Sweet & Sour Pork

Sweet & Sour Pork:
2/3 C packed brown sugar
2/3 C cider vinegar (i usually opt for white vinegar since i hate the funk of the cider kind, but this time it worked out really yummy)
2/3 C ketchup
2 tsp soy sauce
1lb pork, but into small cubes
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1" cubes
2 medium carrots, sliced (we had baby carrots on hand, so they got a thick julienne instead)
1/2 tsp minced garlic (we added more, cause we like garlic)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 can 8oz pineapple chunks, drained.

In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cider vinegar, ketchup & soy sauce. Pour half into a large resealable plastic bag; add pork. Seal bag & turn to coat. Marinate in fridge for 30 mins (at least) set remaining marinade aside.

Drain & discard marinade from pork, in lg skillet cook pork in oil for 3 mins. Add onions, carrots, green pepper, garlic & ginger; saute until pork is no longer pink. Add reserved marinade. Bring to boil & cook 1 min. Stir in pineapple, serve over rice or noodles

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we had ours with rice, we also added half the pineapple juice into the remaining marinade & allowed to reduce.

also: it turned out DELICIOUS. even without the added marinade to the cooking process, the marinade on the pork alone gave it a great flavour.

Brownies

Brownies, first time I've made them from scratch.. turned out awesome & super chocolatey

• ¾ cup Butter
• 10 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped (you could use semi-sweet instead)
• 1 cup Sugar
• ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
• ½ tsp. Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• ½ cup Mini Chocolate chips
• 4 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Line a 9" square baking dish with foil, keep and overhang, (so once the bronwies are cooked, you can just pop them out to cool) and coat with cooking spray.
3. In a large (microwave safe) bowl, add chopped chocolate, and butter together. & Heat in 1 min intervals until melted.
4. Stir until smooth, and let cool to room temperature.
5. Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, & salt. Stir in mini chips. Set Aside.
6. Take the cooled chocolate & butter mixture, and beat eggs & vanilla into it.
7. Stir in the sugar/flour mix, into the chocolate & butter mix until blended
8. Spread batter in pan & bake 35-45 mins until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Tangy Sweet & Sour Sauce

This sauce is amazing. I love it. and whenever i muster up the energy for me to make a batch of [from skratch] meatballs, i make this sauce. But i've had it on rice, and i would probably eat it on chicken.

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 3 tbsp Flour
• 1 cup Water
• ¼ cup Pineapple Sauce
• ¼ cup Rice vinegar (can use white vinegar as well, it's just slightly more tangy)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce

1. Mix all ingredients in a large frying pan
2. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes

-If you want to cook anything (meatballs, ribs, chicken pieces) in the sauce it self, put in before the full 15 minutes has run out, otherwise your sauce will wind up very thick.
-Also, if you are adding any meat to cook in the sauce, make sure it's either completely cooked or almost completely cooked.