Recently I was watching a program on how to improve the quality of one’s eating. Some nutrition expert was saying that you can eat whatever you want as long as you make it. Well, that would really slow me down when it comes to some of my favorites like potato chips! But there is a lot of good advice in what he said. Take my pulled pork dinner for instance.

If we had not made the pulled pork and the coleslaw at home, I am sure the calories would have doubled. John carefully trimmed the meat of excess fat and thoroughly drained any accumulated fat after cooking. We left the cooking liquid to cool in the refrigerator overnight so the fat would separate out and then we removed it.

For the coleslaw, instead of using a lot of mayonnaise and/or sour cream I used a little low fat mayo, non-fat yogurt, mustard, and vinegar. The black beans were spiced with cumin and Tabasco and mixed with tomatoes and a jalapeño. Their creaminess was due to mashing some of them up after cooking.

Making your own meals at home where you control the ingredients means that you can have some guilty pleasures without the guilt!

Pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and black beans