Perfect bacon

I hate frying bacon. It's messy and sometimes it hurts when it pops. So we cook our bacon one way, in the oven. It's easy to do, easy to clean up, and it tastes so very good.

Line a baking sheet with foil. I use the extra wide foil so that the grease doesn't seep under to the baking sheet, remember easy clean-up right?

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees. If your oven doesn't cook evenly, you may want to turn the pan 180 degrees half way through cooking, but be careful not to spill the grease in the oven. Depending on the thickness of the bacon you may want to cook longer. We usually set the timer for 12 minutes and check it every couple minutes after that until it looks done.

 Place bacon on a paper towel to dry.

Let the cookie sheet sit until grease solidifies. It usually takes a few hours depending on the temperature in your house. The cooler it is, the faster it will solidify. Then toss the foil. No grease splatters all over your stove and very yummy bacon. It's perfect for BLTs because it doesn't curl in the oven.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

A yummy, easy summer recipe. Prep time is only about 10 minutes, which is exactly what I love about it (plus it's super good!) Just a side note, you can use a pork shoulder for this but I always use a center cut boneless pork roast, or a pork loin. It has a lot better quality meat, and you waste less because it's so lean (even though it's more expensive).

Pulled Pork
1 (2-3 lb.) boneless pork roast
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
2 cups BBQ sauce
2 TBS mustard
2 TBS honey
1 TBS soy sauce
Salt and Pepper

 Scatter onion over bottom of slow cooker and place pork on top. Add broth (or water), cover and cook on low until very tender, about 8 hours. Remove meat and let cool.  When cool enough, pull meat into thin shreds, removing all fat and gristle. Drain liquid from slow cooker. Return pork to slow cooker. In a bowl mix BBQ sauce, mustard, honey, and soy sauce. Poor over pork, season with salt and pepper and stir to blend. Cook one hour longer on low. Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.