Serving Single- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

I love slower cookers because it really is just set it and forget it. So here is my recipe for slow cooker pulled pork.


80z to 12oz Country Style Boneless Ribs or any other lean pork of your choosing.
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Smoked Paprika
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup of your favorite bottle BBQ Sauce
1 tbsp apple Cider Vinegar

This is SO easy. I like the country style ribs because they are lean boneless, and cook fairly quickly. Sprinkle the pork with your salt, pepper, and paprika to your taste. Put the meat in the cooker for 4 hours put it on High or for an 6-8 hours on low cooking time put it on low. Then add 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce, and Vinegar. There is something about the extra vinegar that helps break down the pork.

After the cooking it should just fall apart with two fork, or a pair of tongs. If you like it extra saucy add your last quarter cup of BBQ Sauce. I prefer to serve it with some shredded lettuce and diced tomato and instead of a bun I use Light High Fiber English muffins. They are only 100 calories each and have 8 grams of fiber.

Seriously just toast up the muffin and pile on the pork, lettuce and Tomato. YUM!

8-12 ounces make 2-3 servings. I have a tough time saying no to pulled pork. So I make my servings bigger and I like to have left over for the next day.

Serving Single - Three Potato Salad

I love potato salad but for me I think of it as a hearty fall/winter dish and I DON'T like mayonnaise based dressings. I prefer vinaigrettes. Here is my recipe for Three Potato salad. It makes about 2 servings perfect a single dinner with enough left over for lunch on Monday.

1lbs. of small blue potatos, baby reds, and baby yellow or white potatos.

1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

1 tablespoon of Flat leaf parsley

1 small green onion or a few chives

1-2 tbsp. of Olive Oil

1/2 tbsp. sherry vinegar

1/2 tsp of Dijon or whole grain mustard

Ground Pepper to taste

Just cover the potatos with water in a pot, and add a teaspoon of salt(you can add more if the water isn't salty enough.) Bring to a boil then simmer until the potatos are fork tender. Drain and let cool, while you make the dressing.

Combine vinegar, Dijon mustard and pepper, then drizzle in 1-2 tbsp of olive oil while stirring. Finely chop your parsley and chives.

The potatos should be cool enough to handle but still warm. Cut the potatos in half, toss in the dressing, parsley and chives.

Additional notes: I typically only buy one kind of potato at the grocery store because they come in those big giant bags. If you plan on making this go your local farm stand where you can buy two or three of each kind of potatos. If you can't get small batches you can use just red or yellow potatos. I promise I won't tell.

Serving Single - Tomato Pancake

So this is a great meatless dish that is super easy to make. I forgot to take a picture of it so imagine a beautiful frittata with tomatos in it. If you instead on some meat you can add a couple slices of crumbled bacon to make it tastier but still calorie friendly

For 1 - 2 people
1 tomato sliced
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk (I use 1%)
3 tablespoons of flour (you can use rice flour for gluten free, or whole wheat flour for some extra fiber.)
1/2 tsp. of salt
butter or butter flavored cooking spray.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl whisk together milk, eggs, and salt lightly. Then whisk in flour 1 tablespoon at a time. This should make a thin batter that can easily coat the back of spoon. Put a non-stick pan that is oven safe over medium heat. Then put in just enough butter that it will coat the bottom of the pan or use spray. I then place a layer (usually 4-5 slices) of tomatos on the bottom and slowly pour in the batter. After I poured in the batter I will place another layer of tomato on top. Now is a good time to sprinkle with bacon crumbs if want to use that option. Then put it into the oven for about 5-10 minutes.

The entire pancake is about 400 calories, 480 with bacon and very tasty. I usually cut it into quarters and have two slices per serving & sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh basil or parsley.

Serving Single

So I do most of my cooking for just ONE, two if my roommate is joining me. In doing so I have learned to cook in small quantities, and have created or recreated some healthy recipes even before I started this diet.


So something I had last night and love is Mustard & Pepper Marinated Pork. It adds a lot of flavor without a lot of calories. I actually altered this recipe from a pork medallion recipe I got from Sunny Anderson's Cooking for Real on the Food Network. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Grilled Mustard & Pepper Marinated Pork
Makes about 2 servings (a 4 ounce chop is about 275 calories)

Recipe:
1/4 cup of Honey Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup of Pickled Banana Peppers or Pepperoncini with a little bit of the juice
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper or to taste
Two 4-6 ounce Boneless Top Loin Pork Chops




Put 1/4 cup of Honey Dijon Mustard and 1/4 cup pickled peppers, and half a teaspoon(or more if you wish) of Black Pepper into a food processor or blender and pulse to combine. Take half the marinade and set it aside put the other half in a plastic bag with the chops seal the bag and shake to make sure the marinade is coating the chops. Let it sit for at least two hours.




Heat to your grill Medium or Medium low. You may also want to oil your grill; I live in an apartment so I use a non-stick George Foreman grill so I skip the oil. Grill until the pork the pork is at least 145 degrees in the center per USDA Guidelines. The let rest for 3 to 5 minutes.


To Serve: I like to serve this on a salad or a bed of cooked Spinach or Beet Greens. Take the reserved marinade and spread on the chops for additional flavor.





NOTES on the Recipe: Sunny originally used Dijon Mustard and add Honey, I found using Honey Dijon to be more calorie friendly. You can use hot, or mild peppers just as long as their pickled. Their is something about the juice the makes the marinade very special, but easy. If you noticed I also skipped the salt because Mustard and pickled peppers are naturally salty.


You can also cook these chops in any way that suits you, I have broiling them and pan seared them, and baked them so feel free to experiment.


Hints on Saving: But the Pork chops in the family size on sale, I have small freezer bags that I separate the chops into 2 at a time. That way if I am just cooking for myself I have one for the lunch the next day or I have an extra if I have a guest joining me, more guests? Just Pull out and extra bags to defrost.