Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce

Ok, I'm not a huge pork fan. I think it's a texture thing. But I'm trying to eat healthier and there is only so much chicken and ground turkey you can eat and I really don't like cooking fish at home. I found this recipe on pintrest from Chef Mommy blog. I copied recipe as is and it was seriously SO good!! I got excited for it as soon as I mixed the marinade together. It smelt amazing!! You have to marinate it for at LEAST 4 hours. I marinated mine overnight and it was perfect! I reserved a little more than it called for (around 1/4 cup) and I'm glad I did because I put that sauce over my smashed fingerling potatoes as well. I also made roasted asparagus and acorn squash. The kids, my husband and I ate it all!!

Ingredients:
1⁄2 cups olive oil
1⁄3 cup soy sauce
1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp dry mustard
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lb. pork tenderloin (silver skin removed)

Directions:
1. Combine all marinade ingredients and reserve 2-3 Tbsp. (I did a little more). Place the pork tenderloin and marinade in a Ziplock bag and let marinate for at least 3-4 hours. (I marinated around 20 hours).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a hot skillet over medium-high heat, sear each side of tenderloin for 2-3 minutes. Place in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the meat has reached 160 degrees. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing. (I used one pan for everything... my dutch oven. I seared roast over stove top in the dutch oven (discard all of the marinade). Then place dutch oven into oven till the pork reaches 150-155 (It will continue to cook while resting so don't over cook.)

Pan Sauce:
Pan scrapings from pork tenderloin
1/2 cup of chicken broth
2-3 tbsp of reserved marinade (thoroughly mixed)
1-2 tsp butter

Meanwhile, place the skillet back on the stove over medium heat. Add the chicken broth and scrape up all the browned pieces from the bottom of the pan. Add the marinade and let it boil down for 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and remove from heat stirring until butter has melted. Pour over the pork tenderloin.

Pork resting after cooked

Making the Pan sauce in same dutch oven I cooked pork in

ready to slice... 

Slice and put back into pan sauce. Spoon sauce over top and serve with extra sauce on top. ENJOY!

Southwestern Loaded Baked Sweet Potato

This meal was surprisingly a HUGE hit in my family. Blew me away! I thought I was going to have to bribe and force my family to eat this. We will definitely make this again and again! I love Gina's Skinnytaste Blog. Here is the link to her recipe and below is what I did:) It's not a pretty dish (at least when I made it it wasn't) but it was very tasty! The original recipe is made to be vegetarian. You can keep it that way or add your favorite meat. I added pork from my southwestern green chili shredded pork but I think even shredded rotisserie chicken would be good in this too!

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt 
• 1 tsp taco seasoning (I make this recipe in large quantity and used 1 tsp of this)
• 1 tsp olive or canola oil
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into half moons 1 inch thick
• 1 small green chili- diced
• 1/2 sweet onion cut into rings
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 can low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup mild or spicy salsa
• 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese blend (I used shredded cheddar since I had it on hand)
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions or cilantro (I chopped up 2 green onions)
• 1 cup of any cooked meat you have (pork, chicken- shredded) OPTIONAL

Directions:

Poke holes in the potato with a fork, cook on your microwave’s potato setting until potatoes are soft and cooked through (about 8-10 minutes on high for 4 potatoes). If you don't have a microwave, bake about 45 minutes at 400°F.

Combine yogurt and taco seasoning in a small bowl, mix well. (I just added the taco seasoning right to the cup of yogurt, shown below, and stirred in well.

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add peppers, onions, zucchini, chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt; cook until the onions have caramelized slightly, about 5 minutes. Add black beans, stir to combine and heat through (about another 3 minutes). Add your cooked shredded meat. Cook till heated through. (I put a lid on this and cooked on low till I had everything else ready to go)

USE a fork to pierce the top in an oval shape, then remove the top of each potato. Top with 2 tbsp shredded cheese, 1/3 cup of black bean mixture, 2 tbsp Greek yogurt mixture and 2 tbsp salsa of salsa. Sprinkle any green onions or cilantro over the top.  Enjoy!

Greek Yogurt with taco seasoning mixed in (SO much better than sour cream!!)

Cut open top, add cheese and veggie/meat/black bean mixture...

Top with the yogurt and sprinkle on any other toppings. Dig in while hot!! 

Southwest Green Chili Shredded Pork

This is one of the simplest and best meals I made while on our 24 Advocare Challenge (diet). This makes a ton so it's best if you are making for a crowd or plan this meal as is for day one and use the left overs on top of nacho's, in a quesadilla or on top a loaded southwest sweet potato!

