Cafe Rio Pork

I have my friend Lauren to thank for this recipe. She had it posted on her recipe blog. It is so good! We love Cafe Rio but only get to eat it when we visit Utah. Jacob made it for dinner last night. We let the pork marinate over night. And then we cooked up rice and black beans and made our own burritos with everything. A-MAZING! We bought a large can of sauce and a large can of chillies and it was way too much sauce. So your probably good buying a small can of each.

SWEET PORK

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Tomorrow is Emma's birthday. I can't believe she's turning 3. Time has gone by way too fast. We had her friends over for a little party this afternoon which I think confused Emma about which day is her birthday. But the kids all had fun and that's all that matters right?

I am so thankful for Emma. She has been such a blessing in mine and Jacob's life. She has taught us patience and how to love. We love her personality and how silly, yet serious she can be. She's very soft spoken and we have to keep telling her to speak up but I'm so glad she is so sweet and quiet (not 100% of the time though, she does know how to be loud and have fun).

Emma, your mommy and daddy want you to know how much we love you! You bring a smile to our faces. Thank you for being such an easy little girl to raise. You are a wonderful friend full of concern and love for those whom you come in contact with. You will do great things in this life and we are excited to help guide you through this rough, crazy and oh so rewarding experience called life. Your Heavenly Father loves you more than you can imagine and I know he smiles down at you every day. We love you bug!

Halloween and such

The girls had fun this weekend with all the Halloween action. We went to our ward's Chili/Cornbread/Pie bake off and Carnival and Trunk or Treat on Friday and then trick or Treating on Saturday. I made dinner in a pumpkin for Halloween dinner. My mom made it growing up and I decided this year would be a good year to start traditions for the different holidays/celebrations so that's going to be our new tradition. I'm excited that Emma is old enough to begin to remember things and have fun during the holidays. Here are some Halloween pictures. Sorry they are turned the wrong way. If I turn them the right way on my camera while it's plugged in then it make an error on my camera.

Emma was a lady bug fairy

And Linnea was a cow

My big girls!

And this picture is Sunday night when I told Emma to get her pull up on and her PJ's. Such a goofy kid.

Jacob and the girls watching TV together on Halloween morning. Such concentration! We also rented Marly and Me and watched it after we got back from trick or treating. Such a good movie.
This is Emma gutting the pumpkin so I could make dinner in it. I love her facial expression.
I realized that I don't have many pictures of just Linnea and there aren't any of just her and me. She's such a little cutie. I love that she's happy all the time.