Cheater's Pulled Pork

As I am getting closer to the big Birth Day, I am starting to think about things I can do to make my life easier once the little one has arrived. One of those things is preparing some meals in advance that I can pull out of the freezer and bake.

Another sanity-saver (even without a baby around) is making meals in the crockpot. I actually love it so much I have them in two different sizes. Since I think things cook better in the crockpot when they're almost completely submerged in liquid, the small one is nice to keep the portion size relatively small (since at the moment I'm only cooking for two).

Without further adieu, here is my original recipe for Cheater's Pulled Pork. I call it this because it's so easy - it's loosely based on a recipe from my mom, but considerably scaled back in terms of ingredients.

In your crockpot, stir to combine:
- 1 bottle of beer (pretty much anything works, but you might want to avoid the fruity stuff like raspberry or apricot beer)
- 4 shakes of BBQ rub/seasoning (substitute taco seasoning if you must)
- 2 shakes of thyme
- 1 4 oz. can of diced green chiles

Add a 1-2 lb. pork loin, fat trimmed off (as best you can), cut into pieces so it will be submerged in the liquid as much as possible. (I cut mine into 4 long strips.  It really doesn't matter because you're going to shred it when it's done anyway.) (You could double the seasonings and liquid ingredients to make a larger quantity of pork.)

(Usually I'm putting this together the night before so I stow the crock in my fridge)

Crucial next step once you're ready to cook: Take the crock out of the fridge and put it back in the crockpot. Don't forget to plug it in! (I find that leaving the cooking part of the crockpot sitting out on my counter is a good reminder... but I'm not going to lie and tell you I've never forgotten it before.)

Cook on low all day 6-9 hours. Remove meat from liquid, shred with 2 forks (it should pretty much just fall apart), and serve on toasted bread or buns with your favorite BBQ sauce.  (If you don't have a favorite, I recommend a sweet & spicy Kansas City-style sauce... not that I'm prejudiced or anything!)

Do you have any favorite freezer or crock-pot meals you'd like to share with a nesting mama-to-be?  Leave it in the comments!