Carnitas!

Tired of the old "ground meat" tacos and nachos? Try some slow cooked pork, it'll float your boat!

Last sunday we had half a dozen "fun" activities planned for our day of rest! Shameful I know. So I decided dinner should definitely be something easy and relaxed!

I had all these thoughts before 7:00 am.

What have I become?

So, I thought . . . crockpot.

I thought . . . pork roast. Some leftover enchilada sauce caught my eye too! So I brought it along for the ride.

Mexican it is! I had just been to Jose Pepper's the other night. While I had happily munched my fish taco my girlfriend had enjoyed a taco el carbon. I wanted a meaty taco. Carnitas!

I sliced up a yellow onion.

Threw it in the pot.

In goes my pork roast, it's frozen solid. Center cut pork loin is my favorite for the crockpot! 

Look! I found our friend chopped green pepper in the freezer too!

In it goes!

Green pepper is one of those special vegetables that you can just chop up and throw in the freezer. So whenever you find them on sale go ahead and buy them! My daddy put a little bell pepper in everything! It was a delicious habit of his.

Now if you don't have two cups of homemade enchilada sauce in your freezer let's just stay calm. I hear you can actually buy it in cans at the grocery store! It's a little bland though. If you really enjoy your canned enchilada sauce then use it like it is. I would add a couple of tablespoons of chili powder to it. I would probably add a chopped up chipotle pepper to it too. . . and maybe a teaspoon of salt too. You are trying to season an entire pork roast! But that's just me . . . I like things spicy and strong! You want a couple of cups of whatever you decide to use.

Throw it all in the pot!

Now my crockpot gets pretty hot and my roast was pretty darn cold, -10 F. I was coming back at noon so I just set it to low. You can crack a pot if you get too big a temperature difference! Especially these ones made when I was 6! It's like 20 years old for Pete's sake . . .

Put a lid on it.

Now after church I came home and it was all thawed out. I turned it up to high to get it bubbling and on its way. If I had had a nicely thawed out roast in the morning I could of cut it into 2 inch chunks put on my thawed or canned sauce and set it on low and forgot it until dinner time.

Oh look at you!

Are you wondering about all the liquid it's swimming in? That's the juices from the meat, onion, and peppers. Excess liquid and excess fat are the curses of crockpot cooking. Nothing boils off and nothing drains off! Remember that when you're trying to convert a recipe.

Your dinner is done when you can reach in with some tongs and break it up into pieces.

I had mine on nachos!

It was so tender and delicious and spicy and tangy!

Darling daughter had hers in a taco!

What's nice about this stuff is you can take the leftovers and add some beans, rice and cheese to make a nice burrito filling. Roll them up and put them in the freezer for when those teenage boys get hungry!


Pork Carnitas

2 or 2 1/2 lb center cut pork loin
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 green bell pepper, cored and sliced
2 cups enchilada sauce (the 14 oz can will be fine)
1 canned chipotle pepper, chopped up
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2-1 tsp of salt


Place meat and vegetables in crockpot. Taste enchilada sauce to see if you'd like to add chili powder, chipotle pepper, or salt. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred and enjoy!