You will need a crockpot and the following ingredients:

*3-4lb Pork shoulder, trimmed of fat
*2 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
*small sweet onion, cut into half rings
*1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
*1 4 oz can diced green cili's
*1 can of your favorite flavor Rotel (I use the green chili and tomato)
*1-2 whole anaheim green chilies, sliced into strips (Or another large can of green chilies-drained)
*2 tsp ground cumin
*salt and pepper

Optional ingredients for making into tacos:
*Corn tortillas
*Salsa verde
*sliced avocado
*Low fat sour cream

Optional toppings if making a carb free meal as I did in these pictures
*lime slices
*salsa of any kind
*sliced avocado
*cilantro

Directions:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook on all sides till browned (about 8-10 mins total)
2. Place pork in slow cooker. Add onion, tomatoes, green chilies, rotel and cumin. Add 1/2 cup- 1 cup water (I didn't do this, but I added the tomatoes and rotel with the juices)
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until fork tender. You can use two forks to shred pork right in the crock pot and mix will all the sauteed onions and peppers. YUM.

Serve either as is, in tacos, as quesadilla, nachos, or on a potato! Enjoy and invite some friends over to share! :) Sorry, no pictures below of this served in taco's... they were eaten WAY too quickly to snap a photo!

On top of fully loaded nachos! 

On a loaded sweet potato! HUGE hit in my house!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes & Asparagus with Rosemary Olive Oil

I was making ribeye's for dinner so I wanted to get some asparagus and some potatoes for the sides. I found this cool looking bag of Restaurant Style Baby Fingerling Potatoes... they were tri-colored (golden, red and purple). So i got home and I was trying to think of how to make these and it just so happens there was a recipe using both the potatoes and the asparagus on the front of the bag!! BAM! That was easy!! Here is a picture of the bag...

So, luckily I had fresh rosemary in my garden and I followed the recipe exactly... it was amazing!! I highly recommend!! If you can't find these cool tri-colored potatoes at your store, just do a mixture of golden and red fingerling potatoes... it just won't be as pretty as mine! :)

INGREDIENTS:
*2 T fresh Rosemary- minced
*1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1 lb fresh Asparagus- trimmed
*1/2 lb Pacific Gold fingerling potatoes (I used half of the 1.5lb bag) Cleaned and cut in half vertically
*1/4 tsp sea salt
*fresh ground black pepper to taste
*lemon wedges (I used 1 lemon cut into 6 wedges)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Toss potatoes with 2 T olive oil. Roast in oven for 20-30 mins on a roasting pan (or cookie sheet) until potatoes are slightly browned. Remove from oven.
3. Toss asparagus with remaining olive oil. Add them to the roasting pan with the potatoes. Place back in oven for 15-20 mins, turning frequently, until potatoes are fork tender.
4. Arrange potatoes and asparagus on a platter. Drizzle some lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with the fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. (I used the juice of 3-4 wedges and used other 2 as garnish on the platter.
5. Serve and enjoy!!

Thank you Progressiverecipes.com for an amazing recipe that I will make again and again!

Cheesy Potato Soup

This is a perfect soup for the cooler days that are coming up. I love making a big batch of this on Football Sunday and eating it for lunch and dinner. I make mine vegetarian, but it'd also be good with some ham or bacon in it!! GO PACK GO!!

Ingredients:
* 2 T Butter
* 2 T Olive Oil
* 1 small sweet onion- chopped
* 2 leeks- cut in 1/2 rounds only using white and light green parts
* 3 large carrots- diced
* 2-3 fresh garlic cloves- minced (Or garlic powder would do too)
* Seasonings (Kosher salt, Black pepper, nature seasonings)
* 10 potatoes (around 5-6 lbs) I used half red potatoes and half golden-Take most skin off. Diced
* 32 oz box of chicken STOCK (I used Kitchen Basic brand)
* 1 bouillon cute (I have the granules so I used 1 T)
* 1/2-1 cup water (enough so all potatoes are covered with liquid)
* 2-4 oz velveeta cheese- diced (more or less depending on how cheesy you like it)
* 1-2 cups of half n half

Other Optional ingredients:
*1 T flour plus 1 T melted butter if needs thickening
*Crusty bread (Sour dough round cut into chunks)
*Shredded cheddar cheese for topping soup
*green onion diced for topping
*any other toppings you like on a baked potato would go good!

