The Kalua Pig and a proud mama...a food story.

I've made this recipe three times so far. Kalua pig is so delicious, but it's hard to just up and roast a whole pig. This crock pot version is absolute perfection on a plate. It seems a little crazy to have it cook for 16 hours, but seriously it's worth the wait!!

Our roast ended up being about 6.5lbs, but still 16 hours was plenty of time. Here's a picture of a third of the roast and the bone, so tender that it fell out of the roast without any effort! In fact, I had to take the roast out in sections because it fell apart so easily.

 It didn't take anything to shred the meat. In fact, I had to be careful not to over shred the meat. Here is the whole roast, it all it's delicious glory!

I had all intentions of going to the store to buy some Kings Hawaiian rolls to serve as buns for our sliders. I even went into the store, and walked out remembering I had forgotten to get them. I was talking to my son about forgetting them, and we'll have to get them later. My four year old responds, "We could just make the rolls. That would be better than buying them." 

Super proud of my kids all the time, but for that moment I was proud of myself for teaching my kids that making things yourself is something to be proud of. I make a lot from scratch because I find the challenge fun, and it's a great way for me to make healthier food for my family. To have my four year old proclaim with pride that we can make it ourselves, and offer help with excitement, is truly a proud mommy moment. 

So off to Pinterest I went to find a sweet roll recipe. I wanted to work within my pantry, so a hawaiian roll copycat recipe was out, since most require pineapple juice and coconut milk. I stumbled across this recipe for Soft and Sweet Yeast Dinner Rolls. I had all the ingredients, but I wanted to make a little change. The oil that it calls for in the recipe I used coconut oil. 

Having a KitchenAid is such a lifesaver, and was always a dream of mine growing up. We got lucky last year, and bought the floor model at Lowe's and saved quite a bit of money. But anyway, yeast doughs are super easy with a dough hook! Check out the swirling bowl of doughy deliciousness!!

The recipe called for oil in the dough, and to oil the pan. I used coconut oil for both and it smelled amazing!!

The recipe was a little time consuming, but worth...every...step.

I also tried a new recipe for Apple Cole Slaw. I really only used the dressing part of this recipe, because  it was simple and I had the ingredients on hand. 

Looking purdy!

I added some celery seeds and cracked pepper, but it was still too much mayo flavor for my taste. 

Dinner done! I was so excited to try my pulled pork that I forgot to take a picture before I started eating, so excuse the bite. 

This meal I was excited to share with our friends the Rimke's and Joe(Thanks for letting us borrow him Amie!!). We fed a group of 9 easily, but I must say I could have eaten my weight in the rolls. Next time I'll be making a double batch! The coconut oil was just the Hawaiian touch we needed for our Kalua pig. 

It's not delivery...

Oh pizza, where do I even begin?!? We love pizza in this house! It's a rare treat because it's so expensive at a restaurant or to get it delivered. Until I discovered this amazing recipe, Fail-Proof Pizza Dough.

I made three batches of this dough for a pizza party we had for my son's 4th birthday. All three batches came out beautifully! In fact, I put half a batch in the fridge over night and used it the next day and it was still perfect. The recipe is super easy, and just like the title, fail-proof. 

Yesterday's creation was a chicken and spinach Alfredo pizza. Make the dough according to directions and let it rise.

While the dough is rising, I prepped the toppings. I just grilled up two chicken breast, no seasoning, and chopped them into small cubes. I also took my fresh spinach and chopped about a 1.5 cups worth. I also made my own Alfredo sauce (recipe here). I used a store bought shredded italian style cheese on the bottom layer and on top of the toppings.

The trick about upside-down cookie sheets instead of a pizza stone really does great!

In a preheated 500 degree oven, our pizza took about 10 minutes. I made two pizzas out of one batch of dough, because our oven isn't big enough for a full batch of dough in pizza form.

Fresh out of the oven here's grub!!

I had just pulled out some carrots from the garden the day before and wanted to do something with them. I ended up just roasting them with some olive oil, and salt and pepper. 

Fresh from the dirt in the garden. Don't worry, they were washed and peeled before we ate :)

Prepped and ready for the oven! No picture of the final product, sorry!

I ended up only using one chicken breast for the two pizzas. The two pizzas (I'd call them medium sized) fed 6 people comfortably. Really easy, really cheap, and it's something I'm proud to make for the family knowing exactly what ingredients went into making it.