Marinated pork loin

Main Man actually executed this meal so I will give him full credit, and credit is needed to be given to someone for this masterpiece!  I have started buying small pork loins to marinate and throw on the grill since they are fairly cheap and very easy to throw together for dinner. Plus, Main Man gets all excited when he knows we're having a big hung of meat for dinner...must be a guy thing. This one was a throw together marinade of things I had in the house...I've gotten pretty good at discovering what will penetrate the meat well after all my marinations this summer, if I do say so myself, (and I do). No messing around Monday....let's get to it!

 

white balsamic vinegar (sweeter and less bitter than normal balsamic)

soy sauce

olive oil

lime juice

garlic powder

cracked pepper

cayenne pepper (optional, but we like a little kick in the panties)

 

I didn't really measure the ingredients, just threw them together and put a finger in there to taste after I mixed it up...that's the best way to cook, in my opinion! :) I put the loin in a large plastic baggie and dumped the mixture onto it to marinate overnight. When I got home from visiting the hospital the next night, Main Man had dinner on the table ready to be served. He actually took our meat syringe and injected the loin with the excess marinade before grilling, which I think was an excellant idea that really enhanced the flavor of the meat.

 

ALWAYS, always, always let your meat rest before slicing into it after grilling or you will lost all your juice, and that's no way to ruin a hunk of beatiful meat! This was a perfect Friday night in meal for the hubs and I...those pork loins in our freezer better be worried about their fate :)

 

Last long week before the holiday, I hope everyone has their shopping done, their menus planned, and Im (not so secretly) hoping for some snow to grace our presence for a traditional white Christmas...it just doesn't feel right this year with the warm weather we've had!  Happy Monday, all!

 

Berbere rubbed pork chops

It's Monday. I'm pooped. I feel 30. Good thing I have 3 more days to be 29. My sneaky (and loving) girlfriends with my sneaky (and loving) hubby planned a surprise birthday dinner for me this weekend. It was a wonderful weekend of shopping for a whole new work wardrobe (my birthday present from Main Man), a surprise dinner at one of my fave places (see pic of my oscar below...so mad I forgot my leftovers), and lots of fun times with friends. I won't forget it anytime soon...I'm a lucky girl, and 2012 has been the best year yet. I can't wait to turn 30 on Thanksgiving day and welcome an even better year to come!

 

 

Like all good things, this weekend had to come to an end....but the best thing about your birthday being during a holiday week is that you have a short work week! And believe me, I need a short week right about now. I'm sure you're all planning your Thanksgiving meals this week, so if you want to check out some of our family's favorite holiday dishes, go check out last year's post with our  Thanksgiving menu on it, I promise you'll find something you can't live without!

 

As for us this week, easy dinners are the ticket when you're planning on a few large Thanksgiving meals later in the week. This is a simple weeknight meal, with great flavor that won't leave you unsatisfied and counting down the days for the real deal fat kid meals in a few days.

 

I had never heard of Berbere spices before but Wikipedia says:

 

Berbere (Amharic: በርበሬ berberē, Tigrinya: በርበረ berbere) is a spice mixture whose constituent elements usually include chili peppers, garlic, ginger, dried basil, korarima, rue, white and black pepper and fenugreek.^[1][2] It serves as a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Berbere sometimes encompasses herbs and spices that are less well known internationally. The latter include both cultivated plants and those that grow wild in Ethiopia, such as korarima (Aframomum corrorima)^[3] and long pepper.^[4]

 

Interesting. I got the cutest little package of fun spices (and the cutest little package of cool flavored olive oils and vinegars) from my friend Leslie for one of the wedding showers we have a couple months ago. Leslie knows what is right up my alley because she resides in the same alley. She's a foodie, loves to stay active, enjoys a good time out on the town, and has a little of that OCD stuff I've got floating around. We mesh well. Anyway, she got me a bunch of cool cooking stuff from this little place called All Spice in the East Village (you can order online with that link if you're not from around here. I need to go there. I'm scared though. I have a vision of my bank account slowly draining itself in there....

 

This was the first of the new spices I used from the gift and I was uber impressed. I rubbed the pork chops with olive oil very generously, rubbed with the spice mixture, and refridgerated overnight to let that shizz fall in love before cooking. It was goooooood. Check this place out.

 

We grilled our chops to a charred perfection (the rub and olive oil made a nice almost sauce) and served with the Stensland vegetable favorite at the moment...roasted brussel sprouts. There were a lot of "mmmmm's" resonating from the walls of the casa that evening. Hopefully you hear them too!

Smoked ribs

If you don't have a smoker, I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but my ribs ain't one! A little Jay-Z always starts a Friday off right, huh!?  Anyway...I'm betting Jay-Z doesn't know how to make ribs like this (and even if he does, how cool would it be to have a rib-off with the Hova...let me know when if you happen upon this post, Jay)!

