Tacos Al Pastor

I came across this taco recipe several years ago and we love it.  It calls for a pork shoulder, but my grocery stores never have it.  So I buy a pork tenderloin and cut it into long, thick, strips before marinating it and grilling it.  It also calls for dried chiles.  If you live in the West, you know what to do.  But if you are here in TN, ask a produce guy at the store.  At Kroger, they sell tiny packs of them and they hang above the jalapeno and bell pepper section.  They are red chiles that are dried out.  If you love grilled pineapple, guacamole, and the taste of lime and cilantro, then you'll really love these tacos.  They are so flavorful!

Tacos Al Pastor

from Better Homes and Gardens

1 1/2 lb pork shoulder

2/3 cup zesty Italian Dressing

8 dried chilis

1/4 tsp cumin

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 avocado

2 Tbsp mayo

1 serrano chile

corn tortillas

chopped onion

cilantro

lime

Rip the stems off the chilis and wash out the seeds.  Put the chilis and Italian Dressing into the blender and blend until it is a saucy.  (I have a cheap blender, so sometimes it requires me to add a little water to get it going.)  Add the cumin and pour this marinade over your pork and marinate for 2 hours or more. 

Heat your grill.  Slice pineapple into rings or large chunks.  Grill the pork and pineapple. 

Meanwhile, mash 1 avocado with the mayo and diced serrano chile. 

Cut your pineapple and pork into bite size pieces and serve these tacos on corn tortillas.  I like to fry mine in a little bit of oil so they don't break and they heat up.  Top with avocado mix, chopped onion, cilantro, and squeeze some lime.  Enjoy!

The girls have been keeping us busy lately.  Emilie is still having table tantrums every once in awhile.  She hasn't completely opted out of dinner lately, but she still gives us a hard time.  Aubrie is also getting slower and slower at the dinner table.  It takes her forever to eat a meal, but she is a really good eater and will eat what you give her.  We just hope that Emilie becomes more cooperative these next couple of weeks before the baby comes.  She doesn't know this yet, but we plan on talking her into throwing her pacifiers away soon.  Poor Emi. 

One fun thing the girls have been doing is taking turns praying.  Aubrie has learned to sing her prayer at our bible study.  Emilie has quickly picked up on it.  A couple of weeks ago, Adam or I would say we would pray and Aubrie would hold up her hand and say, "No, I got it." and she would pray for our food and random people.  But now, Emilie has taken over the "I got it!" and won't let ANYBODY pray.  You'll start a prayer and she holds both her hands up and yells, "I GOT IT!" and then she prays.  And if you listen closely, she actually does pray for the food in front of her (rice, waffles, juice) but then she mumbles and you have to help her wrap it up.  Now when you try and sing a song, she no longer sings with you.  She'll come up to you and hold her hand up and say, "I got it." and start the whole song over.  And if anybody tries to chime in, the song stops immediately, you get told I got it, and she starts over again.  What a mess that girl is.

I made brownies the other day.  Here is my turtle eater.

Emilie is enjoying drinking her milk out of a glass.

According to Aubrie, brownies and milk give you muscles.

Here is Emilie enjoying yogurt.  She doesn't look like a problem, does she?

I made a new recipe I found on Pinterest the other day for Buckeye Brownies.  It is supposed to taste like Buckeye balls that we usually make at Christmas time, but it really didn't.  Don't be disappointed though.  They were delicious brownies with peanut butter in them!  You'll like them if you are a chocolate and peanut butter fan.  You'll also like them because they are super easy and the recipe calls for a boxed brownie mix!  So there's not much preparation.  Just a lot of eating!! 

Buckeye Brownies

from cookiesandcups.com

• 1 box (18-19 oz) Brownie Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Lightly grease 9x13 pan
3. With your mixer combine brownie mix, oil and eggs until incorporated and smooth.
4. Stir in chopped peanuts
5. Divide batter in half.
6. Press half batter into bottom of prepared pan (it will be a thin layer) and set the other half to the side.
7. In a large bowl combine peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk with whisk.
8. Pour mixture over the bottom layer of brownie.
9. Drop the remaining brownie mix on top of peanut butter mixture, pressing each spoonful lightly into peanut butter.
10. Bake for 25 minutes until just set.
11. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

I will say this, I use the Ghiradelli chocolate brownie mix and it required me to add some water to this, so if your brownie mix is pretty thick, make adjustments until it looks like a normal brownie mix.  Also, mine required me to cook for about 35 minutes.  Just test yours with a toothpick.  You know they are ready when the toothpick comes out clean.  Enjoy!!

I hope everyone is having a super week!  Love to all!

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