Winner, Winner PORK dinner!

Well, I don't know about you but when I have a lot of time on my hands I seem to take it out on the kitchen! I have been cooking what seems to be non-stop the last 2 days! I did find time to get my butt up and go to the gym--Pilates and Cardio Blast! Plus I got a little help from this lady:

I have about 4 of her DVD's and I am just totally in love with her. Do I get bored sometimes when I am doing her workouts? Sure...but I stick through them and love how I feel in the days after! I usually always end my workouts with abs. I usually do about 750-1000 crunches in a sitting. I know, it sounds like a lot but if you get a playlist of your favorite 4 or 5 "pump-you-up" songs going, you can do about 150-200 per song! I only do about 50 then rest for about 30 seconds. Your core is essential in all of your workouts! Tomorrow morning I head to cardio kickboxing at the gym and then I am going on Thursday morning to spin class with some ladies in Baltimore. I love planning my workouts! It helps me stick with my routine!


As stated in my previous post, I did make Courtney's Cranberry Apple Bread except instead of cranberries, I used some of the berries I picked on Sunday! I was so anxious to try it, I was sitting in front of my oven with the oven light on like a little kid! Ha! It finally came out of the oven looking like this:

My mom sliced off a piece before I could take a picture!

Let me tell you this bread is TOO DIE FOR! I would probably recommend sticking with Courtney's recipe though as far as cranberries are concerned. My berries had some hard seeds in there--but it's still delish!


Yesterday, I wanted to bust out the crock pot really bad so my mom suggested looking for or creating a pulled pork recipe. Don't have to tell me twice!


I made a Spicy Carolina Style Pulled Pork and as most people know, things made down in the south are made in bulk. So, I just divided the recipe in half and compromised as such. Here is the full and whole recipe:


Spicy Carolina Style Pulled Pork

3 Tbl brown sugar
2 Tbl paprika
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
5 lbs. pork shoulder
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbl spicy brown mustard
1 Tbl garlic powder
1/2 tsp powdered cayenne pepper
2 red onions, quartered
2 yellow onions, quartered


Combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt, and pepper and rub the mixture over the roast. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate a few hours (overnight is best). In a bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Mix well. Place the quartered onions in the bottom of a crock pot. Unwrap the roast and place on top of the onions. Drizzle most of the vinegar mix over the roast, reserving some to add to the shredded meat at the end. Cover and cook low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Remove meat and onions to a cutting board. Remove skin and set aside. Using two forks, pull and shred the pork apart. Chop the onions and mix into shredded meat. Serve on warm rolls/buns with extra vinegar sauce on the side. Add some barbecue sauce if desired!

I will have leftovers forever!


Tomorrow I plan on making Banana Blueberry Bread (What's with my bread craze??)



Ok MAJOR brag time...Today I discovered that in the past 5 days, I have won not one, not two, but THREE giveaways!! I couldn't believe it! Literally I was jumping up and down screaming when I found out! What did I win??

• From Laura I won some Clearly Fresh Bags.They use a BreathWay technology to help keep fruits and vegetables fresh longer! Yay!



• From Kristine I won a Bella lunch bag by Toss Boutiques! It is insulated and I got to choose my own design and letter to put on it! Woohoo!

And finally...from Jenny I won $150 worth of Chobani!!!! That is 10 cases of Chobani that will be sent to my house (holy crap!) Can you believe it??

I am so excited! I cannot wait to receive these goodies in the mail! I don't know how or why my luck has changed but it did! I am not complaining!

Well, it's off to bed for me. Can't wait for my cardio kickboxing class in the morning! Here are tonight's questions I have for you all:

Do you like to plan your workouts or plan them on-the-go?? What is your favorite crock pot recipe??


Tomorrow is hump day which means it is almost the weekend (a holiday weekend at that!) and I hope you enjoy it to the fullest...on your own two feet...





Until the next step bloggers...