let's go on an adventure!

a food adventure!  you want to go with me?  here's the deal.  since z is bigger and more independent and since i am starting to get the hang of this whole "being a mom" thing, i have been able to prepare delicious (most of the time) home-cooked meals every night (almost every night) and because hubs and i love food, and we are trying to serve a variety of different kinds of food to z, i have been preparing a variety of dinners lately.  when z was about 6 months old, it became easier for me to cook dinner without him causing such a fuss that i wasn't holding and/or nursing him (hello witching hour), i was able to resume the preparing of dinners around that time.  but they were very basic and boring.  we had tacos/burritos at least once every week.  and mac n cheese (home made, not out of the box) and probably grilled up some burgers or something.  just, not much variety.  but as time went on and i began to feel more myself and more confident in parenting, and z began to crawl and then toddle around (and i could busy him with snacks), i started cooking a better variety of meals.  oh, and because i started school in the fall again, i needed to be super organized to make it all work, so i would make a meal plan for the week, post it on the fridge, write out my grocery list and prepare the night before for the next day's meal (particularly if i was going to be using the slow cooker).  anyway, my point is that i have some delicious recipes to share, and in an effort to continue this super fun food journey, i thought it would also be super fun if i invited some of you (ok the 12 of you that read!) to join me, and share your faves, too.  sound fun?  ok, so, i want to start with one of my favorites first, i just made it this past week.  it's the cuban pork sandwich.  now, there's a little story behind this.  one of me and hubs' favorite places to eat in seattle was a hole in the wall cuban restaurant (shack) called paseo's.  we would stand in line for 30 minutes or more to order their amazingly delicious and juicy smokin thighs (cuban seasoned chicken thighs over rice and beans and a side of corn on the cob) or cuban pork sandwich.  i mean, the sandwich was incredible.  easily one of the tastiest things i have ever eaten; juicy, tangy, smoky, with a little kick of spice from the jalapenos, crunchy-it was delicious.  like, sandwich juice running down your arm and having no shame in licking it, liz lemon shoving her favorite sandwich with dipping sauce down her mouth in 1 minute flat kind of delicious.  anyway, sadly, they were shut down a few weeks back because they were doing some illegal stuff-mistreating their employees and stuff like that.  paseo fans were sad (and angry!  what the hell are they thinking?!)  and a few locals posted their own re-creation of their favorite sandwich.  so i found one post, who doesn't happen to be a local, but he would eat at paseo's every time he came to seattle, and his recipe was pretty spot on (and i happen to really like the title of the blog, haha).  it is here:  http://userealbutter.com/2011/11/10/paseo-cuban-roast-pork-sandwich-recipe/.  the only change to the recipe that i made was that i only used orange juice and not orange-mango, and i would recommend using fresh orange juice and then putting the spent orange halves in the pot with the pork while it cooks (this is how i learned it from a cuban recipe book that i have been using for years when i make cuban pulled pork), but don't do that with the lime halves because they will cause a bitter taste).  oh, and i lightly toasted the bread before assembling the sandwich.  it was pretty good.  not the same as paseo's, but good enough.  i'll be making that again.  and it was even better the next day (we had leftover pork and all the accouterments so i made another sammich for myself for lunch).  and the roasted garlic aioli is amazing.  i want to eat it on every sandwich now.  anyway, i would highly recommend trying this recipe.  it works well if you cook the pork in a dutch oven like a les crueset or something, i have this one and it's great for braising:

alright.  so, tell me, what deliciousness have you prepared lately that you are willing to share with me?  the recipe, i mean.  until next time!