Thursday, January 5, 2012

Sauerkraut and Pork

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My family has always celebrated New Years by making Sauerkraut and Pork. This tradition is something my Grandmother picked up from her Mom and Dad and has just been carried down the generations. I poked around on the internet to learn a little bit about the dish and where the tradition might possibly have come from. I learned that the dish is a Dutch dish and that the Sauerkraut and Pork tradition for New Years is primarily found in areas that were settled by the Dutch, people that come from areas that were settled by the Dutch, and by people with Dutch ancestors. My Grandmother is from Pittsburg, Pennsylvanian, which my research found was a Dutch area for a while and hence that’s where our family’s Sauerkraut and Pork tradition comes from. (I am no expert on this and I am just sharing what the little bit of poking around on the internet found about this tradition; I do not want to offend anyone).




Recipe Review:
This is just one of the many ways that Sauerkraut and Pork and be cooked.

What you need:

Crockpot
Pork Roast (I used a 5lb roast)
Sauerkraut (As much as you would like. I used enough to cover fill the Crockpot)
1 ½ cups Brown Sugar

Directions:




In a large skillet, brown all sides of the roast. (This helps seal all the juices.)

Place roast in the Crockpot. Add as such Sauerkraut as you would like (if you do not cover the roast in the Sauerkraut you may want to add some water).




About 1 hour into cooking mix 1 cup of brown sugar in with the Sauerkraut and coat the top of the roast with the other ½.




Cook roast (depending on size) on HIGH for 3-5 hours or LOW 8-10, stirring occasionally.




Notes:

I have a 6 qt Crockpot and used a 5.5 lb roast and it took 4 hours for it to cook.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012 Organizational Binder

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I know that these “Organizational and Management Binders” have been all over the internet and you probably don’t want to see another one, but one of my goals for 2012 is to be more organized and on top of things so I made one and wanted to share the way I did mine.


Supplies:

Binder
Dividers (I got 2 packs of 5 dividers at Wal-Mart for around $1 a pack)
Paper
Printer
Pens/Pencils


Steps:

The first thing I did when I decided I wanted to make my own Organizational Binder was decide what I wanted to put in it and decide what sections I would need.

I have the following sections in mine:

Calendar
Schedules
Budget
Finances
Bills
School
Meal Planning
Blog Planning
Contacts
Other


After deciding on what sections to have I got online in search of FREE printables to use in my binder. I was unable to find a full set that I truly like that had everything I wanted to use in my binder so I ended up making my own to my liking (I have shared links to where you can find the documents I used and print them if you would like).

I used the following documents:

2012 Calendar
Account Tracker
Bill Tracker
Birthdays
Budget
Contacts
Meal Planner
Monthly Blog Planner
Spending Tracker
Subscriptions
Websites & Passwords
Weekly Planner





When you’re finished with both of the above steps, you should go ahead and label the different sections in your binder and print whatever you wish to put in your binder. You can also go ahead and fill out the calendars and other items you put in your binder, and put them in your binder.


The last step is to enjoy an organized 2012 with the help of your Organizational Binder.

Happy New Years :)