A favorite appetizer from the pigpen

It is no secret that we eat a lot of pork around this pigpen.  As pig farmers it just comes with the territory.

A couple of years ago when I was pregnant with Little Sissy our great friends Troy and Stacy from South Dakota came to visit us.  We had a blast, but when it came time for dinner, The Farmer thought he would just prepare an array of pork dishes for our friends.  Since he was cooking, I didn't want to complain, but I was a little embarrassed that our menu consisted of bacon, pork burgers, sausage patties, and pork chops.  Now don't get me wrong, I love each of these items and serve them a lot at our pigpen, but usually not all at the same time.  The Farmer thought he would just showcase several of the items we had in our freezer and that he did.  And he did buy a bag of potato chips to go with it so what more could I want.  Needless to say it was all very good and filling and has fondly been referred to as Porkapalooza.

Well a couple of weeks ago, we were lucky enough for Troy and Stacy to visit us again.  As soon as The Farmer knew they were coming, he immediately starting making plans for Porkapalooza 2.  I didn't completely want to ruin his hopes, but I told him I would help with a menu.

Our menu consisted of one our favorite pork appetizer, lettuce salad, fresh fruit, and Cheesy Ham Potatoes which seemed to be a little bit more balanced than the original Porkapalooza.

It was so much fun to be able to spend some time with our amazing friends and Troy even helped make the appetizer which was like having a celebrity guest chef in my kitchen so I thought I'd share the recipe for one of our favorite appetizers.  I don't even know what it is called, but we will go with Wrapped Smokies.

Wrapped Smokies
Ingredients
2 packages of Lit'l Smokies
1 pound of bacon
Brown Sugar

Directions
Cut each strip of bacon into 3-4 smaller pieces.

Wrap each lit'l smokie with a piece of bacon and use a tooth pick to hold the bacon in place. (You will probably run out of bacon before you do lit'l smokies.)

Place wrapped smokies onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

When the cookie sheet is full of wrapped smokies, sprinkle brown sugar all over the wrapped smokies.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes as you want the brown sugar to start to dissolve/melt and form a sauce and the bacon is browned.

Enjoy!

Tip:  I have put these in the crock pot to keep warm for serving as they need to be eaten warm.

Pulled Pork with a side of Gooseberry Patch shredded chicken

Big Sissy requested pulled pork for the menu of her First Communion party.  Now as pig farmers AKA pork producers, we love to serve pork at this pig pen and often make pulled pork from a shoulder or loin roast in the crock pot.  However, for busy days like this, we have an even easier option.

As you know, my mother-in-law and I sell retail pork cuts at our local Farmer's Market and other venues to help raise money for the 3 kids' college.  One of our most popular sellers is our pulled pork.  You see it is already cooked so all you have to do is defrost and warm to serve and you have one yummy sandwich.  We sell it plain or with BBQ sauce.  I prefer the plain as you can then sauce it up to your own likings.

So on Thursday night, I took several containers of pulled pork out of the freezer and put it into the fridge to defrost.

Saturday morning, I put it in the crock pot on low for a few hours and then switched it to the keep warm setting for serving.  Besides having to stir the pork a few times in the crock pot, I didn't have to do anything else and it really doesn't get much easier than that.

We served the pulled pork with buns and BBQ sauce on the side.  We also had a few requests for ketchup.

This is one convenient option that this working momma appreciates.

Another convenience for me is the cookbooks I can download onto my Kindle.  Recently I downloaded Gooseberry Patch's Circle of Friends Cookbook Slow-Cooker Recipes.  After downloading the cookbook, I found myself on a long plane ride so I decided to do some menu planning and stumbled upon this yummy chicken sandwich recipe.  Since it used my slow-cooker, I thought it would be relatively easy so what did I have to lose.

The recipe had a few more steps than I usually prefer for a crock pot recipe, but all in all, it was well worth the effort and one that I would especially recommend for the weekends.

Vickie's Shredded Chicken Sandwiches
1/4 cup olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
10 3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
2 t. soy sauce
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. sherry or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Brown chicken for 5 minutes on each side.

Place chicken in a slow cooker; set aside.

Add onion to skillet; saute' until golden.

Add soup, broth, sauces, sherry or broth, salt and pepper to skillet.

Stir well.

Pour over chicken in slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours, until chicken juices run clear.

Shred chicken with a fork and serve on buns.

Enjoy!

Smoked Sausage, Green Bean, and Potato Boil

This is a recipe I got from a co-worker almost 11 years ago and it has become one of the easiest and liked by all go-to recipes I have.  It involves 5 ingredients, one pot, about 15 minutes of prep time, and approximately 25 minutes to cook.  I don't know about you, but at this pig pen, it doesn't get much easier than that except for maybe those duck legs I made.

Any way, the ingredients are as follows:
1 regular size package of skinless smoked sausage
2 cans of green beans
4-6 potatoes
4 beef bouillon cubes
water to fill your pot

First I add the green beans including the liquid to the pot. 

Then I wash the potatoes and cut them up into chunks.  (I leave the skin on them to save me one time-consuming taste.  Plus, isn't the skin good for us?) 

Then add to the pot with the green beans.  

Then I cut up the smoked sausage into to 1-2 inch sections and add smoked sausage to the pot.

Then I use the empty green bean can to add more water to cover the ingredients in the pot and add 4 beef bouillon cubes.

Bring the covered pot to a boil over medium to high heat.  Once a boil is achieved, I turn down the temperature and let the ingredients continue to cook covered for approximately the next 25 minutes stirring occasionally.  Basically you want to cook until the potatoes are tender.

Then it is time to enjoy a meal that contains a meat, potato, and vegetable.  Serve with a fruit or ketchup and you have a complete meal in less than an hour.