KITCHEN KREATIONS: Crock pot Meatballs with Grape Jelly Sauce

The other night the hubby and I were talking about our Superbowl menu. I told him that I had been thinking about making meatballs but I wanted to try this sauce that I found online. The sauce uses chili sauce and grape jelly. Sounds gross, right? That's what he thought too, but I had already tried it before so I knew that as disgusting a combination as that sounds, it actually makes for a really good sauce. Of course I had to modify the recipe a little bit because I am big on seasoning everything, but I have to say it came out really good. For the actual Superbowl party, I plan on making my own meatballs, but since we were mainly trying out the sauce, we used frozen ones that were already cooked. Here is the recipe, hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
1 bag frozen “home-style” beef meatballs
12 oz. bottle chili sauce
1 cup grape jelly
½ cup barbecue sauce
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions
1. Place frozen meatballs in crock pot on high.
2. Combine all remaining ingredients in pot and bring to boil.
3. Pour over meatballs and let cook in crock pot for 2-3 hours on low to incorporate flavors.
4. Enjoy!

KITCHEN KREATIONS: Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches with Coleslaw

WEEKEND FEAST: Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches with coleslaw

So this morning I was messing around on foodnetwork.com's website and came across a Bobby Flay Throw Down video. He was making pulled pork sandwiches in this episode. Hmmm...
I've been on this mission for the hubby and I to start eating healthier by making more things at home and limiting ourselves to only going out to eat once per week. I watched the video and thought, I can do that. Then, I went to my 2nd favorite cooking site, Youtube, and typed in slow cooker pulled pork. You wouldn't believe the number of people with videos on how to cook pulled pork in a crock pot. So, I watched a few videos and dashed off to the grocery store. The results were amazing. Don't try this recipe if you are in a hurry or are starving. The pork cooks for hours on high in the crock pot, so we left to run some errands and when we got back, the house smelled heavenly. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
Slow cooker and disposable liner (works wonderfully!)
Cooking spray
Pork tenderloin
Meat rub seasoning (your preference - we used the Sweet and Spicy flavor)
1/2 cup apple juice
cole slaw package mix

Sauce: (I haven't learned how to make my own from scratch yet, so bear with me...)
2 bottles of BBQ sauce (again, the flavor is your preference - we used Sweet Baby Rays, Regular
& Honey BBQ)
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs ketchup
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp yellow mustard
2 Tbs olive oil
1 cap full of Apple Cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

1. Line slow cooker with disposable liner and spray with cooking spray.
2. Rinse pork tenderloin well with water and place in slow cooker
3. Apply rub seasonings to meat. Coat well.
4. Pour apple juice into crock pot around the meat being careful to not pour over the meat and rinse the seasoning off.
   
5. Cover and cook pork in crock pot on high for 5 hours.
6. Make cole slaw according to package directions. Refrigerate while meat is cooking.
   
7. (If applicable) After cooked, pull pork from bone. Discard bone.
8. Make BBQ sauce.
   

a. Mix all sauce ingredients in a pot and bring to boil.

b. Let boil for 2-3 minutes, then simmer on low heat until meat is ready.

9. Pour in BBQ sauce. Cook meat and sauce in crock pot for an additional hour to let flavors
integrate.
10. Make sandwich being sure to place coleslaw on top.

Enjoy!!!

Thanks for the inspiration, Bobby!!!