Mock Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipe

Lets talk about the time I made a recipe for my sister-in-law after my nephew was born. About how I barely could remember the recipe and how it turned out GREAT, but I didn't take photos. Yep, that would be me. But, based on how AWESOME my recipes can be (note the word choice there, CAN BE), I think you should trust me on this one... it is REALLY easy and TASTY!

What you'll need:
Pork (I just got the mini roast from Wal-Mart, nothing fancy)
3 Cans Coke Cola
1 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 C Water
1 Can Green Chile's
1 Can Red Enchilada Sauce

Step One: The day before, prepare your marinade. You'll use 1 1/2 cans coke and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Let soak overnight.

Step Two: The next day drain and place in the crock pot and place in 1/4 cup water and 1/2 can coke. Let cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 4 hours).

Step Three: Once cooked, drain your crock pot, shred the pork (which if cooked completely will be ridiculously easy, I used tongs and just tore it apart) and add the green chilies and enchilada sauce and the rest of the brown sugar and a 1/2 can coke. Cook on high for 2 hours.

Step Three and a half: If you're making burritos, then prep your rice. Use chicken broth instead of water (use white rice). Prep your lettuce - romaine or spinach, not iceberg, and cut tomatoes.

Step Four: Serve and enjoy your meal!

Guest Post: Interiors by Kenz

Today's guest post is brought to you by a dear friend of mine, Mekenzie. We've known each other for years and I love her to death. She's a doll and I'm sure that if you aren't already a fan of her blog, you'll know before this post is done why I am a VERY BIG fan of her work! Check out this wonderful post she's set up for today, then go check out her blog so see her beautiful home and other projects!

Also, she's giving away an AWESOME prize at her blog, check it out!

~*~*~

Hi TWL readers!  My name is Mekenzie, and I am SO excited to be guest posting over here!  Dani and I go way back to elementary school, where we would Modge Podge crafts and eat glue together.  Okay, I don't actually remember if we ate glue (possibly a side effect of eating glue?), but Dani has been a friend of mine for a long time, and I LOVE reading This Workman Life.  She always has great recipes, great tips & tricks, and the best mommy advice.  

Who am I, you ask?  Well I'm the voice behind Interiors By Kenz, a fun little DIY blog. I am an ambitious DIY-er with some pretty outrageous projects.  I don't have one pair of sweat pants that isn't covered in paint.  My motto 'round these parts is DIY BRAVERY!  Extreme humiliation shouldn't keep us from creating beautiful things. (See more of my real life story here!) 

Today I am going to share with you one of the best things I have learned as a DIYer:  HOW TO PAINT FURNITURE WITHOUT SANDING!  Say what?!  It's true.  I am lazy, and I don't have a lot of time to spend on projects.  Discovering this trick was like finding a pot of gold.

When I got married, my mum gave me this hutch, which was built by my great grandpa, to put my piano music in.  It was incredibly meaningful, but so atrocious looking.  

I removed all the hardware, and took out the drawers.  I taped off where the drawer fronts ended, so there wouldn't be unsightly paint drips.  Then it was prime time!  I used a Rustoleum brand of primer called "Cover-Stain: Oil Based Primer."  It kills stain and sealer, which means no sanding.  YES!  But be prepared, Something this powerful comes with a price.  I hope you have windows (If you don't, what kind of weird house are you living in??)  The smell of this stuff is RANK STANK!  Also, it is incredibly sticky.  Just know that you will need to throw away any and all tools used during the priming process.  If at all possible, do this outside.

Once the primer has dried (over night will do), you are good to paint.  2 coats is standard.  But that goes by so quickly.  In a couple of hours when your paint has dried, you have 2 options:
-You can either seal it and be done with it

-You can glaze it for an antiqued look, then seal it.

For the sake of this post, I will teach you how to glaze.  IT IS SO EASY!  And it will make all the details POP!  I used Valspar "Faux-Collection Tintable Glaze.  (Make sure to take it to the paint counter at the hardware store and have them tint it the color you want).  I used black glaze.  You brush on a coat of glaze, then wipe it off with a dry rag.  DO NOT LET IT DRY.  Wipe it while it's wet, and it will leave the right amount in the details and cracks, etc.  If you want your glaze darker, you can go back and apply more coats.  I would recommend glazing sections at a time, instead of brushing an all over coat on, then going and wiping it off.

