The Recipe our Whole Family Ate

This is a secret about the Polley family.  OK - Maybe is isn't a secret but I tried to make it seem more mysterious or something.  Here goes:  The three people in our little family generally don't eat the same things for dinner.  It has a lot to do with me trying to eat healthier foods and not eating much meat, Eric working strange hours and preferring a diet of pot pies, and Sarah being having a bit of a narrow palate. (I stole that narrow palate thing from another mom - don't you love it?!  Sounds so much fancier than picky eater.)

Anyway, I made this recipe a few weeks ago and everyone liked it.  I love making things in the crock pot because it gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I walk into the kitchen and something is cooking.  I realize that posting a recipe makes this even more of a mom blog.  Oh well.  Here it is!

Peanut Butter Pork Tenderloin

1 1/2 - 2 pounds pork tenderloin or pork chops (you can also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
1 onion, sliced in rings
1/3 cup soy sauce (you could use the low sodium)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbl. white whine vinegar
3 tbl. water
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (The original recipe calls for the natural kind but I used the cheap store brand.  I think you could use soy nut butter if peanuts are an issue.)
2 tbl chopped peanuts for garnish (I'm skipping these next time because the can of nuts was too tempting.)
1 lime cut in wedges for garnish (kids love squeezing lime wedges)

How to make it:
Place the onion in the bottom of the crockpot.  Put the pork or chicken on top. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic and then put the peanut butter on top in dollops.  Don't worry about stirring or anything (although you will feel nervous because it looks pretty awful at this point.)  Cook it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 - 6 hours.  An hour before you want to eat, open the crock pot, flip the meat over and stir everything around.

An hour later, you're done.  Now I've also made it into sort of a "pulled pork" or "pulled chicken" by taking the meat out and shredding it with two forks and then sticking it back in the sauce for a few more minutes.  I also plan to put in some shredded carrot next time because the Meal Makeover Moms always do that.  Serve it with  rice and squeeze some lime juice on top of each serving.  Yummy!

And this is the 4th blog post in a row for May - Whoo-hoo!!