How to make Crock Pot Kalua Pig

Kalua pig is a whole pig that is smoked and traditionally cooked in an underground imu. According to this, the history of Kalua Pig goes back to the 1900's. The ancient Hawaiians would dig a huge pit and prepare it for cooking whatever they wanted - usually pigs, chickens, fish, or vegetables. Kalua pig is notably known at luaus.

Over the years, the process of cooking kalua pig has been modernized. It can now be cooked in the oven or it can be cooked in a crock pot - I have done it both ways. Today I decided to up how I cook it in crock pot and let it cook the entire day. I used some ti leaves to help with the cooking process, if you don't have it, heavy duty tin foil will work just as well. Here's what how I did it =

 I have a ti leaf plant from Hawaii growing in a pot in my living room. I cut some of the leaves so I could lay my piece of pork around it. Ti leaves are used often in Hawaiian cooking - it is used in place of tin foil.

To prep the leaves, a paring knife was used to cut out the hard stem in the center.

They were alternated on a piece of tin foil.

This is a two poundish piece of pork, and using my paring knife, I stuck it in the meat and twirled the knife to make a whole.

Several whole garlic cloves were stuffed in each hole.

All stuffed.

Next, the whole pork was salt and peppered - top and bottom. 

This is the back side.

Some Wright's Liquid Smoke was poured over the surface of the pork, letting it drip underneath.

The top of the pork was covered with more ti leaves, then secured close with the foil. 

About a 1/4 cup of water was added to the crock.

Set the pork in . . .

set it to low, put the cover on, and walked away. 

It was taken out about 8 hours later.

Meat comes right off with tongs.

The pork was placed in a medium baking dish and shredded with 2 forks, then set it aside.

Cabbage was sliced and put it in a pot.

Shredded pork along with some of the accumulated pan juices was added to a pot, and cooked it until the cabbage was tender.

I enjoyed mine with some cauliflower rice and potato salad that I had made.

Jim doesn't like his with cabbage, so I kept some of the meat aside for him. Dinner was very tasty and enjoyable, and there is enough left for us both to have a great lunch too.

Happy Cooking!!

                                                                                                                                         Print Recipe

Crock Pot Kalua Pig

by Faith Epp 
May-26-2016

Hawaiian style roasted pig cooked in a crock pot. *This could alternatively, be cooked in an oven if no crock pot is handy.

Boneless pork loin or shoulder
Salt/pepper - I use kosher salt
**Up to 2 tablespoons Liquid smoke
Whole garlic cloves
Up to 1/2 cup Water
Sliced cabbage

- Take your pork, and using a paring knife, insert holes throughout the top surface of the pork - can insert holes on the sides too. - Insert 1 garlic clove for each hole made.

- Salt and pepper the entire pork - top and bottom, and place on ti leaf or tin foil. - Add up to 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke - this depends on the size of your pork. Liquid smoke can be over powering, so you don't want to use a lot.  - Wrap up the pork, place up to 1/2 cup of water in the your crock, insert pork and turn crock pot on low. - Let this cook for about 8 hours. - After cooking, place pork back in the crock or roasting pan, and shred with 2 forks. 
- If cooking with cabbage, place sliced cabbage in a pot with pan juices and add shredded pork. Taste for seasoning and add more water if necessary - you don't want the dish to be dry, you want some juices to pour over your rice. 

*If crock pot is not handy, place pork in a shallow roasting pan and place in a preheated 375 degree oven for 3 - 4 hours.
**Two tablespoons is about right for a 5 pound piece of pork.
http://faithepp.blogspot.com/2016/05/how-to-make-crock-pot-kalua-pig.html

I always welcome friendly critiques and comments or questions. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Please feel free to leave a message here or email if you prefer. If you leave a message here, please be sure that your email address is sited so you can receive my response. Thanks!

How to Make Zucchini Chips

These are my zucchini plants - I planted four this year. I am now starting to get zucchinis that I've been patiently waiting for.

One of the things I've decided to make is zucchini chips. I've never tried them before and have several recipes in my Pinterest. I decided to use this beauty - over 15" long.

The trick to making chips of any kind is the size and cutting it. I used my Benriner - worked great. 

This is the thickness I was going for - about 1/8".

I managed to get three trays cut.

To start, I tried this recipe, but not exactly - I was just going to follow her baking time and temperature, but it didn't work out. I didn't bread my zucchini - I just put some granulated garlic and onion in a small bowl with salt and pepper and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). I brushed all the zucchini on both sides and put it in that really hot oven. Within eight minutes, some of the chips were charring and my oven was smoking - not good. I guess my zucchini was too naked (no coating).