Once the glaze has dried, let's seal it up with a solid coat of Poly.  My favorite sealer is Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic, Clear Semi Gloss.  Slowly brush a coat of the poly on, making sure there are no drips.  Let it dry over night.  

When it's dry, if you see any bumps or bubbles, you can lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper.  Put your hardware back on, put in place and enjoy!

I hope this gets your gears turning thinking of things you can paint!  And when you do, let me know! I would love to feature your projects on my blog.  Thanks so much Dani for letting me stop by today! And you all have an open invitation to stop by Interiors by Kenz anytime.

---

Uh, Kenz is giving away a $50 (YEAH, FIFTY) dollar gift card to Target. Go check out her giveaway and see if you're the lucky one to win it! 

Crockpot Honey Chicken

This is a Pinterest recipe, although I wasn't the biggest fan on it. Bubba keeps saying to give it another try to make sure it wasn't that great... I think he secretly liked it.

What you'll need:

Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup ketchup
Salt and Pepper
Optional - (aka, I didn't use it),
1 tbsp veggie oil
1 tbsp garlic salt

Here's how:
Salt and Pepper the chicken, then place in crockpot with all your ingredients stirred. Cook on low for 6 hours. We weren't home to stir it all day, so I'm sure thats what we did wrong.. or maybe not. I wasn't a fan of it plain, however, I shredded it and put the chicken on a roll and it was much better that way.

Our Week in Photos

First Row: My handsome husband. He loves playing video games, and this week decided Brayden needed to join him. Silly, both of them. Speaking of silly, my kid likes the sides of the play pen more than the middle. 

Middle row, it's homework time! I couldn't fit the sleeping photo in one box, and it worked out with the two boxes, he SACKED out on me this week and was snoring. Adorable. 

Bottom Row: Aunt Jo Anne came to visit from Houston, Texas. We had dinner at my Aunt Suzanne's, and Brayden got to love and be loved on by Grandpa Hank and Grandma Di. 

Hope you've had an awesome week! 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

This is a recipe that I found off of Pinterest, and even online this meal isn't very pretty. That being said, it is TASTY! Bubba and I have come up with some ideas on how to transform the recipe into our own, and if it works out, you'll see our alterations being blogged about! 

What you'll need:
1 package of chicken breasts
1 package of bacon
1 cup sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup flour

Turn on crockpot to low and mix the sour cream, soups and flour, stir well with a whisk.

Make sure bacon and chicken are thawed and then wrap the bacon around the chicken. I considered using toothpicks to hold the bacon, but after pressing down firmly, it almost adhered itself.

Place chicken in crockpot and cook for 8 hours on low. Once done, you can eat it plain (like Bubba and I did, pictured above) or over rice, potatoes, or pasta.

Posting Schedule Updates!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to send an update of the posting schedule as school starts tomorrow!

Usually the posting schedule was Manicure and Makeup Monday, Tutorial Tuesday, Wardrobe Wednesday, Foodie Friday and Family photos of the weekends. We are REALLY changing that up!

Now, I am sticking mostly to food posts and recipes while in school. I have opened up Wednesdays for guest posting and have some fantastic guest posters already lined up to share their stuff with you! If you're interested in guest posting you'll need to Contact Me and we can get something set up!

The weekends will still be full of photos from our adventures and our week.

I hope you're having a fantastic week!

Happy 51st Birthday - A Gift Basket Idea

Someone once told me, that after 50 it all goes downhill. Personally, I believe the same applies for gifts given and received after someone turns 50, they're all kinda...well not spectacular. That's why I really, really wanted to give a gift that would be used, as well as something they'd like to get.
That being said, who DOESN'T like getting their favorite treats?!

This ended up working out really well. The basket could be used to keep the goodies near the couch or recliner (at least, that's just my opinion!), and I found almost all of the goodies for the recipient that I wanted to. The only one I couldn't find were Circus Peanuts - bummer! 

We gave this to my Father-In-Law for his birthday, and he seemed to like it. Now I'm going to HAVE to find Circus Peanuts for Christmas for him!