Chili and Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

We had this for dinner last night. It was really moist and yummy. It had a little bit of heat to it. For those families with young children, you might want to half the sambal oelek. The flavor was really good, and we all really liked it.

Chili and Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Http://crockpot365.blogspot.com

The Ingredients

serves 4 (can easily be doubled or tripled!)

 

2 pounds pork tenderloin, quartered

2 tablespoons all-natural maple syrup

1 tablespoon prepared chili pepper sauce (sambal oelek)

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 green onions, thinly sliced

 

Homemade "cheater" sambal oelek:

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon chopped garlic cloves (approximately 2 cloves)

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

 

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the pork into the insert, and add the maple syrup, chili sauce, five-spice powder, salt, and pepper. Stir well to disperse the spices. Toss in the green onions. Cover, and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or until the pork has reached desired tenderness.

 

The Verdict

 

This moist, sweet pork has a tiny bit of lingering heat from the chili pepper sauce. Pork tenderloin has a tendency to dry out, but cooking in the slow cooker really traps in valuable steam. If you find that your cooker releases a lot of steam while cooking, you can wrap the pork in a piece of aluminum foil to keep it nice and juicy.

Raspberry Chipotle Chicken

We had this for dinner tonight. We really liked it. My husband thought it was a bit on the sweet side, but the rest of us were fine. The chipotle pepper and adobo gave it a wonderful smoky flavor without adding a lot of heat. My mouth had a nice warmth, but was by no means hot. If you are a little wary, use half a chili to try it out.

Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Chicken

Http://wwww.budget bytes.com

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 30 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

Total Cost: $9.95

Cost Per Serving: $1.24

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ med yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• 1 pepper + sauce chipotle peppers in adobo
• 4 lbs (8 pcs) chicken thighs

Instructions

1. Finely dice the onion and garlic. Cook both in a sauce pan with vegetable oil over medium heat until softened (3-5 minutes). Meanwhile, roughly chop one chipotle pepper and reserve 1 Tbsp of adobo sauce from the can.
2. Add the tomato sauce, raspberry jam, cider vinegar, chopped chipotle pepper and adobo sauce to the cooked onions and garlic. Stir everything well and bring up to a simmer. Continue to simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow the sauce to cool after simmering (it will thicken upon cooling).
3. Remove the skin from the chicken and trim any excess fat. The skin should pull away from the meat easily although you may need a small sharp knife to separate it in some places. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
4. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil and non-stick spray. Place the chicken thighs on the tray and slather with BBQ sauce (pour a small amount of sauce into a bowl before brushing onto chicken so that the whole batch will not get contaminated with raw chicken).
5. Place the BBQ chicken in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Fifteen and thirty minutes into the cooking time, take the chicken out and slather with more sauce.

Note: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found in with the Mexican food in your grocery store. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce usually come in super small cans (4-5 oz) but even still, I usually only use one pepper at a time and have almost a whole can left over. I *always* freeze the rest. Divide the peppers and adobe sauce up into small portions and pop them in the freezer.

Irish Skillet Dinner

Had this for dinner last night. My husband didn’t like it, even though he ate it. The boys, the girlfriend and I really liked it. It had great flavor. My husband and I both have Irish on our lines. Little bit of homage to it.

Irish Skillet Dinner

By Taracooks

Description: Beef and bacon meet potatoesand cabbage in an Irish Skillet Dinner for St. Patrick’s Day

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 20 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients

· 1 cup Beef Broth

· ¼ cups Apple Juice

· 2 Tablespoons White Vinegar

· 2 Tablespoons Yellow Mustard

· 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

· 1 teaspoon Salt

· 1 teaspoon Coarse Ground Black Pepper

· 1 pound Lean Ground Beef

· ½ cups Fresh Diced Onion

· 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

· 1 pound Ore Ida Hash Brown Potatoes O'Brian

· 4 cups Shredded Green Cabbage

· 4 slices Cooked, Crumbled Bacon

Preparation

In a small mixing bowl, combine the beef broth, apple juice, white vinegar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Whisk to blend and set aside.

In a large iron skillet, brown the ground beef with the fresh diced onion. Drain any excess grease. Add the vegetable oil and hash browns to the beef and onions. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until hash browns are lightly browned, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add the liquid mixture and the shredded cabbage and bacon and cook another 5–10 minutes over medium heat until most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve immediately while hot with some Irish soda bread.

 

Cream Cheese Chicken Taqitos

Had these for dinner last night. They were sooo good. I didn’t even dip them in anything. That says a lot. The recipe says that it makes 12, but I got 20. I might not have been quite so generous on the filling, but I wanted to be able to roll them. I thought they had plenty of filling. I used a generous, but not heaping serving size tablespoon. Next time I think I will double this so that I can put some of them in the freezer.

