Church Picnic- Pulled Pork, Cajun Potatoes and Onions & Soy butter cookies

Tonight is our first church pot luck picnic!  I am excited to get together with new friends outside of church on sunday.  I feel like the best way to really get to know new friends is to eat together.

Whenever I have to feed a crowd,  Pulled Pork sandwiches is my go to recipe.  I think this recipe could feed 10-12 people.


You'll need:
5# Pork loin
Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder
cumin
salt
pepper
Hamburger buns

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Sprinkle the pork loin with all the seasonings top and bottom.  Wrap pork loin in aluminum foil and seal tightly.  Place on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan.  Bake for 5 hours.  Remove from oven/ remove from foil.  Let rest 5-10 minutes.  Using two forks, pull the pork apart- it should fall apart easily.  Add enough BBQ sauce to coat(i always buy the jumbo size just in case) and mix well.  Add a small amount to a hamburger bun and you have yourself a great pulled pork sandwich!

A side dish that always disappears quicker than anything else I make is the Cajun Potatoes.

You'll need:
8-10 large russet potatoes
3-4 yellow onions, sliced into thin strips
Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
Olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.   Wash, peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes.   In a large pan, saute onions in olive oil until clear, soft and just starting to caramelize.  Place potatoes and onions into a large bowl, add enough olive oil to coat and mix well.  Spray and 9x13 baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and pour potato and onion mixture in.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are soft.  Remove from oven and add Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning to taste and mix well.  Careful!  This stuff is spicy!  Add small amount of salt if desired.  Add Cover with foil and you are off to the picnic!

Soy Butter Cookies.  This tasty treat replaces peanut butter cookies for my daughter with multiple food allergies.  I came across this gem of a recipe a couple years ago.  It makes 4 dozen small cookies.

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
1/2 cup Wowbutter Soy butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl mix together applesauce, Crisco, soy butter and sugars.  Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture until just combined.  Chill in refrigerator for one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Make small one inch balls with cookie dough and place onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  Using a fork, make the criss-cross pattern on top of each ball.  Bake 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.