1. Use a large stock pot.  Put the oil and butter in the bottom of pan on medium heat. Add onions, carrots and leeks. Cook on medium till onions are translucent (around 10-15 minutes).  
2. Add some seasonings (I used lots of pepper and nature seasonings and a little salt.. you can always add more later). And add your garlic or garlic powder. Stir well.
3. Add diced potatoes, chicken stock, bouillon and stir well. Add your water till it covers the potatoes completely. Cook on medium uncovered for about 20 minutes. Stir well and cover and continue simmering for another 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fork tender (not mushy).
4. Take half the soup (veggies and broth) out and put in blender. (Or if you have a hand blender like me, i just put half the soup into a bowl and use my hand blender to mix well.). Blend well and pour the blended mixture back into the soup. Mix well.
5. If you like your soup a little thicker you can melt some butter and mix with flour. Add a little at a time of this mixture until it reaches the consistency you want. (I only used 1/2 of the mixture I made)
6. Add your diced up velveeta cheese and mix. Cook on medium stirring every so often until cheese has completely melted and mixed into the soup.
7. Add your cream. The amount you use depends on how creamy you like your soup. I used about a cups worth. 
8. Serve in a bowl (or a bread bowl would be yummy!). Top with shredded cheese and any other toppings that sound good to you! Enjoy!

Not a great picture, but here I'm sauteing all my veggies. 

Adding my diced potatoes

I didn't get great pictures on making it this time around. Here is after I added the blended portion back to soup and just added the velveeta. 

Add your favorite toppings and serve with some crusty bread. DeLISH!

Tuna Salad with NO MAYO

I am trying to eat healthier and I love tuna salad, but let's face it... mayo just isn't on most diet plans! Here is a great way to eat your tuna. You can eat this plain with a fork if you are trying to stay low carb, or you can put it on multi grain crackers or bread! This actually is better if you make it and let it sit in the fridge a couple hours before eating it. I sometimes add extra lemon/lime because I LOVE citrus.

Ingredients:
*1 lg can albacore chunk white tuna in water- drain well
*1 large celery stalk- diced small
* 1/2 small green bell pepper- chopped into small pieces
* 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
* 2 limes juiced
* 1 lemon juiced
* pepper (and I added nature seasonings)

Mix all together in bowl. Eat right away or let marinate in fridge a few hours before eating. Enjoy and feel good eating it too!

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken (Bourbon Chicken)

Here is another crockpot meal I did during my 5-1 meal day. (This is where I make 5 meals at once and put them in gallon size zip lock bags and put in the freezer. When ready to cook I just take out and put right in the crock pot. Great for weekday meals!) I got this recipe from Table for Two blog.

My house smelt JUST like walking past the Chinese Restaurant that hands out samples on a toothpick in the mall's food court! That place always tempts me to eat there! And when I do, i always feel like crap after eating it. This tastes better and I know what's all in it!!

The only thing I will change about the recipe is next time I will use more chicken (It makes enough marinade). While I was cutting it up, the kids and I kept nibbling on it. So once we got it to the table for dinner there was barely enough for all of us, and definitely not enough for left overs! I served this over sticky rice and sauteed broccoli, green beans, carrots and water chestnuts. I will be making this again soon!

Here is the recipe off the blog. If you want to make this into a freezer meal, just put all the ingredients except the cornstarch and sesame seeds in a zip lock freezer bag and put in your freezer. On the day you want to make it, just take it right from freezer and place in your crockpot. (I cooked mine this way on the lowest setting for just under 5 hours.)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5

Salt and pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
4. When done, remove chicken from pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce.
5. Serve hot over a bed of white rice (optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Once Chicken is done, take out and cut into chunks

Crock Pot Beef Burritos

School is about to start and my days are getting busier.  I like anything that make my weekday meals a little more simple, but still tasty! I found this blog on Pinterest that shows you how to spend 1-2 hours in the kitchen one day and make 5 different meals to freeze and just throw in the crock pot when ready to make it. It really is a great idea and I love the days I can just wake up and turn my crock pot on and dinner is ready at night! Here is the recipe for the first one I made. Check out Saving You Dinero's Blog for tips on 5-1 Freezer meals! (Make sure it freezes in a size/shape that will fit in your crock pot!)

I really liked these burrito's. We used the meat to make Chipotle style burrito's. I made a side of cilantro lime rice and heated up a can of pinto beans. We all liked this a lot and will definitely make it again!!

