South of the border: Tex-Mex carnitas and cilantro cauli-rice

We love Mexican food. And we love pork (see this for proof). Mexican pork, then? Yes, please! Today our Tex-Mex carnitas get an early start in the Crockpot. 

I found this recipe for carnitas when we did our initial trial of Paleo eating in October 2012, and I was also in the midst of a thrice-weekly Crockpot challenge. 

Look at those colorful ingredients! How can this not be good?

We are always happy to see this come around in the meal rotation. Tonight I'm trying a side of cilantro cauli-rice from the Practical Paleo cookbook.

Pork wrapped in pork: a new New Year's Day tradition

Last year we had a newborn (our daughter, Ava) and my lovely in-laws with us for Christmas. It was our first Christmas in Sicily. Our first Christmas as parents. And our first Christmas as hosts rather than guests.

Because I was a little sleep deprived like never before in my life, Nathan volunteered to try out a bacon-wrapped pork loin recipe from our days as kitchen assistants at Sur La Table in Washington, D.C. If pork can be decadent, this recipe proved it. We decided we needed to make this tasty piggy dish a part of our holiday tradition in the years to come.

In 2012 it was just the three of us but we had thoughtful invites to dine with friends on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. "When to have our bacony delight?," we wondered.

New Year's Day, of course! Since we also are moving back into Paleo eating (a planned month in the States and an unexpected stop in Germany took us off course), we paired our pork with a mixed green and broccoli salad and roasted butternut squash. Cleaned.our.plates.