slow cookin' the day away...

After only being back one day from Hawaii I was still missing the pork that accompanied my Hawaiian lunch plate. I love the salty and smoky flavor of the meat but knew that I wasn't going to be burying a whole pig in a fire pit in my backyard. I turned to my trusty crock pot (along with some Internet research) to try to find a great recipe that I could recreate at home. Low and behold I came together with the one below and boy did it turn out tasty.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Recipe

• boneless pork shoulder (about 4 lbs.)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. of kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. of liquid smoke
• 1 tsp. of fresh ground black pepper
• *you can also add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar if you want a more tangy taste. 
• cook 16hrs on low heat setting 

I tend to serve my pulled pork on hamburger buns with coleslaw and BBQ sauce but this would be great on its own as well. 

(place your pork shoulder in the crock pot on low setting) 

 (after 16 hrs +/- take your pork out of the crock pot and trim any remaining fat off of the meat.)

 (use two forks to pull apart the pork. you know it is done when it pulls apart very easy.)

(enjoy!)

aloha...

We have just returned from ten glorious days on the Big Island (aka Ethan's second home as far as he is concerned.) The day that we were supposed to fly out was the day of the "Seattle Snow Storm from Hell". It was all over the news that Seattle was going to be getting dumped on and the worst of it was supposed to happen right when our flight was supposed to depart.

Luckily, Jeff had the awesome idea to go and stay near the airport the night before so that way if it did snow like they were predicting we would just have to take a short shuttle ride to the airport. On the day of the big snow storm we were thankfully able to fly out, and were only an hour and a half late out of the gate. Let's just say that we have had our fill of Denny's for the year now.

Once we got to Hawaii we were in paradise. We reserved a condo at the Waikoloa Beach Villas and they did not disappoint. Our condo was located on the bottom floor which worked out perfect for us. We got to run outside and play in the morning and even had our very own BBQ right outside the patio. Every day we had sunny beautiful weather which equaled spending our time between the beach and the pool everyday. We got really good at digging holes in the sand and Ethan got really good at knocking down sand castles. We did venture out a couple of times to visit Bubba Gump and Kona Brewery. Plus, I got Ethan and Jeff to join me on a tour of Hula Daddy coffee. *Their tour is free and you get to sample some great Kona coffee to boot!

 (View outside of our condo patio overlooking the golf course. Too bad we don't golf.)

 (After dinner sundae at the Macaroni Grill @ the Queen's Shops.)

 (Walk down to our favorite snorkel beach at the Mauna Lani Resort.)

 (Ethan making his award winning "Fish Soup". He mastered the recipe by the end of the trip.)

 (Ethan's favorite thing to do in Hawaii, besides the pool of course.)

 (Our fill in pet while we were on vacation.)

 (Ethan showing off that he can swim with his floaties all by himself in the pool.)

 (A typical Hawaiian lunch plate.)

(Ginger and Lychee shaved ice with a sno cap from Anuenue Shave Ice. My absolute favorite shaved ice on the Big Island.)

off on an adventure...

Here is a sneak peak of our upcoming family adventure. I'll be sure to post once we return tanned and well rested.

let's play in the snow...

Winter is now upon us and so is the snow. Overnight mother nature dropped more snow down onto our neighborhood and Ethan, Bindi, and I took advantage of it. Ethan and I had a snowball fight, followed by making snow angels, building a snow man, and then just running around crazy in the snow. 

it's snowing...

The snow has finally arrived in the Seattle area. We had a great deal of snowfall for about an hour and then it seemed to melt away. While it lasted it was nice to look at outside the windows in the comfort of our own home. Unfortunately Ethan had a little bit of a cold so was not able to go out and take advantage of it. They say it is supposed to snow tomorrow so we will see if he will get his chance to conquer the snow again. Bindi sure enjoyed it though.

up, up, and away...

Our neighbors invited us to head over to the Museum of Flight in Seattle during our winter break. Even though I have lived in Washington my entire life I had never visited the museum. It was actually a very cool display and kids are actually able to sit in some of the planes. We were also able to tour a concord jet and they also had one of the United States of America presidential planes on display that you could tour as well. We also sat in on a planetarium presentation where you go into a big inflated room and watch a star show. Ethan had a great time hanging with his friend Isaac and Jeff and I had a great time hanging out with our neighbors and looking at all the planes.

science rocks at the pacific science center...

Since we had the week off and the weather was not that great we headed to the Pacific Science Center on one of our days off to hang out in Seattle. Jeff was heading to a game day at a friends house so he was able to join us in the morning and then after he left Ethan and I had a great time exploring the rest of the science center. Ethan absolutely loved the space shuttle that you could sit in and he also thoroughly enjoyed the shadow wall. I remember I loved the shadow wall when I was a kid as well so it was great to see him having so much fun in there and I had a great time too.


Before Jeff left we also took a ride up the elevator to the top of the Space Needle. Even though it was a little foggy and rainy up there Ethan liked being up way high and it was great to see the city.

new year's resolutions...

At the start of each new year I like to make a list of things that I would love to accomplish in the coming year. Here are mine below...

• Have more home cooked meals at our dinner table. Our lives tend to get busy with work and preschool but I am going to try to take time to make delicious healthy dinners for my family to be eaten at the dinner table while we discuss what went on in our days.
• Get better acquainted with my sewing machine. I've only barely scratched the surface of using my sewing machine so I am going to try and get more creative with it. Maybe possibly some skirts??
• Go on more outside adventures. This is mostly for the Spring/Summer months but I would love for us to get out and explore more.
• See more of my friends and family. As stated above work and preschool make us long for the weekends with nothing to do but I am going to make an effort to see friends that I haven't seen in a long time and also see my family more.
• Eat healthy. Yes, I know this is always on people's New Year's resolution lists but I really want to eat less bread and pasta and sweets since they tend to give me headaches and no energy. I have been eating this way for only five days now but I am feeling great so it must be working. ;)
• And of course update my blog more since I know everyone loves seeing pictures of my adorable son.

Happy New Year everyone and I hope that you are all able to accomplish your goals and have a wonderful year in 2012!

let there be lights...

Jeff puts on a pretty great light display on our house every year but we decided to go and see the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden - Garden d' lights. We ended up going the day after Christmas since I thought that the crowds would be a little smaller and boy was I wrong. The place was hopping and it was a little crowded to see the displays but luckily there are so many lights that you have views all around you. Plus, if you have kids under 4 they get in free!