Making it last

Making it last

This week was ridiculously busy, to say the least.
Between class, study groups and electives I left for school by 7 every morning and returned after 8 every night. There were two days I was able to come home briefly in between, but not for more than half an hour.
Long story short, there wasn’t much time for complex meals…
The solution: make one thing and make it last all week. This sounds rather boring I know, but keep reading, it gets better:

--The thing that lasts--
Shredded pork:
2-3lb boneless pork shoulder or sirloin
Olive oil
1 onion chopped
Lots of garlic
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can whole tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
Some spices:
Thyme, oregano, bay leaves, hot pepper flakes, chili powder salt, pepper


Heat oil, cook onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves until onions are soft. Add tomato paste, pork, and both cans of tomatoes (including juice). Bring to a boil, add 1 cup water, pepper flakes and chili powder (this is to taste, but if it is too spicy it may not function as well in some of the meals later in the week). Allow to simmer 2+ hours, until meat is cooked and tender. [This is when I went back to lab for a few hours, luckily Andrew was able to stay home and keep an eye on it until I returned home]
Remove meat and shred with two forks (if it doesn’t fall apart easily it hasn’t cooked enough yet) Return meat to pan and simmer another 15 minutes, salt and pepper to taste.
Once you have this made you are ready to go all week.


Meal 1
- Tacos –
The pork is great on tacos. Pick your favorite taco stuff, here is what we had:
Pork
Whole wheat tortillas
Fat free sour cream
Sliced Avocado
Shredded cheddar cheese
Black olives

Meal 2 – Spaghetti
We made this with a big spinach salad:
Remove left over pork from fridge, heat in a sauce pan. Depending on the consistency and what you have in your cupboard, add a small can of tomato sauce or some left over canned pasta sauce to thicken.
Use about ½ to serve over your pasta shape of choice (we had angel hair, it is Andrew’s favorite). Refrigerate the remaining.


Meal 3 – pizza
With the last little bit of pork goodness make pizza!!
I had to add some tomato past to extend it a bit and to thicken it a little more.
We used my ‘baking mix’ (recipe to come shortly) to make the crust, however if you are lucky enough to have a trader joe’s near by just use their crust.
Roll out crust, spread with sauce and cheese, add your favorite toppings, cook as directed.