Asian Pork Wraps

In an effort to achieve one of my New Year's Goals, I'm cooking more at home and eating out less.  Having three kids, one an infant, PTA responsibilities, a part-time job and household responsibilities is severely cutting into my prep time.  When once I loved spending hours in the kitchen cooking and baking, I'm now lucky to steal 30 straight minutes.  Sound familiar?

Enter Asian Pork Wraps.  The combination of Asian seasonings and spices  as well as the juicy mandarin orange slices, crunchy lettuce and toasted almonds are a beautifully delicious light yet filling combination.

Originally written as a slow cooker recipe, it can also be made day-of in 15 min or less, if you pre-cook your meat that is.  Remember when I posted about making Chicken Shreds via Kira Cooks?  Apply the same techniques to pork and you're set!   All you have to do is take one to two bags, thawed, of your pre-cooked and shredded pork, pop it in a saucepan and add seasonings. I use half the seasonings for one baggie.  Combine.  Heat throughout. Toppings as desired. Serve. Easy Peasy!

{asian pork wraps}
  Serves 8-10
2 1/2 to 3 lb. pork shoulder roast
2/3 c. hoisin sauce
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder

Place roast in greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and spread over top.  Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours. Shred roast w/ two forks.

Serve atop warm tortillas (I like 6" round best), with sliced green onion, mandarin oranges, toasted slivered or sliced almonds, and shredded lettuce.

TWD::Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe selection comes from  Jennifer with Cooking for Comfort.  A bundt cake.  I {HEART} bundt cakes!  Bittersweet chocolate mixed with nuts and sugar all swirled and folded into a buttery orange batter.  What's not to like, right?  Well, this wasn't my favorite.  Not even close, I'm sorry to say.

I thought the orange peel batter was INCREDIBLE!  So incredible, I'm tempted to make up a batch of just that yummy orangey batter and stir in some cranberries, bake them as muffins and top them with more orange glaze.  THAT combination makes my mouth water!  I'll have to bake that up this week and tell you all about it!  That is if I can get the batter into the molds and into the oven.  It was THAT good!  We {HEART} batter at our house!

{recipe for nutty chocolatey swirly sour cream bundt cake} 

To see how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers fared this week, check out the TWD Blogroll.  You never know, maybe they liked it WAY more than I did.

TWD::Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Have you ever not liked something forever because repeated taste tests just didn't quite measure up?  Yeah, well, I've been like that practically my whole life when it comes to poppy seed anything.  No matter how often I would try, I just couldn't enjoy it.  Until NOW. 

 Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness chose our Tuesdays with Dorie recipe this week and I have to say Betsy, Thank you.  I absolutely positively fell in LOVE.  I changed mine up a bit since I have so many oranges on hand and made mine and orange-flavored instead of lemon as the recipe suggests.  Though, I know this would taste incredible with lemon as well.  They're called muffins, but really, I say that loosely.  They tasted more like a delicious citrus-y cake-y dessert.  This could easily be made into one large loaf, a few mini loaves or cupcakes perhaps!?  I mean, when you slather an amazing orange glaze all over the top that makes you want to lick it right off just as fast, what else is there.  Really.  They taste just as good fresh and warm out of the oven as they do cooled.  The best part about this recipe, was that it was so EASY!  I {HEART} recipes that are not only easy but taste incredible, too.   

{Recipe for Orange Poppy Seed Muffins}

Don't forget to see how other TWD bakers did with their recipe by checking out the TWD Blogroll.