I'M BACK! DIDN`T YA MISS ME?

I'm not sure what brought this on but this morning I woke up with the erg to blog.  Months ago when I stopped posting I was about 5 months pregnant and blogging was starting to feel like a chore.  So I stopped.  If I wasn't enjoying it then why continue. 

Today, life has changed just a little:)  My little girl is 3 months old and life as a new Mom is starting to settle in.  I am getting back into the kitchen and my cooking definitely has a different approach these days.  Everything takes a more organization and usually has to easily revolve around the babies nap time.

The dish that I am starting of with might not seem like a good dish for moms but it works for me because I am home on maternity leave and the work involved can easily be broken up into a couple of stages.  It might not make a great weeknight dish but definitely a great weekend meal, especially if you have a lot going on.  You can start it off in the morning and about an hour before dinner you can finish everything off.

In the morning I packed up the little one and headed out to the grocery store.  Came home and threw the pork shoulder into the oven.  In just 4-5 hours it got so juicy and shredded apart with little effort.  You could just make the pork and toss the meat on a bun, I would have been more than happy with that.  Around 4pm we tossed all of the stew ingredients into a pot and let them hang out for an hour or so.  Dinner was ready in time for when the hubby came home and we ate while the baby had her last nap of the day.  Man, you'd think I knew what I was doing or something, trust me not all days work out as good as today did.

This recipe comes from The Rachael Ray Show.  I almost hate to admit that because most of the time she annoys me.  I can't say that I have ever completely followed one of her recipes, I always modify it to my liking.  That's exactly what I did with this one.  I hope you give it a try.

Mexican Pulled Pork Stew

Ingredients

·  1 2- to 3-pound boneless pork shoulder

·  salt and black pepper

·  1 tablespoon smoked paprika

·  2 teaspoons oregano, divided

·  1 teaspoon fennel seed

·  1 teaspoon granulated garlic

·  2 onions, 1 thinly sliced and 1 chopped

·  2 bottle of beer, I used Corona

·  1/4 cup oil

·  4 cloves of garlic, minced

·  1 tablespoon cumin

·  tablespoon ground coriander

·  3 14-ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes

·  1 quart chicken stock

·  1 can corn

·  1 can Romano beans

·  Shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Directions

1.    Bring meat to room temp and preheat oven to 300ºF.

2.   Season the meat with salt and pepper. Combine the paprika with 1 teaspoon oregano with fennel and granulated garlic. Rub spices into meat.

3.   Place pork in a roasting pan, top with sliced onion. Add beer to pan and cover. Roast pork 4-5 hours until very tender.  Shred with two forks.

4.   Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat with oil. Add chopped onions and sliced garlic to pan and season with salt and pepper, remaining teaspoon Mexican oregano, cumin and coriander. Process tomatoes with a hand blender until smooth. Add stock, tomatoes, corn and beans to the pot.  Add the shredded pork and reserved pan juices. Simmer to thicken and combine flavors, 30-40 minutes

5.   Serve the soup with shredded cheddar cheese.

ENJOY!