Cream Cheese Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt + pepper
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• ⅓ cup water
• ½ cup shredded colby or Mexican blend cheese
• 12 6 inch corn or flour tortillas
• optional: cilantro, salsa, sour cream, or other toppings as desired

Instructions

1. Mix chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper to taste, cream cheese, and water in a medium mixing bowl. (I put this in the microwave for 1 minute to make it easier to mix) Pour half of the mixture into your crockpot, place chicken in crockpot and pour remaining mixture over the chicken.
2. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
3. Minutes before serving, remove chicken from crock pot, shred with two forks, and return to slow cooker. Give it a stir. Cook about 15 minutes longer.
4. Preheat oven to 400. Here is a great trick to keep your corn tortilla from falling apart. Place 1 corn tortilla on a skillet, put about ⅛ cup cheese on the corn tortilla. Warm the tortilla until the cheese melts, remove tortilla from pan. Melting the cheese on the corn tortilla will keep it from falling apart in the next step.
5. Place about ¼ cup of the chicken mixture onto the middle of each corn tortilla that has the melted cheese on it or a flour tortilla.
6. Top with 1-2 tablespoons shredded cheese. Roll tightly and place in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. If using corn tortilla brushing some olive oil over them will help with browning and crisping.
7. Bake 10 minutes, until tortillas are slightly browned and shredded cheese is melted. Serve with desired toppings and sauces.

Recipe from http://lecremedelacrumb.com

Slow-Cooker Chinese Pork with Garlic Noodles

We had this for dinner last night.  My boys, 1 girlfriend and I really liked it.  My husband said it was okay.  It was really easy.  The pork had really good flavor, and then the sauce flavored the noodles.  This made tons.  For those of you that don’t have kids left at home, or are single, I recommend halving this recipe.  My husband and boys are not fond of cilantro, so I didn’t include that, and I forgot the peanuts, but we will do this again for sure.

Slow-Cooker Chinese Pork with Garlic Noodles

Prep Time 30 min

Total Time 4 hr 20 min

Servings 9

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins (1 lb each), trimmed

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon grated gingerroot

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 packages (8 oz each) Chinese noodles

1 cup julienne carrots

¾ cup diagonally sliced green onions

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/3 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

9 lime wedges

Directions

• 1 Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place pork in slow cooker. In small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, the hoisin sauce, tomato sauce, sugar, gingerroot and garlic. Pour over pork.
• 2 Cover; cook on Low heat setting 3 hours 30 minutes. Remove pork from slow cooker to large bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Pour cooking liquid through strainer into separate bowl; cover to keep warm. Shred pork, using 2 forks; cover to keep warm.
• 3 Return cooking liquid to slow cooker; stir in remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce, the vinegar and sesame oil. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 10 minutes.
• 4 Meanwhile, cook noodles as directed on package. Turn slow cooker off. Add carrots, onions, cilantro leaves, shredded pork and cooked noodles; toss to coat. Sprinkle individual servings with peanuts and chopped cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Note: I didn’t want to use my big crockpot, so I put the meat in my small one.  Cooked the noodles in my big metal pot and then transferred the meat/sauce to the noodle pot.

Taco Spaghetti

We had this for dinner last night.  I was different than the tradtional, but good.  There was not a morsel leftover.  Even my youngest that doesn’t like spaghetti ate it.  Although he did mention it would have been better without the pasta. LOL

Taco Spaghetti Skillet

Serving Size 6 servings (1 cup each)

Ingredients 1 pound extra lean ground beef (95% lean)

1 pkg (1.5 oz each) mild taco seasoning mix

 1 can (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

2-1/2 cups water

8 ounces dry Pot-Sized™ Spaghetti, uncooked

6 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream

Serving Size 6 servings (1 cup each)

Directions Cook beef in large skillet over medium-high heat 7 minutes or until crumbled and no longer pink, stirring occasionally.

Add taco seasoning, undrained tomatoes and water; stir to combine. Add spaghetti; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook 10 minutes or until spaghetti is tender, stirring occasionally.

Top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Cook's Tips Pot-Sized Spaghetti is 5 inches long --- the perfect size to fit in a pan without breaking. If Pot-Sized Spaghetti is not available, break regular spaghetti in half for this recipe.  Walmart has their own brand which is 16oz for $1.

Mexican Chicken Skillet Dinner

This was really good.  I skipped the jalapeno and the cilantro, but we really liked it.

