Real life with Lar

Carnitas Tacos It has been so hot I feel another crockpot meal is on order. When I tell my family that I’m making carnitas I know I'm gonna have a full house. The family's new favorite phrase is "Make it for the blog" and then they get to eat it. ;)  Carnitas is an inexpensive, tasty meal that is one of my go to recipes when I am craving some good Mexican food like we had growing up in San Diego.  Here is all you need to do: In the crock pot spray cooking spray and place a 2-3 pound pork roast or loin in it. Season the roast with 1T garlic powde r, 1T onion powder , and 2tsp Lawrys seasoning salt Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours  After it has cooked set your crockpot to ‘keep warm” and shred the meat with 2 forks. (you don’t need to remove the meat just do the shredding in the crockpot) Now, you have two options with the meat… Remove the liquid from the crockpot and take a stick of butter, add to meat and let it melt. OR Do th...

Swiss Cheese Chicken Casserole Summer break is here! So that means pool time, fireflies, ice cream, and less rushing around. Well, that last part may be a bit of a fantasy, but hey a girl can dream, right?  ;) I used to think when our daughters were off for summer I would have SO much more time to devote to cooking dinner. Then something happened...it got hot! There was no way I was turning on the oven or slaving over a hot stove! (Wow, I just wrote that and in my head I said it in my Mom's voice LOL) Unfortunately, Smokin and the girls had become accustomed to eating and sandwiches tend to get tiresome after a while. Enter the slow cooker/crockpot - an awesome little kitchen appliance that makes dinner and cooking so much easier. I not sure where the original recipe is from; my best guess is a Campbell's soup label.   Over the 25 plus years I have been making this it has been tweaked several times to make it my own. Here is my version:    Yo...

Fried chicken I've had many requests from friends and family for my fried chicken recipe.  On the rare occasions that we had left-overs, Smokin would bring some to work to share with his friends.  The guys would practically fight each other for some. The key to my fried chicken is bacon fat!! You don’t need a whole lot but you need enough to flavor the frying oil.  So as much as it may stink you’re going to have to cook up bacon to save the fat. (life’s tough all over ;) If you need help eating the bacon I can come on over)  Also, I use boneless skinless chicken breasts that I’ve cut into strips because I don’t like the dark meat. However, If you do like the dark meat then I suggest boneless chicken thighs (with or without the skin).   However, this is so good you'll never miss the skin.  Soak your chicken (about 3 pounds) for about 1-2 hours in buttermilk.  You can skip this part but it makes the chicken so tender and juicy. So...