Brenda's Stew --

I made Brenda's Pork n' Pineapple Stew last night and it turned out really good. If you haven't checked out Brenda's blog, Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen, you should. She posts some really delicious crock-pot recipes, and this one here is just as good. I'm going to retype the recipe just as Brenda posted it. But under that, I'm going to tell you how I made a little differently.

Pork n' Pineapple Stew

4 boneless pork chops/lions, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 carrots, cubed

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 can (8-ounces) pineapple chunks, drained and juice reserved

1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

Mix first four ingredients in crock-pot, cover and cook on LOW 6-8 hours. Mix cornstarch and reserved pineapple juice together. Pour into stew and stir. Put pineapple and bell pepper into crock-pot and turn to HIGH. Cook for 15-30 minutes or until thickened.

Now -- since I have the memory the size of an ant, I messed up when I went shopping for ingredients. What's even more sad is that I had the recipe printed up with me, but I forgot it in the car. Even when I got to the car, I forgot to check it. Yep, folks, always make a list and take it with you! I had bought 2 carrots, not 4 like the recipe calls for. However, mine were really big carrots, so it worked out okay. And for some dumb reason, I had grabbed a 20-ounce can of pineapple, not an 8-ounce can. So, I just used what I had -- a little less carrots and a lot more pineapple -- and the stew was yummy! I cooked mine in a 4-quart crock-pot for about 4.5 hours before adding the other ingredients. The pork was completely cooked and tender. I've noticed a lot of crock-pot recipes have really long cooking times, but I have learned to adjust them for how my pots cook. Since it was just Rick & I eating the stew, we have some leftovers. We had some garlic sourdough toast to go with it. It turned out really good and was a perfect dish on a cold evening. It's very autumn-looking too, so it would be a good thing to take to a Harvest festival or potluck. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Brenda!