crockpot pulled pork and roasted broccoli

With seven people in our household it's pretty tough to make meals that satisfy everyone. What one kid loves another kid might gag on (so dramatic, but true). So, I'm sure you all know the feeling oh so well of shopping for ingredients, spending hours of your precious time preparing a meal, plating the meal only for half of your family to just push the food around on their plate. Then there is the clean up and, I can tell you, with seven people eating dinner most of the time there is a lot of clean up. Just the shopping, prep, plating and clean up takes way more time than actually eating the meal itself! Frustrating.

Allan and I have had to be pretty strict at meal times saying things like, "I don't care if it's not your favorite thing to eat, it's dinner and you get nothing else if you don't at least make a good attempt at finishing it". To some people this might sound pretty mean and archaic, but there have been plenty of times that we ignore whining only for the kids (and us!) to find out that they actually love the meal. Not to mention the cost of feeding all of those mouths and waste is just not OK in our household!

So, to cut down on my time in the kitchen, I will pull out the trusty old crockpot in the morning, throw some ingredients in and let it cook all day. I usually do this a lot more during the school year when the kids have homework and practice and other activities that require me to be a taxi driver and not a chef.

Here is our family's recipe for easy pulled pork (three ingredients!) and roasted broccoli. The pulled pork is (mostly) a crowd pleaser...Erin does not love barbecue sauce, but she is a good sport and will give it her best shot. My roasted broccoli is served in our house multiple times a week...sometimes for snack!

Crockpot Pulled Pork

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin

1 bottle (12 ounce) root beer (I like Virgil's)

1 bottle (18 ounce) BBQ Sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's but sometimes I'll try a lower sugar option)

1. Place pork tenderloin in crockpot

2. Pour root beer over the pork tenderloin

3. Cook on low for 5-6 hours

4. Drain well, shred meat with two forks

5. Stir in BBQ sauce

Roasted Broccoli

1 bag of broccoli florets (any size, make as much as your family will eat)

Olive oil

Coarse kosher salt

Ground black pepper

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees (use the Convection Roast setting if your oven has one)

2. Spread broccoli in a single layer on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet

3. Drizzle lightly with olive oil (try to get a little on each piece)

4. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and ground black pepper

5. Bake/roast for 20 minutes