I took off what was charred and lowered the temp to about 225 and put the trays back in the oven for another hours. It came out a darker color and the center was really thin - these were delicate and would break easy. Flavor is really good, almost nutty.

These were about gone after the third day they were baked - they are that good.

I tried again yesterday. This time I sliced it about 1/4" thick - enough for two trays. I preheated my oven to 225. I mixed 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1 teaspoon of onion and garlic granules mixed together, and a few grinds of black pepper. I coated all that in some EVOO and brushed it on each zucchini. I ended up running out of EVOO, so I just dunked my brush in the mix and brushed on what was on the brush.

I put the pans in the not so hot oven and baked it for a total of two and a half hours. I kept checking after the first hour and baked it at 30 minute intervals - two and a half hours did the trick, longer than I thought, but that's what it needed.

Finished chip. Still on the dark side, but it's crisp and really good.

This is how thick/thin they came out.

I had some of the coating left over in the bowl, but that didn't go to waste - I put it in some soup I made for dinner.

So, if you have a huge zucchini, and you know you're going to be home most of the day, plan to make some zucchini chips - they are seriously good. These are great crushed up and used as a topping for popcorn - crushed kale chips are yummy too.

Thanks for reading!

I always welcome friendly critiques and comments or questions. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Please feel free to leave a message here or email if you prefer. If you leave a message here, please be sure that your email address is sited so you can receive my response. Thanks!

Sharing to Groups on Facebook

If you're on Facebook a lot, I'm sure you belong to at least one group. Well, did you know that you can share stuff to that group? It's fun to share things that your other friends on that group would like to read. 

There are two ways to do it. I think we've all done this method. You go to the page you want to share, highlight the address bar, right click, select copy. Then you open your destination page, right click where you want the address, and paste it. Did you know that there is another way? I recently learned how to this, and will show how. The yellow arrows below shows you what you should see.

First, you click on the Share button as if you would normally share. You will see 3 options - choose the middle one "Share . . ."

Click on "On your own Timeline"

Next, click on "In a group".

Now, type the name of your group where it says "Group name" - just type over those words. You have to type in the exact name of your group - once you do this often enough, just clicking on the first letter will bring up a list, then you can select your group.

Right under that, you can comment as normal, if you like, then you click on "Share Link" or "Share Photo" at the bottom.

You should see the Success bar when done.

If you should forget to select your group and start typing your comment, you will see the "No Recipient" message. No biggie, just go back and cut and copy your comment to the right spot, then type in your group name. If you start typing your group, before cutting your comment, you will have to start all over again with your comments. This can be frustrating, especially if you wrote a long comment. Trust me, I have done it more times than I'd like to.

That's it - it's really not hard at all. This seems like a lot of steps, but it's not. It may be confusing in the beginning, but just refer to my instructions and you'll get it. This is so handy if you share all the time, like I do. Practice, once you get the hang of it, it'll be second nature to you. I often share things twice - once to my group and again on my page. I love to share, as it spreads the knowledge and interest to my friends. Any problems, ask me and I'll be glad to help you.

Thanks for reading and I'll be looking forward to seeing your shares!

I always welcome friendly critiques and comments or questions. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Please feel free to leave a message here or email if you prefer. If you leave a message here, please be sure that your email address is sited so you can receive my response. Thanks!

DIY Mason Jar Sippy Cup Lid

This is my favorite cup I drink out of - a simple Tupperware cup.

Lately, I don't know if I'm being clumsy or that I put my cup in an awkward place, but I've been knocking it over when I'm sitting and watch TV. My cup is right next to me on an end table, and I reach for stuff, then blam! I have a big, watery mess. It's only water, but whatever is on that table gets wet - so annoying.

Last night I spilled my water again! After cleaning it up and getting more water, Jim asked me if he should buy me a sippy cup and we both started laughing. Well that got me thinking.

I've seen people use mason jars as drinking vessels and I've been thinking of trying it. They use sippy covers like this or this. Upon researching, I also see that people are using actual sippy cups from toddlers cups to make covers like this. Here's a great how to from a different kind of sippy cup lid.

So I went to the store to see what they had, and I did find sippy cups with lids, but they were all packaged up in multiples of more than one - there was no was to check for sizing unless the package was opened. I had to come up with another strategy and was thinking, "What is the purpose of a sippy cup lid?" The main answer is to make it easier to drink out of without spilling. This is for me, I didn't need it to look fancy, it just needs to function like I want. I then thought of taking a regular plastic mason jar lid, drilling a hole (or two), and trying that. 

So I experimented . . .

All I used was a white plastic mason jar lid and a drill press. You can use a drill, but a drill press is very handy in this case, because you can drill hands free (more details below).