 

Mexican Chicken Skillet Dinner

Shared By: Pick Fresh Foods

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp vegetable oil, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups fresh or frozen corn
• ½ cup water
• 1 lime, juiced
• ½ cup grated Mexican cheese blend
• 1 jalapeño, sliced thin
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. In a small bowl combine chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle evenly over both sides of the chicken breasts.
2. In a large oven safe skillet heat 1 tsp of oil over medium heat.
3. Add chicken breast and sauté until both sides are browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Transfer to plate and cover.
4. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan along with the garlic and bell pepper. Sauté until garlic is fragrant then add the corn. Cook until corn is heated.
5. Add the chicken back to the pan.
6. Add water and pour lime juice over the chicken. Cook for 3 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and place under broiler to melt cheese.
7. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with jalapeños and cilantro.
8. Serve with wedge of lime.

Crockpot Sweet and Sour Pork

I'm not a big fan of pineapple when it is warmed for some reason.  I had reservations about this recipe for that reason.  We all love sweet and sour, and it was a dump recipe so I decided to give it a try.  I have to admit that it was amazing.  We really liked it.  Not only that it made quite a bit when added with the rice.  Very inxexpsive recipe to feed the family.

Crockpot Sweet and Sour Pork

*2-3 pound lean pork roast
**1 cup granulated sugar (seems like a lot, but it mellows out)
½ cup white vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons ketchup
20 ounce can crushed pineapple (drained)
.
Brown the pork roast on all sides and put it in your slow cooker. Mix everything else and bring it to a boil, then pour it over the meat.
.
Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until very tender (spoon the sauce over the meat every once in a while).

NOTES: 

*Walmart sells a small vacuum packed 2 pound pork roast that is perfect for this recipe. The package says "pork loin rib eye pork roast".

**Even though as noted the sugar mellows out, it was still a bit sweet for us.  Especially since you have sweet from the pineapple juice also.  I think next time I make it I am going to cut the sugar in half.  

Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken

We had this for dinner last night and really liked it.  It was fast prep to the oven.  The chicken stayed moist and the crust was kind of salty.  With the honey mustard drizzled on top, it was that sweet/salty thing I love.

Honey Mustard Chicken with Pretzel Crust

PREP 20 mins

COOK 25 mins

Ingredients

cooking spray

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

1 tablespoon spicy mustard (Dijon)

1 tablespoon coarse-grained mustard (brown)

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

4 cups salted pretzels

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard

1 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, mix together the red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, the spicy mustard, coarse-grained mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey, and the vegetable oil.
3. Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. (I didn't do this.  I had thin breasts (1/2"), so I just increased my baking time a bit)Coat the chicken well with the mustard mixture.
4. Place the pretzels into a resealable plastic zipper bag and roll the bag under a rolling pin to finely grind the pretzels. Place the coated chicken breasts, one at a time, into the bag, seal, and shake the bag to thoroughly coat each chicken breast with pretzel meal. Place the chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet and spray each breast with cooking spray.
5. Bake the chicken in the preheated oven until the coating is golden brown and the meat is no longer pink in the center, about 25 minutes. Flip the chicken after about 12 minutes of cooking to brown both sides. (I did 16 min per side)

Mix together the mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 3 tablespoons of honey, and salt in a bowl. Drizzle the honey-mustard sauce over the chicken

Crockpot Hungarian Goulash

Quick and yummy.  If you have never had goulash before, it is kind of like a Hungarian chili.  Instead of meat and beans with chili powder it is meat, bacon and paprika.  Using the sweet paprika just gives it good flavor instead of heat.

Crockpot Hungarian Goulash

Ingredients

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 onions, sliced

4 slices bacon, cut in ¼ inch pieces

2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 1/2 cups water

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until just starting to turn brown.  Add onions in oil until soft, stirring frequently. Remove bacon and onions and add to crockpot.
2. In a ziplock bag, combine paprika, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper. Coat beef cubes in spice mixture.  Add a little bit of oil and cook in onion pot until brown on all sides. Add to crockpot.  Pour  tomato paste, water, garlic and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt into skillet and cook for a couple of minutes trying to get any brown bits up.  Add sauce to crockpot.  Cook on low about 6-8 hours, or until meat is tender.
3. Serve over cooked noodles.  Garnish with sour cream.

Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze

We had this for dinner last night.  My guys love meatloaf, so I doubled the recipe.  I had one piece, and there was a small 3” piece leftover for lunch today.  The rest of it was gone!  We all really liked it.  We did decide for our taste, it had too many bread crumbs. (The breadcrumbs make it more tender.)  Next time I will half the breadcrumbs and milk and double the glaze.  I want enough glaze to do the sides.  It was yummy.  I will definitely put this one into the rotation.

Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze
1 pound 93% lean beef
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I use Italian)
1/2 cup 2% milk
4 tablespoons ketchup, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350° (for glass or dark roasting pan).  Add 25° if you are using a light colored pan.

In a large bowl add beef, bread crumbs and milk.  Pouring milk directly over bread crumbs.  Add 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and your spices. Set aside.

