Sausage Fried Rice

A while back we purchased part of a pig. And while we've been working our way through the chops, bacon and roasts I had about 15 pounds of fresh pork sausage just sitting in my freezer. I can only make biscuits and gravy so often...

I wasn't sure what to do with the abundance of pork until I found this great recipe on AllRecipes.com. Chinese food is a favorite in this house so I knew the recipe would be a great hit- and it was! One word of warning- this makes a lot of food! I make it and freeze individual size portions for quick lunches.

Also, be sure to make the rice ahead of time so it has time to cool.



Ingredients

* 1 pound ground pork sausage
* 5 eggs, beaten
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 head cabbage, cored and shredded
* 3 carrots, chopped
* 6 cups cooked white rice, cold
* 1/4 cup soy sauce, or to taste
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can bean sprouts, drained
* 1 (6 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed
* ground black pepper to taste
* 3 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage until evenly browned. Drain, and remove sausage from the pan. In the same pan, using the remaining coating of grease from the sausage, scramble the eggs, stirring frequently until cooked through. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a very large skillet (I use a very large pot) or electric skillet over medium-high heat. Stir fry the cabbage and carrots just until the cabbage has wilted. Add the cold rice, and fry, stirring so that there are no clumps. Mix in the sausage and pour in some soy sauce. Stir in bean sprouts, peas, and eggs, mixing well so there are no big chunks of egg. Season with pepper, and stir in green onions just before removing from the heat. Adjust soy sauce to taste, and serve.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork

A while back we bought half a pig. That may sound odd to those of you not near rural communities. What that means is we bought half a butchered pig. So we have a pork product at least once a week. I had a shoulder roast sitting in the freezer when I found this recipe from AllRecipes.com on my Dinner Spinner (free app for the iPhone or iTouch).

The recipe calls for a pork loin roast but I think you can use any pork roast cut. Because it has cranberries this is a great fall or winter meal. You could possibly serve it for the holidays. Because it's cooked in a slow cooker I term it a "quick & easy" recipe. It may take 4-8 hours to cook- but it's "hands off" time!



Ingredients

* 1 (16 ounce) can cranberry sauce (I used canned whole berries but you can use just the jelly)
* 1/3 cup French salad dressing (I used Catalina)
* 1 onion, sliced (I used dried chopped onions, about 1/4 c)
* 1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast (shoulder roast works well, too)
* Optional: season the pork with salt and pepper
* Optional: I added 1T prepared horseradish for additional flavor

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the cranberry sauce, salad dressing, and onion. Place pork in a slow cooker, and cover with the sauce mixture.
2. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for 8 hours. Pork is done when the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

I paired this with my Gouda Mashed Potatoes.