SATURDAY BBQ!!

Today is the day before the big game but we are using this day to do what my husband does best being the true southerner that he is that means BBQing! These days our sacred to our family. A lot of time and love goes into the main course along with the yummy side dishes. This may all sound cheesy to you but if you were here you would understand what I was talking about.

On tonight's menu we are having smoked pork shoulder, homemade coleslaw, and corn pudding.

My husband starts preparations the night before by carving some of the fat away from the pork shoulder, building his dry rub, and making the injection. After carefully injecting the meat and giving the shoulder a nice pat down of rub, it is refrigerated overnight.

As for today, my husband has been up since 5:00am with his pride and joy (the pork shoulder). He watches it like his little baby all day long as it slowly cooks away. Around 4:30pm he finally pulls the meat and lets it rest for an hour to let the juices reabsorb. This makes any meat much tastier and juicier!

He is currently a member of the Kansas City BBQ Sanction. My husband and his friend entered into the New York State BBQ competition (Hudson Valley Rib Fest) last year and did very well for their first competition. They will continue competing again starting in the spring. You can follow their adventures on YouTube (gotporkgotbeer).

Even though I cannot not share my husband's bbq'ing secrets at this time, I can offer you some ideas on side dishes that go great with bbq's. I have taken the usually high caloric sides and added my little touch to make them even more enjoyable to eat. I hope you try them and enjoy!

COLESLAW

Today I grabbed a bad of shredded cabbage but usually I shred my own head of cabbage. However, today it was cheaper to go the easy route (works for me!)

For the dressing:
1/2 cup of mayonnaise (I use Hellmann's Reduced Fat Mayo with Olive Oil)
2 Tbl apple cidar vinegar
1/2 tsp Splenda
2 Tbl milk (Skim)
1 Tbl celery seed
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together (separately from the cabbage) and then dress the slaw with as much dressing as you like. I then stick it in the fridge for at least an hour because the cabbage wilts down a bit and softens. This recipe is always a great hit!

CORN PUDDING (This one is hard to escape the richness of some of the ingredients but I did my best to help by using low sodium or reduced fat ingredients. However, this is an original Paula Deen recipe so I know that I have been able to healthify it in some way! -I love P.D. by the way!)

1 15 oz can of whole kernel sweet corn (50% less sodium), drained
1 14.75 oz can of cream style sweet corn
1 (8oz) package of Jiffy corn muffin mix
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I prefer Chobani)
3/4 stick of light butter, melted
3/4 cup shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together except the cheese. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remove and top with the cheddar cheese and stick back into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 or so minutes and serve while it's warm.

*To even make this a little bit more healthy, you can always make your own creamed corn. There are plenty of recipes online that I have found.

*Side Note: It is proper BBQ etiquette to use paper plates and plastic utensils for plating and eating :)

Stay tuned in for tomorrow to see how I incorporate leftover pulled pork for an easy and delicious Super Bowl dish!