Frugal Feasts: Crockpot pork tacos

Each Wednesday, I offer a recipe based on what's on sale at the local grocery stores. 

Food Lion has whole pork picnic on sale for 79 cents a pound. That's a good price because it often costs between $1.89 to $2.19 a pound. We often make pork tacos on a busy weeknight. We throw the pork roast into a crockpot in the morning and dinner is ready when we get home. 

Another good thing about this dish, it freezes well. So place the leftovers in small freezer bags for a meal on another night. We recently made this dish and now have four bags of leftovers in the freezer for another easy weeknight meal in the future. 

To read about how I learned to save an average of 40 percent on my weekly grocery bill, read my first Frugal Feasts post. And to see past Frugal Feasts recipes,
click on the Frugal Feasts tag under Most Popular Tags on the blog's
main page.

Crockpot Pork Tacos

2 to 4-pound pork picnic roast

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 (12-ounce) can beer

Corn tortillas

Optional toppings: shredded lettuce, sour cream, avocado, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives

Place pork roast, garlic, whole jalapeno pepper, cilantro and beer into the crockpot. Cook on high for four to six hours, or low for nine to 11 hour. When fork tender, remove meat. Shred meat on a cutting board. Put back in crock pot. Serve on tortillas with any of the optional toppings. Makes four servings of two tacos each. 

Cost breakdown:

• Pork roast, $3.95 for a five-pound roast. Cost for meal:  $1.58
• Head of garlic, 69 cents each. Cost for meal: 14 cents
• jalapeno, $2.99 per pound. Cost for meal: 56 cents
• Cilantro, 89 cents each. Cost for meal: 89 cents
• Six-pack beer, $5.29. Cost for meal: 88 cents
• 12 corn tortillas, $1.89. Cost for meal: $1.26
• Optional toppings 
  
• Shredded lettuce, $1.79 each. Cost for meal: 45 cents
• Avocado, $1.50 each. Cost for meal: $1.50
• 2 plum tomatoes, $1.99 a pound. Cost for meal: $1
• Sour cream, $1 for 8 ounces. Cost for meal: 50 cents
• Sliced olives, 92 cents for 2.25 ounces. Cost for meal: 92 cents

Total cost for meal with all toppings: $9.68

Total per serving: $2.42