Pulled Pork Dinner

Last Saturday I did something rather rare. I actually went grocery shopping by myself. The only reason I did so was my husband did not get home until a little after 5 am and I needed fresh produce because the kids with oldest grandbaby were coming. I figured the trip should take me an hour with the focus on fruits and vegetables (aka shopping the outside). I decided to go to the closest No Frills to us some 12 km away. Shopping the outside of this store was a real treat! They had 50 lb bags of potatoes on for $3.99. Yes you heard that right, 50 lb of potatoes for $3.99. I asked the stockboy if he could put them under the cart for me. Then along the meat aisle between the outer meat counter and the inner aisles they had bunkers of meats at excellent prices. Anytime I can pick up pork for $1.50 or less per lb then I'm going to. The had boneless pork ribs on for $1.49/lb so I picked up one for $5 and I picked up to pork loins for the same price per lb coming in at just over $20 for the two.

I don't know the reason but pork has been at rock bottom prices this year. This is the time to stock up while the prices are low. I do know that many of the pig farmers in this area are calling it quits which is a real shame. I'll go into this issue further in a later Frugal Kitchens 101.

Pulled Pork Dinner

I used one of the pork loins to make pulled pork   but did not can it. For this batch I used Uncle Sam's Albuquerque Style BBQ Sauce bought from the last ribfest then cooked the pork long and slow until the meat fell apart. The end result was enough to feed 4 adults and 1 child for dinner, sandwiches the next day and enough in the freezer for a meal for 2 adults. I served the pulled pork with mashed potatoes (method follows) and niblet corn.

Easy Mashed Potatoes
Wash the desired amount of potatoes. Do not peel. Cut into large cubes. Steam until tender. [Trust me on this one mashed potatoes made using steamed potatoes are superiour to boiled.] Place the potatoes in the bowl of a KitchenAid® stand mixer. Add about 1 c sour cream or plain low fat yogurt, 4 oz cream cheese, about 1 tbsp butter and begin mixing on setting 2. Gradually mix in enough milk or chicken stock so the potatoes are creamy. [This should take about 2 minutes or less total time; steaming the potatoes will take about 10 minutes.]