Crock Pot BBQ Pork

I'm waaayyyy behind on posting anything on here so I'm just going to post a lot of recipes all at once over the next couple of days. I started working last year so I blame that for my reason for not posting as often. I'm still making food, just not as often. I go through spurts.

I needed something to get me through at least a couple days of work and I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer. Although I was at Trader Joe's on Saturday and I decided to just buy an unfrozen one since I forgot to thaw mine out in time for the weekend. I started searching on Pinterest for a recipe, something that I had all the ingredients for and came across this one-I've never made a tenderloin that had a dry rub before & I definitely had all the spices, thanks to my mom getting spices for me at her Co-Op in MN for super cheap. I only made one tenderloin & halved the recipes for the spices. It still made a good amount of rub. And man it made the tenderloin so moist; it literally fell apart when I took it out of the slow cooker. I was just planning on slicing the tenderloin like I usually do but this one shredded all on its own. I didn't need to add anything to it-the rub did a good job of adding so much flavor to the tenderloin but I did add some bbq sauce I had in the fridge. I ate the meat by itself last night with some mac & cheese on the side. I was going to eat it again for lunch today but there's free food at work so that will be my lunch tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to make tacos with the meat...yum! I'll definitely make this again! And the recipe calls for 6-7 hours in the slow cooker-I only cooked it for 5 1/2 hours=perfection!

Find the recipe here




Falling apart...

BBQ Sauce & Ready to Eat! Enjoy!...

Mississippi Pot Roast

I've seen several recipes for a roast like this before and it always looked good. Lately I've been on a crock pot kick so when I saw another recipe for this roast, I had to try it. I've been trying to stay away from pre-mixed packets so when this recipe said I could make my own dressing instead of using the gravy packet, I was even more interested. And man this roast soooooo good! I could not stop eating it! I made another roast shortly after this one and it really did not even come close to the flavor. This roast is packed in so much flavor it's unbelievable! Go make this roast right now!!!!!

Find the recipe here




Floured Roast

Roast is browned...

Ready to be cooked...

Dressing...

Dressing added...

Ready to Eat...

Enjoy!...

Tortellini Soup

This soup was my own creation. My mom actually gave me the idea. I had a blood clot this past fall and she came into town to stay with me until I was able to get back on my feet again. She had mentioned that she had made tortellini soup before for herself in the past and she threw whatever she had on hand to make it a meal. So after she left, I decided to do the same. This soup has become a staple for me and I make it when I don't know what else to make. You can add whatever you want to it and it will always taste good. I haven't added meat yet but that's only because I haven't had any in my fridge when I've made the soup. I almost always add a lot of vegetables, almost like I'm making a vegetable soup. I add the tortellini towards the end, for however long it needs to cook. I'm not going to list a recipe since you can whatever you want but I'll list what I usually always add:

Carrots (usually the multicolored ones because it's always fun to add color to soups)
Celery
Zucchini or yellow squash if I have them in my fridge
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Parm Rind
4-6 c chicken broth
Pkg of whatever size, shape or flavor of tortellini
Spinach leaves
Parmesan, to serve
Parsley, to serve




Enjoy!...

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

I discovered this creamy yet sweet squash last fall and I don't know why I never tried it before! I think I've been scared to try the squashes in the past. I tried spaghetti squash once and I didn't like the texture. I finally tried this one in another dish and I loved the sweet taste of it so I decided to roast it in the oven. Butternut squash didn't affect my GERD, much like sweet potatoes, so I ate a lot of both of them during my time with it. I was constantly trying to find new recipes to use them in. Butternut squash roasted can be used in any way and it would be good!

Find the recipe here




Fresh from the oven...

Enjoy!...

Pastina Soup with Easy Homemade Meatballs

I made this soup almost a year ago, way back in August, when I was diagnosed with GERD, which is a severe form of acid reflux. I had to go on a bland diet, which was not a lot of fun, but the alternative was painful so I stuck to the bland diet as best I could. Not eating the foods I liked was hard, since I like eating foods with a lot of flavor. This soup was really bland, so I decided to add some flavor by baking meatballs. Luckily the meatballs had enough flavor to make eating the soup bearable. And the peas added enough taste as well. I didn't do a whole lot of cooking during my time that I had to eat my bland diet-not a whole lot of experimenting, mainly because what I tried didn't agree with me. Which is why I didn't post a whole lot. Luckily I can eat almost anything now, thankfully! The only thing I can't eat yet are tomatoes or anything tomato-based so no spaghetti sauces or ketchup or anything red-sauced but if that's the only thing I have to stay away from, then that's okay with me! And I also tend to stay away from a lot of citrus and high salty foods as well, just to be on the safe side. I have book-marked the recipes I did try, so I'll post those now. Bear with me while I post a bunch in a row!

Pastina Soup (4 servings) (Food Network):

*Soup

1 tbsp EVOO
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 shallots, minced
3 sprigs thyme
Salt
1 2-inch parm cheese rind
1 qt chicken stock (I used broth)
1 3/4 c star-shaped pastina (I could only find a small shaped pasta, which worked just as well)
1 c frozen peas
1/2 c grated parm
1 tsp grated lemon zest, optional

For the meatball recipe, click here




Cooked meatballs...

Soup simmering with the meatballs added...

Enjoy!!

Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I have a new love of Brussels sprouts that only started within the last couple of years. And they have to be cooked a certain way. Usually roasted so that they are crispy with lots of really good flavor. Most steak places know how to cook them really well. There's a place here in Vegas called Lucky Foo's that cook their Brussels sprouts so well that we almost always get them and devour them every time! I attempted to make my own a couple years ago and burnt the crap the out of them and gave up right away. I was watching Barefoot Contessa about a week ago and she roasted some Brussels sprouts and made it look so easy and I thought to myself that I could give that a try again. So I did today and it worked! And I think I knew what I did wrong the last time! I think I added too much stuff the last time instead of going with just the basics. And I even had the syrupy balsamic vinegar that Ina Garten used in her recipe because I've been to Italy and I rarely use the stuff that we brought back with us. If you don't have good aged syrupy balsamic vinegar, you can boil regular balsamic vinegar until it's reduced to a syrupy consistency. Make sure you're generous with your salt-I had to add more salt after my Brussel sprouts were done roasting. I will definitely be making these again and again! Yum!!!!!!

Find the recipe here




Ready to be roasted...






Fresh from oven...







Syrupy Balsamic Vinegar...






Enjoy!...

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I was craving sweet potatoes awhile back but I wanted to make my own and it's just easier anyways. I happened to have a sweet potato on hand so I cut it into fries and mixed up a concoction of cinnamon and sugar and oh yum! I think I should have waited and put the cinnamon and sugar on after the fries baked because the fries came out really sticky but they were still good. Next time! So easy! And so healthy! Well, minus the sugar party lol!

Find the recipe here




Ready to be baked...






Enjoy!...