(Re)Made | Pulled Pork Quesadillas & Pizza

One of my favorite parts about living with Mike has been cooking together. He loves to cook as much as I do (if not more—I love baking more), and we're living on a production editor and teacher's salary here, so we also do it to stay on budget. And honestly, we hardly miss eating out. I subscribe to Everyday Food on my Kindle and check out multiple back copies of Cooking Light from the library, so  we're always finding new ideas to try. Our latest one was pulled pork. It was so easy, and it turns out that 2.5 pounds of pork can feed a small army, or Mike and me for a whole week. 

But don't think that just because we're eating the same leftovers for five days in a row that we're boring. We like to morph leftovers into new things each time we re-eat them. Our pulled pork turned into quesadillas and then pizza later in the week. See below for the recipes!

Pulled Pork Quesadillas

2 tortillas (we used red pepper wraps)

Leftover pulled pork (recipe here), about 1/2 c

1/3 c shredded cheese

1/4 c corn

1/2 small onion, sliced and sauteed with garlic

Pile your ingredients on one tortilla and sandwich the remaining tortilla on top. Cook on high heat until the outside of the tortilla is crispy and the cheese has melted. Cut into wedges and enjoy with some chips and salsa! 

Pulled Pork Pizza

Pizza dough

BBQ sauce

Diced potatoes (also leftovers!), about 1/4 c

Leftover pulled pork, about 1/2 c

Sliced red onions (we used picked Grillo's pickles)

Corn

Shredded cheese

Stretch your dough onto a sprayed baking sheet or dusted (not sprayed) pizza stone. Layer on your sauce and toppings however you like. Bake at ~400 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese is bubbling and the dough is golden brown. Enjoy with a side salad!

Making your own pizza can be as difficult or as easy as you want. Whether you make your own dough or use the fresh-from-the-store kind (ask the deli section if they sell their own pizza dough), whether you experiment with other sauces and toppings or go the classic tomato and basil route, pizzas are a versatile and delicious way to use up the borderline veggies in your fridge or that last little bit of spaghetti sauce at the bottom of the jar. By making different recipes using the same ingredients, we rarely run into that mid-week lunch moment of pulled pork again?! 

How do you reuse your leftovers?

Made | Pulled Pork & Hurricane Provisions

It's very rare that things get shut down here because of snow, so when Mike's school and conference were canceled, I decided it'd probably be best for me to work from home today. We lost power a little bit ago for a good 20 minutes, and all I could think about was all of our precious frozen foods. But don't worry, the power's back on and the work day is almost over. 

Our preparations for the storm were as follows: 

Warm drinks. We have a stockpile of coffee, pumpkin-spiced teas, and hot chocolate. And regular sized marshmallows because those dried out mini things that come in the hot chocolate packets are a joke. This is serious hurricane business, people!

Pulled pork (recipe below!). We threw this in the crock pot yesterday afternoon and had it for dinner last night and lunch today. We keep saying to each other, with mouths full of pulled pork, "Why have we never made this before?!"

May I highly recommend getting Grillo's Pickles pickled red onions and hot dills for any ventures into pulled pork territory? You won't be sorry.

Romance lighting. Last night we lit some candles and plugged in our Christmas lights and pretended like the power was already out. Because, why not? Oh, we also got candles and batteries and water and candy and the latest of The Best American Short Stories 2012. 

A Crock of Pork

2 1/2 - 3 lbs of pork tenderloin or shoulder

1 - 1 1/2 c water or chicken broth or a mixture of both!

1 medium onion, sliced thinly

1 clove of garlic

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp Texas Pete (the only other acceptable hot sauce to use here would be sriracha, but just get some Texas Pete already)

1 c BBQ sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1/4 c white vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

1. Slice up your onions and garlic, and place half of them at the bottom of your slow cooker. Layer your pork on top of that and sprinkle with seasonings.
2. Add the remaining onions on top, then pour water/broth and vinegar on top of that. Turn your slow cooker on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours.
3. After the initial 5 or 8 hour period, open the crock pot and get excited at how delicious it smells. Then pull the pork apart with two forks until well shredded. Add the BBQ and hot sauces and mix it up. Replace the lid for another hour or two.
4. Assemble on soft rolls with cole slaw and pickled red onions. Serve with salt and vinegar chips or potato salad!

Other ways to serve it...
Tonight we're making quesadillas with the pulled pork and red onions, and tomorrow we're going to make a BBQ pizza with it! Stay tuned...