Here are all the ingredients that went into this bag. On the bag itself I write:
1. What the meal is called
2. The date I assembled
3. Cooking Directions
4. What to do (if anything) after it's done cooking to prepare the dinner
5. I also list any other ingredients I need during the day I will be serving (ex: tortillas and cheese for burritos)

Ingredients:

• 1 London Broil or top round roast (about 2 lbs)
• 1 diced onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce – Use just 1 pepper!! (It’s in a can.)
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder (you can adjust this according to your taste)

Ingredients to use on the day you make this- Large Flour Tortillas, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, pico or diced tomato, and cilantro lime rice (white sticky rice mixed with cilantro, lime juice and a little salt). Also, warm up a can of pinto or black beans.

1. Add all the above ingredients into a freezer bag. Put in freezer till ready to make. 
2. When you are ready to cook the meal, dump the contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
3. When the meat is cooked, you will need to strain the juices and add the juice back to the slow cooker. (You want to remove the peppercorns and onions.) Shred the meat and add back to the juice in the slow cooker for about 30 minutes.  Add the meat, some of the rice and come of the beans and toppings of your choice into the tortilla and roll into a burrito. Enjoy!! I always serve with a variety of hot sauces too!! This is one of our favorite recipes. My kids eat it as long as we have leftovers.

Gallon size freezer bag... write on it before you fill it

Once everything is in bag, seal and freeze. (Make sure it doesn't freeze in a shape that is too big to fit in your crock pot)

Half way done

Remove all juices. Take meat and shred back in crock pot

Strain juices removing the whole peppercorns and onions, just letting the juices back in with the meat.

Place all your ingredients in middle of large tortilla

Roll

Enjoy!

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Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stirfry

I found this recipe off Skinny Taste.  Her recipe calls for Thai Kitchen Pineapple and Chili Dipping Sauce. My store didn't have this so I used Thai Kitchen Sweet Red Chili Sauce. (Mae Ploy also makes a really good Sweet Chili Sauce). I really liked this dish, it was really simple and flavorful and I really liked the way the cilantro tasted with it! It's a tad spicy, but my son ate it and seemed to enjoy it!

Here is the recipe I got right from the Skinny Taste Site (the only thing i changed was the sauce and I added the water chestnuts and shredded carrots. Next time I may try adding some chopped celery as well)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tbsp Thai Kitchen fish sauce
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp oil, divided
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 2 cups cubed assorted colors bell peppers (1/2-inch cubes)
• 1 red chili pepper, chopped (optional or to taste)- I didn't use this since kids were eating
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 jar sliced water chestnuts
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup Thai Kitchen Pineapple & Chili dipping sauce
• cilantro leaves (for garnish)

Directions:

Mix chicken and fish sauce in medium bowl. Add cornstarch; toss to evenly coat. Set aside.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add garlic and
ginger; stir fry 30 seconds. Add bell peppers, shredded carrots, chili pepper if using, water chestnuts, and pineapple; stir fry 3 to 5 minutes or until peppers are tender-crisp. Add sauce; cook and stir until heated through. Remove from skillet.

Heat remaining oil in the skillet. Add chicken; stir fry 5 minutes or until cooked through. Return bell pepper mixture to skillet; stir fry until well blended. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve over rice.

Chicken Tortellini Soup with Kale

My friend was always talking about this tortellini soup she would make. I always wanted to try it, but I'm just not a huge soup person. I'll eat it for a day but I tend to throw out leftovers. I decided to try her recipe anyway, changing a few things and adding Kale to it. I served it for dinner along side crusty bread and the whole family really loved it and we even ate the leftovers along side sandwiches the next day for lunch!!


Ingredients:

• *1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• *1.5 cups diced carrot
• *1 cup diced celery
• *1 cup diced sweet onion
• *2 garlic cloves minced
• *32 oz low sodium chicken broth
• *1 cup water
• *2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I use Rotisserie Chicken)
• *Package of Buitoni Brand Mixed Cheese Tortellini (I get the one that has both white and green noodles) 
• *Bunch Kale Shredded
• *Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 

• 1. In large sauce pan (6 quart), heat up your olive oil and add your garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Saute on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring well. Add seasonings.
• 2. Add chicken broth, water, and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn down heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
• 3. Uncover and turn heat back up to medium. Add your kale and tortellini and cook for another 5 minutes, or until all the tortellini float to the top and are cooked through.
• 4. Season more if needed. Feel free to grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top:)