Friday Night Cooking....

I've been slack in the meal planning lately.  I hate to admit this, but I have not even really done a decent grocery shopping run since before Christmas.  I have just been making stops almost daily to Food Lion to Costco to get what ever easy item I could think of to throw together, or talking my husband into going out or picking something up.  I put it off long enough, and decided to get busy and do a massive grocery store run at Walmart. 

For Friday night, I made something out of my My Mama Made That, junior league cookbook.  It's something we had never tried before, but it sounded pretty good.

Island Style BBQ Pork
1 1/12 lb pork shoulder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 small white onion chopped
1 8 ounce pineapple chunks in syrup
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs cold water
1 tsp garlic powder
1 green pepper cut in thin strips
hot cooked rice
- cut the pork into 1 inch pieces/cubes (I found this to take me forever, and I even thought I had really good knives, I own Cutco ones, but to be honest, I don't know if the one I used is meant for meat.  Total pain the but and took forever) sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in large skillet (I used my Le Creset Dutch oven because I feel more like Pioneer Woman when I do, and I can put it in the dishwasher when I am done)  Add the pork and onion and cook until the pinkness in the pork is gone.  Drain the pineapple and reserve the syrup, adding water until is reaches 3/4 cup.  Pour the syrup and bbq sauce over the pork, simmer covered for 40 minutes.  Stir the cornstarch into the water until smooth, and then add to the pork mixture constantly stiring until thickend.  Add pineapple chuncks, and green pepper,and stir until everything heated throughout.  Serve over hot rice.

Family Verdict, My oldest wasn't a fan and only ate the pineapple and pork out of it, my other two kids, and husband and I enjoyed it.  I would say the amount cooked would serve 4 adults.  It was plenty for my family of 5 with the three kids, and enough leftover for an adult to have some for lunch the next day.  I told the kids this was an Hawaiian dish, so they thought it was perfectly acceptable to wear bathing suits to the dinner table =).

Later Friday evening, my husband ran to the gym for a quick workout, and I played with the kids, and then was craving something sweet.  I decided to make Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet cake....Holy cow.

First of all the cake is so freaking easy to make, and it's all from scratch.  It reminds me so much of a sheet cake my grandmother used to make that she called $500,000 Chocolate Sheet cake.  The icing is fudge like, and really how can you not love a chocolate sheet cake?!  I omitted the pecans she puts in hers because I don't want anything getting in my way from the chocolate.  This recipe is in her cookbook, and on her website, and because I am tired so I will just leave you with the link. Click Here  Make this though for your loved ones, and they will be declaring you amazing.  Don't get all crazy if you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute by using regular milk mixed with a bit of white vinegar.  Yes Ree taught me this.  Yes I still think Ree and I would be best friends if I lived near her ranch.   I plan on taking some to my grandmother this weekend who is in a nursing home right now for some rehab.  I will have to see if she still has her old recipe so I can compare this one to hers!