I took my lid, turned it upside down and drilled a smallish hole just past the lines on the inside of the lid. It's important to turn it upside down or you may drill a hole to close to the edge and it won't work.

After getting the hole right where I wanted it, I turned the lid right side up and started drilling again. This time, I elongated the hole by moving the cover back and forth. I even drilled a couple more over lapping holes until I felt I got the right size - I wanted a small oblong hole. I actually left the press in its stationary position and moved the cover all around the hole - like I was tracing the hole.If using an actual drill, use control and go slow.

Here's my finished lid. I did have bits of plastic that stuck out from the top and bottom of the lid, so I took my exacto knife and scraped it smooth (a sand paper would've scratched and made the cover look unsightly). I did get some scratches, but it's ok, this is for me. Also, the hole is skewed - if I do this again, I will probably mark exactly where I want to drill the holes so it will not look crooked.

Here's the lid on my jar.

Now came the real test. I wanted to see how much water would come out if it was turned upside down. Watch below as I experimented:

I think it came out great, don't you think?

Thanks for reading!

I always welcome friendly critiques and comments or questions. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Please feel free to leave a message here or email if you prefer. If you leave a message here, please be sure that your email address is sited so you can receive my response. Thanks!

How to Leave Negative Feedback on EBay

My husband and I have been selling on EBay for a while, my husband more than me. EBay is always changing their rules. In the past, if a buyer (or seller) was not nice or didn't play by the rules, you could leave a negative feedback - well not any more. I recently had someone purchase something from me and they did not pay. Not only did they not pay, they didn't respond to my emails. After 4 days, I reported them so I could get the transaction cancelled. The transaction was cancelled, but when I go to leave negative feedback, I couldn't - EBay took that option away. Here is what EBay is saying, 

"Sellers aren't able to leave negative or neutral Feedback for buyers. That means sellers need other tools that will protect them against unfair treatment from buyers and bring those buyers to eBay's attention."

Many people don't like this, me included. How are we to know about deadbeat buyers? Negative feedback was what my husband and I (along with most of you) relied on as far as seeing who good and who was not.

I suppose the current way to handle this is to report them via feedback. Now when leaving a feedback, you can report the buyer. Reporting the buyer starts the investigation process on EBay's end - this is EBay's way way of protecting the buyer. I had actually reported my buyer before realizing I could do it through feedback. Not knowing what to do with leaving a feedback for this buyer, I just left them hanging. Well, a couple of weeks go by along with another good sale. I go to leave feedback for the good sale and saw the bad sale still sitting, waiting for a feedback. Forgetting that this was a deadbeat buyer, I automatically left a postive feedback. When I go to review my sales, I realized that I had made an error - I gave my deadbeat buyer a positive feedback! I didn't know what to do. I knew there was a way to reply to feedbacks so I researched it and here is what I did:

1. Go to Feedback Forum.
2. At the far right, under "Feedback Tools", click on "Follow up to feedback left".
3. Find the feedback you want to correct and click on "Follow up" at the far right.
4. You will see a blank box after "Follow up comment" and you can revise your positive feedback and leave an appropriate comment.

I felt bad that I had accidentally left a positive feedback, for a negative transaction, but after doing the steps above, I feel better. Now people can know about this buyer and proceed with caution.

I hope this helps others when faced with a negative situation on EBay.

Happy Selling!!! 

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

A Different Way to Cook Rice

I was watching Sara Moulton on TV on day and she cooked this recipe. It looked like a very yummy recipe to try and it's on my list of things to cook, but what intrigued me the most was that she said in all her years of cooking, she has a hard time cooking rice - it never comes out right. She show her method of cooking rice and I think it's brilliant! Basically, she cooks her rice like pasta - she fills a pan with water, no set amount, and gets it boiling. After boiling, she adds the amount of rice she wants to cook and lets it boil for 17 minutes. After, you just strain in a colander and its ready to eat! You don't have to wait for it to set or anything. The grains are fluffy and separated.

I decided to give this a try, I used a two quart sauce pan and put water in about 3/4's of the way up and put a lid on it (boils faster) and let it come to a boil, I had it on medium high heat (make sure you have enough water or it will turn into risotto rice). After coming to a boil, I took off the lid and poured the rice in and stirred it to prevent clumping - Sara added salt, but I don't. I just let it boil for 17 minutes.

After 17 minutes, I poured it in a colander and let it drain.

This is what was left in the pot after dumping out the rice - A LOT of starch! If you have issues with rice, this could probably be the problem.

After rinsing out the pot, I put the rice back in and let it sit on the warm burner as I served dinner - no waiting!

Here is a mini video of the rice two days after the rice was cooked - this is straight from the frig, cold! See how well it separates? It's not stuck together and clumpy like usual.

