150 Days Paleo + Football carnitas

Today is my 150th days since I committed to a new way of eating.  I did it to combat a slowly increasing weight gain despite training for and running 5 half marathons in a year.  I did it to be a better runner.  I wanted to be stronger, faster and experience more rapid recovery.  Amazingly, Paleo has done all those incredible things.  150 days ago I held SUCH doubt that cutting out whole food groups was even good for you.  I was willing to join a friend on a journey, test it for 30 days and then make a decision.  I'm glad I did.   Those days where I just want pizza, or a cinnamon roll or fruit snacks . . . . I think about if I want to go back.  Back to bloated, frustrated and not satisfied with my results.  Nope, 150 days later and I still believe in Paleo.  I fall off the wagon and succumb to temptation but Paleo is forgiving and totally helps me drop those insta-pounds that come with eating forbidden foods.

To celebrate my 150 days, I've got a recipe for you!!!  This one comes from Momgonepaleo.com and its the BEST CARNITAS recipe I've ever tried.  Great for football games and I recommend topping it with a bit of mashed avocado mixed with Frank's Red Hot Sauce.  (Frank's Red Hot Sauce is my current obsession).  I did make a few changes to the original recipe, so if you'd like to see how it was originally suggested that you do check out the link.

CROCK POT PALEO CARNITAS from momgonepaleo.com

Ingredients

For the rub:

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the Crock Pot:

• 3lb pork shoulder
• 1 sweet onion sliced in thin strips
• 1 small can of mild green chiles
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• A few shakes of sea salt and ground pepper

Instructions

1. Mix your rub together and rub onto all sides of the pork shoulder. 
2. Place the sliced onion, and bay leaf on the bottom of your crock pot.  Place the spiced up pork shoulder on top. Add the green chiles and the chicken stock along the sides of the meat. Avoid rinsing the spice off the meat. Sprinkle a bit more sea salt and pepper on top. 
3. Cover and let cook on Low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
4. Once done, remove pork from crockpot and shred with forks. Place in bowl of holding dish
5. Strain remaining crockpot contents, SAVING BOTH THE LIQUID AND THE SOLIDS. 
6.  Return the solids (consisting of bits of pork, and the cooked down onions and chiles) to the crock pot. 
7.  If you have a gravy separator, use it to separate the fat out of the liquid.  If you don't have one, allow the liquid to sit a bit and it'll separate.  Carefully skim off as much fat as you can.  
8. Put the PORK back in the crockpot and use the remaining liquid to add some flavor back into the carnitas.  I used just about a cup of liquid, you should use all of it.  
9. Serve on a bed of lettuce or however you wish to enjoy your carnitas!