Family Circle Sweet and Sour Pork

Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather starts to turn cooler and I take out my slow-cooker. I absolutely love using my slow-cooker when the weather turns cooler. It's great being able to put a meal in the crock-pot in the morning and do nothing until dinner time. When I first moved to West Virginia I only knew how to crock-pot a handful of things, mostly meat. I quickly learned that everyone in my state uses their slow-cookers for just about everything, especially pinto beans. After many less than great dishes (which my great husband ate and didn't say anything negative) I learned how to correctly use my crock-pot. Today I use my crock-pot multiple times a week in the cooler months. Since I use my crock-pot so frequently I am always on the look-out for new dishes, and was pleased when I saw a recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork in the July issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It makes six servings and takes 15 minutes of prep and 8 hours of cook time on low. I have never actually seen a 2 lb pork shoulder in my area, so I bought a 17 pound shoulder and had it cut to the right size. Instead of using reduced-sodium soy sauce, I used the regular version I already had in my fridge. This is a basic recipe and I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients at my local grocery store. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love how easy this recipe is to make. My family loves anything using pork and this dish was no exception. Serving the pork over noodles made for a nice combination. The noodles did a great job of blending with the pork and worked much better than rice would have. This doesn't taste like a traditional sweet and sour pork recipe, but has a great flavor. An easy pork crock-pot recipe, that's perfect for the cooler months ahead.

For the recipe go to Sweet and Sour Pork. (registration required)