For a while now I have been avoiding rice at home - I only eat it occasionally (I am part Asian and I grew up eating rice for three meals). Rice has been causing my blood sugar to spike and it gives me a really full, bloated feeling. Plus, I have a tendency to eat too much rice when the protein I'm eating is really good - I've been eating quinoa instead, which has been a great substitute for me. In my opinion, this is the best way to cook rice - you are basically boiling out the starch and dumping it out out when you pour out the rice in the colander. In the traditional way of cooking, either by stove top or rice cooker, the starch is contained and gets absorbed back into the rice (plus, you have to wait about five minutes before eating for the rice to set) - cooking this way eliminates all of that! I believe that this starch has been causing my issues. Also, with this process, you don't have to fuss about the right ratio of water to rice - you just fill the pot as if you were cooking pasta - easy peasy! I've eaten this rice for two days with no problems. You basically monitor the rice for 17 minutes, then when it's done - you eat it! There is no wait time, the rice is is nice and fluffy. This is the way I'm going to cook rice from now on. So, if rice cause you stomach distress or other problems, try this method and see how it works for you.

Thanks for reading!!!

08/16/13 Update: I tried this with brown rice and it worked, you just have to adjust your cooking time - I cooked mine for about 40 minutes. Test taste it every 5 minutes or so (keeping track of your time) and when it's just, that's the time you use from then on. Rice was toothsome like it should be and nicely fluffy and separated like the white rice.

09/08/13 Update: This method works great with quinoa also!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

How to Keep Your Shoe Tongue in Place

 Recently I bought some new shoes - Keen's. Usually when you buy something new, you don't expect to alter them (unless you're short, like me, and buy pants that are too long). These shoes have a bungee toggle and I thought they would be easy to slip and go, but no, it wasn't the case. Although these shoes fit like a glove, there is one problem, a huge problem . . .

See the tongue and  how it's sagging? It was very loosey goosey, no way to slip my foot in without using 2 hands - 1 to hold the tongue and the other to put the shoe on. This shoe doesn't have that loop on the tongue that you can lace through to keep the tongue in place. Also, when I wore the shoe, the tongue shifted to the side. Ideally, I should've returned the shoe, but it's been a long process (months) to find something good that fit me. See I have flat feet and need to wear sturdy shoes ALL THE TIME, even in the house. I ordered and returned six shoes from Zappos (it wasn't their problem, it was mine) - I got this one at a local shoe store. I went in to get my foot measured (Zappos said that I was ordering the wrong size), saw these and liked them. After bringing them home and wearing them around the house, I noticed the tongue problem.

So I Googled how to prevent shoe tongue from moving - surely someone has a cool tip, but I couldn't find any. I tho, did find this handy little thing, and thought, "How cool". Even tho the cost is under $5, it looked simple enough to make, so decide to make some - four actually. Here's how I did it . . .

Take a flexible tape measure and measure around your shoe tongue and add about 1 inch. Cut a piece of grosgrain ribbon that matches your shoe.

You'll want to measure about a 1/2 inch from the end and lightly draw a line using a contrasting pen. You will be overlapping the ends, so on the other side, draw another line a 1/2 inch from the end. Make sure that one line is on the top side of the ribbon and the other line is on the bottom side.

I cut a tiny piece of this tape and stuck it on one end and repeated for the other side.

Remember, it's the top of 1 side and the bottom of the other. Here is a visual to show you. 

Next you're going to wrap the two ends cinching close with the taped ends, leaving a good size gap (see next pic).

You'll want your ribbon to end up looking like this with a small loop on top.

Now take it to your sewing machine and sew a zig zag stitch over the seam, go over it a couple of times for insurance. I used contrasting thread because the shoe has pink in, you can use same color thread.

Go ahead and slip on your tongue catchers. Because of how wonky this tongue was, I decide to place 2 catchers on each side - the bottom one was made a little smaller, if you decide to make 2, adjust yours accordingly.

Now it's time to lace up! Follow this video when lacing through the catcher (use this tip when lacing thru shoes that have those premade loops on the tongue) . . . 

Instead of cris crossing over the tongue catcher, you will lace to the same side you came from - that's the trick to keeping the tongue in place.

This is how it should look when done.

Because I knew there was going to be a lot of wear and tear on the tongue, I decide to sew the center of the catcher to the tongue - I used a leather sewing needle, that top one had to go thru the rubber Keen icon and a leather needle made it so easy.

This is what the top of the shoe looks like after the catcher is sewn in place.

It's been about 3 weeks since I did this and I am impressed. The tongue on my shoes have stayed in place - this really works, I've been able to slip my feet in my shoe very easily. I am a happy girl!

Thanks for reading!!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!