have kept them juicier than using one bigger one. Also, I had only baked it for about 25-30 minutes by the time they reached 145 degrees internally. This is super easy and oh-so-delectable. :)

Cuban Pork Sandwiches

Relish:
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I used yellow)
1 c. water
1 jar (7 1/4 oz) roasted sweet red peppers, drained and chopped
1/3 c. cider vinegar (I used white)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Sandwich:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 lb.)
1 tsp. olive oil
8 slices sourdough bread (I used whole wheat Kaiser rolls)
8 slices swiss cheese (I used 1 slice of Muenster for each sandwich)

For relish, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring onion and water to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute; drain. Transfer to a bowl; add roasted peppers, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and cumin. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Discard garlic. (Relish can be made ahead and stored in refrigerator.)
In a small bowl, mash the minced garlic, cumin and salt. Rub over tenderloin; place in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 425 F for 25-30 minutes or until the meat reaches 160 F. Let stand for 10 minutes; thinly slice pork. (I put water in the bottom of the pan, and it wouldn't hurt to grease the pan a bit.)
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Top four slices of bread with pork, relish and two slices of cheese; top with remaining bread. Cook sandwiches for 2-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Makes 4 sandwiches (2 cups relish). (Since I used rolls, I just toasted them in the toaster over instead of frying them in oil.)

This recipe is from Taste of Home. It is really, really good and worth making. At least make the relish and then put it with meat and cheese on bread. And toast it. Don't forget to toast it.

Easy BBQ Bork Sandwiches

Put 2-4 lbs of beef and/or pork roast in slow cooker. Make sure that you’ve taken off any strings if your meat is tied up, but don’t worry about trimming fat. (A combination of beef and pork is really tasty!) Pour enough Coke (That’s right. Good ol’ Coca Cola.) over the meat to come up to ½ the depth of the meat. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, turning the meat over after 3-4 hours, then turn the slow cooker to low or off.

When the meat is very tender, take the meat out of the Coke and shred it with two forks in a pan large enough to add the BBQ sauce to the meat. If the pieces are too long, snip it with a kitchen scissors (if you don’t have a kitchen scissors, I’m sorry) right in the pan*. Just point the scissors straight down and snip away. Take it from me, kids don’t like to eat this if the meat is in long strands that are hard to bite.

Ok, now dump in about 1 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce**, 1/3 cup of the Coke/broth mixture in the slow cooker, ½ - ¾ cup ketchup, 3 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp mustard and ½ tsp liquid smoke and salt to taste. (These measurements are for about 4 lbs of meat.) Stir it all up and heat till it’s steaming. Add more of the broth if it’s too dry. Serve on buns or rolls of some kind.

This is really good with homemade mac and cheese or potato salad or potato wedges or veggies and dip or coleslaw or 3-bean salad. Or all of the above. I would guess that 4 lbs of meat serves about 10-12 adults.

*I give all the credit for cutting it this way to my sister, Robyn. She is a brain in the kitchen.

**I suppose you could use all bottled BBQ sauce, but for me BBQ sauce is a little expensive so this is what I do.

Breakfast Casserole

3 cups hashbrowns (thawed, if using frozen)
1 1/2 cups ham or 1 lb. sausage
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby cheese
Onion flakes or onion to taste
6 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt

Mix hashbrowns, ham, cheese, and onion flakes together. Beat eggs and milk; add salt and mix together. Pour mixture in greased pan and bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Note: this is all the info the recipe gives. If you put this into a 9x13 it will be kind of thin, but it works. Also, it serves about 5 people. It works fine to double it, put it in a 9x13 and bake it just 5 or 10 minutes longer. And, last but not least, I've never bothered with onions of any sort and it still tastes great.