4th of July BBQ

This week in honor of 4th of July I decided to try BBQ.

I was limited because we don't own a grill, but I did decide I could try pulled pork after looking over the menu of a "famous" local BBQ joint. The BBQ place sells the lunch plate for eight bucks and offers two sides, drink on the side.

First thing I'll do is break down how much I spent on ingredients:

boneless pork ribletts-4.95
1 head cabbage-.69
1 bag organic carrots-1.59
1 onion-.25
1 can tomato paste-.79
1pkg buns-2.50
1 can beef broth -.85
1 lb spinach-.79
4 ears corn-.80
1 gallon tea-2.50
misc-2.50

Those are the ingredients for pulled pork sandwiches, corn , spinach, cole slaw and ice tea to drink. Some of the ingredients can be used more than once for a family of four. It takes some and discipline, but you can plan around the extra ingredients. For instance, the hamburger buns will come in handy for mushroom burgers later in the week. The other half of the cabbage is a nice side  with other meals. I only needed about three carrots.And we have never had a whole gallon of tea in one sitting. Good gravy, what that would do to my kidneys. OK ,so figuring a few of the ingredients are used for other meals the price for the whole meal for four people came to....$11.29. Man, there where a lot of left overs! Had the same thing for lunch for four the next day.

Here's how I did it. It's easy to do in the crock pot which is a real time saver. I took the pork and a quarter cup water and cooked it for several hours on high by themselves. Next I mixed the tomato paste,  half a can beef broth, some molasses(about a tablespoon), some brown sugar, eighth of a cup apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper and threw them all in the crock pot. While that was cooking I made cole slaw but finely dicing cabbage, onions and carrots together and adding enough mayo to cover and a splash of vinegar. I threw that into the fridge to chill and then took a chill break myself. When the pork was pull apart tender I turned the crock pot to low and heated up some spinach with a little bit of onion and a left over piece of bacon.  The corn is easy enough, either boil it up or roast it shuck and all for a good half hour in the oven.

When the BBQ was cooked through I pulled it apart with a fork,  and mixed it well with the sauce. I served the sandwiches Memphis style which apparently means putting the cole slaw on the whole messy sandwich. I'm thinking I shoud name this sandwich the "kitchen sink sandwich because you should eat it over the sink with your sleeves rolled  up! The sides and drink you know about, not that exciting, but another success I think. I tried this time to give more information and I hope it helps.

Happy healthy cooking all! Have a wonderful 4th!