Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Impromptu Homemade BBQ Sauce

I stayed away from dairy and most junk food for about a month, and things went really well.  Then I made an appointment with an allergist, and figured I may as well challenge the dairy.  Plus, you are supposed to be "on" suspect foods for allergy tests.  FYI, the allergist was a complete waste of time.
Anyhoo, since I am a glutton for punishment, and we had several cookouts to attend near the time of my appointment, I went food crazy as usual, and as usual I regret it.  Nick has been miserable, and I'm not sure if it's because of the food, or because of seasonal allergies.  Either way, he has been throwing massive tantrums left and right, which is not like him.  Well, I mean, he is a normal toddler and will totally pitch a fit now and then, but these things are epic.  Poor boy doesn't know what to do with himself!
Anyway, to the food! So, here I go again, beginning my journey back into more whole foods.  With one last goodbye to cheese.  I won't over-do it, but I don't want to throw away what's in my fridge either....well, at the very least I will make some goodies for J.

J has been super busy at work (as per usual, I guess - I suppose I should just get used to it!), so I am planning some easy style meals to get us through the rainy week while I try to help Nick work through his angries.  I ordered a bunch of pasture raised meats, and accidently defrosted way too much pork at once, so I figured a slow cooker pulled pork would be the way to go.  Unfortunately it's impossible to find BBQ sauce without garlic in it.  At least, I have yet to discover it.  So I figured I could throw something together at home.  Silly me, decided to put the pork in the slow cooker and then put the ketchup in immediately.  This meant that I destroyed any chance of tasting my concoction as I went.  Typical thoughtless Nina mistake.  So instead of worrying about it, I just threw a little of this and a little of that in, and depended on my sense of smell to guide me.  I decided that BBQ sauce is another one of those things that's really hard to mess up....except if you add too much vinegar.  I learned that lesson a while back, and I do not intend of making that mistake again!!

Using *very* approximate volumes, my sauce went something like this:

5/6 of a bottle of Ketchup
1 tablespoon of Trader Joes spicy dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2.5 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of honey
a glug of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 glug of soy sauce
several glugs of tobasco
and about 3/4 cup of water
 

Again, as long as you go easy on the vinegar, BBQ sauce is very forgiving, so it's okay to improvise, and certainly don't take my measurements to heart!

I sliced half a smallish onion, and put four decent sized chops in the cooker overnight...about 10 hours.

I ate this for lunch today on a bun with shredded cheese and avocado.  It was AWESOME!  It tastes relatively mild, but still has a slight kick to it. Very flavorful, and just the right amount of sweetness.  This will not last long!

Just another note that this would be a really easy place to hide veggies :)