Cheap Eats: Pulled Pork and Apple Pie Floats

Pin It For dinner tonight, I decided to make pulled pork with bread & butter pickles and coleslaw followed by apple pie floats for dessert.  It was the perfect dinner to chow down while watching a football game.  Speaking of which - Go Seahawks!!!  Even if you are not a Seahawks fan, you had to enjoy watching Marshawn Lynch run for a 67-yard touchdown - hoot hoot!!!  Now, I can't say the Seahawks have inspired me of late, but tonight they did.  After the game, this little card was crafted for my current Send Love Today assignment.  My SLT assignment is a teen boy from Massachusetts - think he'll like it?

Back to the pulled pork and apple pie floats.  At Cooks.com I found an easy  recipe.  Of course, I changed it up a bit to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand and to suit our taste.  I also cooked it all day in a crock pot - this slow cook really intensified the flavor.

Ingredients I used:
    1 (4 lb.) pork shoulder roast
    1 (16oz) can of tomato paste

2 tbls. firmly packed brown sugar (Splenda)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. red-wine vinegar
1/4 c.Red Wine left over from last night's dinner
4 tsp. soy sauce

2 c. water

Put all ingredients in a crock pot and cook at least 6 hours (I cooked it over 8 hours on medium). When done, lightly skim any fat that has floated to the top.  Then gently pull/shred the meat apart with two forks.  Mix in with the sauce. 

This is the finished product served on fresh onion rolls with bread & butter pickles and cole slaw on the side.  It makes enough for 8 sandwiches.  The pork had been previously purchased when on sale for on 99 cents/pound and then frozen.  The most expensive item was the package of Franz onion rolls at $4.50 for 8 (next time I'll have to make my own).

For dessert, I tried a new treat - apple pie floats.  Here's my take on the recipe: you will need vanilla ice cream, ginger ale, apple cider, caramel syrup, caramel sauce, apple pie spice.

Scoop ice cream into a fountain glass (2-3 scoops).  Mix 50% apple cider with 50% ginger ale and a splash of caramel syrup.  Place spoon and straw into the glass.  After the foam has settled, drizzle a little caramel sauce over the ice cream and sprinkle with a dash of apple pie baking spice.  Enjoy - you worked hard this week!