In a small bowl, crack egg and beat it slightly.  This helps prevent overworking the meat while combining, resulting in a tougher meatloaf.  Add egg to large bowl with meat mixture.  Combine well with hands, do not overwork the meat mixture.

Form meatloaf in bowl, into a loaf form and then transfer to a roasting pan (I use glass).  Free form into a loaf shape.  You may notice cracks in the loaf.  Run your hands under warm water and then across the meatloaf to smooth the cracks out.  Set meatloaf aside.

In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar.  Mix well with a fork.  

Apply glaze evenly to the top of your meatloaf.

Cover pan with aluminum.  Place meatloaf in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Sides should be lightly browned when ready to uncover foil.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Allow to rest uncovered for 10 minutes.  Slice and serve with your favorite sides!

Herb and Citrus Roasted Chicken

We had this for dinner last night.  It was really good.  I put it in the marinade about noon, and cooked it about 5:30.  Great flavor.  We all really liked this.  Even though it went in the marinade hours before, it was really easy and fast. Marinating it the night before is totally doable. I only baked it for 30 min.

Herb and Citrus Oven Roasted Chicken

YIELD: Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons sugar

2 whole lemons, one juiced and one sliced

2 whole oranges, one juiced and one sliced

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

10-12 pieces (about 4 1/2 lbs.) bone-in chicken parts (thighs and legs are best w/skin), pat dry

1 medium onion (any kind), thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried thyme, or fresh chopped

1 tablespoon dried rosemary, or fresh chopped

Chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley), for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, garlic, sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, Italian seasoning, paprika, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.

Place chicken in a rimmed 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Place parts skin side up and spread them out evenly in the pan. Pour olive oil mixture all over chicken, turning pieces to coat all sides. (If you marinated the chicken in this mixture, still add it all in). Arrange slices of lemon, orange and onion around and under the chicken. Sprinkle all over generously with thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for about 1 hour, or until chicken is cooked and juices run clear. Remove parts to a serving platter and garnish with additional chopped fresh herbs, if desired.

Enjoy!

(Note: I used boneless skinless thighs for this.  I didn't worry it having the skin on since the marinade had oil.  I only roasted mine for half an hour though.  They were perfectly done, and not dry.  I think I may try with the skin next time to see if it adds any more flavor.  Both options work.)

Just 30-40 minutes is all that's needed to bake this recipe with chicken breasts in place of chicken parts.

For best results, chicken can be marinated in a plastic container or bag for several hours or overnight in the olive oil mixture.

This is great served with a big salad, and/or lemon orzo/potatoes, or garlic bread!

You can also switch up the seasonings to a spicy mix and toss in lemons and limes instead of oranges. Swap cilantro for the rosemary and thyme. Serve it over rice, maybe? No need to be a recipe robot – get creative!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I adore soup!  I have been looking for a good chicken tortilla for several years.  Playing around on Pintrest the other day and found a recipe for 8 can tortilla soup.  The ingredients looked interesting.  I made a pot last night with some leftover chicken.  It was soooo good.  To top it off, not only is it crockpot, it is a dump recipe.

Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

Author: Tiffany Ivanovsky

Recipe type: Soup

Ingredients

·         1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

·         1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

·         1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained

·         1 (15 oz) can sweet corn, drained

·         1 (12.5 oz) can chicken breast, drained

·         1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup

·         1 (10 oz) can green enchilada sauce

·         1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

·         1 (1 oz) packet taco seasoning

Instructions

1.     Open and pour all ingredients into a large stock pot or into your slow cooker and stir together. Cook on low heat for 2-3 hours. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado and tortilla chips.

NOTE:  This also freezes well for lunch.

Cooking Epiphany

I had a small epiphany of sorts tonight. One day my children are going to be grateful I cooked every night when they were growing up. (Well almost). Even though they had to stomach many of my new recipes. I always assumed it was a given that moms cooked. The older I get, the more irealize this isn't true. Especially nowadays. Aren't they lucky?

Recipe Mailer

I've been on a food journey the last 9 months or so. I had to quit wimping out on dinner and start making it nightly again. I have been searching the web and Pintrest almost daily for recipes. I'm looking for working mom friendly, which means 30 minute meals or crockpot.

Several of my work friends have asked me to share what I find, with our reviews. (I only send out the ones we really like). What working mom doesn't need help in this area? (If there is one, don't tell me). These are meals that my boys and husband eat. In other words not fancy. I have a very wide palette. We eat Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai and any thing else that sounds good. Unfortunately my guys won't eat any kind of seafood. (dramatic sigh!).

I decided that there were more working people out there that might like having ideas for dinner. I'm doing the work for us. Might as well share. I now have a email group at work that are about 9 months ahead in recipes and now this new group I'm starting. I think that I will also share them here.