Slow Cooker Pulled Pork n Beans

Hi guys! Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend so far. It's a wonder what 63 degrees and sunny can do for the spirit. My Friday night and Saturday day were spent dog-sitting Adam's parents Greyhound, Buddy. Buddy is a rescue dog who used to race. He's 11 years old, sheds like it's going out of style, loves long walks on the beach (actually, he much prefers the pavement over sand) and is docile as can be. Adam and I took full advantage of his parents back deck while we were there and grilled up some sirloin steaks.

More on our weekend in Quincy a bit later. I still haven't had the chance to share this meal from last weekend - what with quite an inundation of restaurant reviews the last couple weeks, you probably think I eat out all the time! I don't though. I swear. Sometimes I go to cooking classes and sometimes I even cook for myself. If you count cooking as adding pork shoulder, chopped onion, coke-a-cola and BBQ sauce to a slow cooker and turning the dial up to "high" then yep, I've been a maverick in the kitchen. Literally, that's all it took for this recipe! Well that + 7 hours of cook time.

As per usual, I can't take credit for this one. I got the recipe from Iowa Girl Eats as she tends to be my go-to gal for slow cooker / awesome recipes in general. I'm sure this isn't the first time I've mentioned her blog. And I'm sure she wasn't the first one to invent pork simmering in coke+BBQ sauce. I've definitely seen a few other blogs where this goes down and let me tell you, incredible! The measurements can vary, the recipe post I followed didn't have an exact list. Here's a rough idea of what I used (listed in order of how I added it into the crock-pot):

-2 lbs pork shoulder

-1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce (we like Stubbs!)

-enough coke to cover the pork

- 1/2 a large onion, chopped

Stubb's knows his BBQ sauce.

You could probably get away with using any type of cola. (Or coke zero, diet coke, you get it.)I served the pork for dinner on fluffy bulkie rolls with a side of beans two ways!

You've got spice and smokiness from the BBQ sauce and a sweet zing from the coke-a-cola. The depth of flavors that develop over time are incomparable to those of any other meals I make. I'm obsessed with slow cooking!

Oh and when's the last time you had baked beans? Or green beans from a can for that matter?

Honestly, IGE's sides looked so good I went all out and mimicked the entire meal.

For lunch the next day I added some kosher dill pickles to liven up my sandwich. On the side we've got leftover beans, salt & vinegar chips and a Miller High Life. (Hey, it was a weekend lunch!) Tender, sweet, smoky and spicy, the pork definitely benefits from the juicy, salty crunch of a few pickles.

What's your favorite meal to make in a slow cooker? Recipe links appreciated!