Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast Cost Breakdown

I have a bunch of pork roasts sitting in my freezer after scoring such good deals on them. I've been looking for a recipe that would really hit the WOW factor here at home with everyone. I think I found it with this one. I followed some suggestions from various reviews and I thought I would share my final recipe. I've also got ways this can be turned into 3 additional unique meals, so while you may make the same pork roast it can taste slightly different each time or you can make the leftovers a whole new meal with one of the variations. My husband *loves* this meal and I'm glad because I'll be making it about every 3 or 4 weeks!

Cost Breakdown:

• 1/2 large onion sliced -- 20 cents
• 2 lbs boneless pork roast -- $2.94 Using the median price range of all roasts I purchased.
• 2 C chicken broth -- 64 cents
• 1/4 C brown sugar -- 7 cents
• 6 T apple cider vinegar -- 10 cents
• 4 T low sodium soy sauce -- 10 cents
• 2 T bbq sauce -- free
• 1/2 t black pepper -- 1 cents
• 1 t salt -- 2 cents
• 1 t garlic powder -- 3 cents
• 1 t hot pepper sauce -- 5 cents
• 3 C egg noodles -- 50 cents
• 1 T butter -- 6 cents
  
• 1 C broccoli -- 50 cents

Total Cost: $5.22

There is enough meat that we will eat twice from the roast, making the total cost more than reasonable. I doubled the broth mixture from the original recipe and I'm really glad I did. There was more than enough for us to pour broth over the noodles on the plate and for me to save for sandwiches the next day.

How I did it:

1. Slice onion and layer on bottom of slow cooker. Optional: Brown roast on all sides using a tablespoon or so of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Slice deep gashes into the roast; I did 5 gashes giving me 6 slices. Place roast on top of onion.
2. In a bowl mix together broth, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, bbq sauce, pepper, salt, garlic powder and hot pepper sauce. Pour over roast.
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
4. Serve over hot buttered egg noodles with broccoli on the side.

Notes:

• Another way to prepare the roast and get a different type of meal is to add potatoes and carrots in the space around the roast. This gives you almost a traditional pot roast, but with pork instead. I would probably use red potatoes since they seem to hold their shape better when cooked.
  
• My husband said that the dish looked like pork stroganoff which got me thinking of another meal option. Simply take some broth after the cooking is done and add it to the egg noodles along with some sour cream. Place pork on top of the noodles or chunk it up and mix it in.
• One of the reader comments mentioned pork bbq sandwiches with the leftovers. The reader shredded the pork and mixed in some of the broth and additional bbq sauce. We are doing that, simmering it on the stove for about 20 minutes to really blend the flavors, and pairing it with seasoned baked potato wedges and some mixed veggies. Since the pork, broth, and bbq sauce are free/leftover that leaves me a minimal cost for about 4 buns, 1 1/2 cups of mixed veggies and 4 red potatoes (maybe $1.50).