These were one of the big family (10+ friends) dinners we had at the lake over the 4th of July, and I'll be completely honest with you, it's the one I was looking the most forward to that week. Oh, and although he didn't know what was coming, it was Sam's favorite meal too...holy dog bones, Batman!!

I got 3 big racks or pork ribs at HyVee, and we had enough left over afterwards for about 3 people's meals the next day. We rubbed them with olive oil, Lawry's, and garlic salt before placing them on the smoker at 240 degrees for about 6 hours.  We went for an internal temperature of 165 degrees with a meat thermometer but knowing when your ribs are done is a lot harder than one might think. Check out this website for tips and tricks on testing your done-ness. 

After they smoked their little hearts out all afternoon, we sent them to the grill and slathered their skins with some Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce to char some of the outer bark and seal the smoky flava flav inside.  Let them rest for 5 minutes when you take them off the grill, just like any other meat. I never seem to get any pictures of ribs on the plate after they're done...it's like I just can't wait to get them in my mouth, my mind loses all focus and just starts chewing. They do look pretty snazzy on the grill though!

I'm not really going to just sit here and brag about these smoked ribs without helping you out a little if you don't have a smoker...don't worry. If you don't own a smoker, go ahead and give Aunt Lisa's ribs a try...they're my go-to family recipe so you know they're on the favorites list! Now, I release you on this Friday to go forth and get yoself some ribbage!  Enjoy your weekend, all!

Pork chop marinade

Ready, set, MARINATE! As you know, marinades are my fave way to infuse my meat with flava without a whole lotta work involved besides the throwing it on the grill part. This one did not disappoint....a little sweet, a little bite, a lot of love. I usually just stick with my standard chipotle pork chops marinade but have been venturing out lately so I thought I would give this one a shot. I used to shy away from anything with honey in it but I've grown to love the subtle sweetness it lends without going overboard. This is going to be made again, you can bet on that!
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 T vegetable oil (I always substitute olive oil in recipes)
2 T green onion
1 t curry powder (I'm not big on curry so I left this out)

Mix all ingredients together and marinate 4-6 pork chops overnight. I halved the recipe and only did 2 pork chops. Grill and enjoy :)

Please excuse the short, simple post as it is Monday and I am working on getting my brain right after a phenomenally relaxing weekend....I'll work on being more witty tomorrow :) In the meantime, just go ahead and drool over those charred grill marks there...mmmmmm!!

Crockpot pulled pork sandwiches

Sometimes a recipe is good enough where it deserves to cut in line in front of the other recipes that are waiting to be posted to the blog. This was one of them! I headed to the Nobiling home last night to hang with their little bundle of love, Keltyn, and meet up with the Hofers and their little lover, Greyson.  Both mamas asked for the recipe after dinner, and I pretty much almost ate the plate while inhaling the sandwich, so I had to bump this recipe right up to the top of the queue.

I usually think of Winter food when I think of the crockpot...like crockpot ranch roasts or crockpot beef stroganoff, but what screams Summer more than BBQ sauce!?  This was a Weight Watchers approved recipe too, so it's basically a home run before it's even hit out of the park. Easier than pie and yummy to boot, plus very portable to bring to a friend's house to have baby time and a nice dinner that tastes like a lot of work but really only needed a few ingredients thrown in a crockpot all day.

2.5 lb boneless pork loin roast

2 t red wine vinegar

2 t Hickory liquid smoke (I didn't have any of this so I used Worchestershire sauce)

1 t garlic powder

1 t sea salt

1 cup your fave BBQ sauce (I usually like Famous Dave's Devil's Spit sauce but I know some people can't stand the heat so I went with the Rich and Sassy this time)

Mix all your ingredients up in a bowl, put the pork loin roast into a lined crockpot, and pour the sauce on top. Cook on low for 6 hours (shred the meat after 4 hours) so you have to smell the stuff while it cooks in your office all day and makes your tummy rumble.

Throw it on some wheat sandwich rolls, and you're in business! The crockpot was literally scraped clean...and it people weren't watching me clean up, I may have licked it. Don't look at me like that, you know you've thought of doing it before...oh, you haven't? Me either.

In other, cuter news....the reason for this dinner was to get a little baby boy fix from Keltyn and Greyson. Look how grown up and mature Keltyn's facial features are, he looks like a mini-adult...so flipping adorable!

Greyson getting a little love from the bottle so mommy could have a couple beers with the ladies :) His eyes are going to make girls melt one day!

Don't judge the slimy hair, I came straight from Kosama plyo day...and then I had to go play softball after that! Mondays really rock my energy level, I'll tell you. Keltyn likes to be snuggled all up into your body...pretty comfy to be hugged up to that little man, I'll tell you! We have to plan another night like this again soon, ladies....

Chipotle grilled pork chops

This is not a recipe. I repeat, this is not a recipe. This is a command. I have a whole compartment in my fridge for these Lawry's marinades. A list of all of the flavors can be found HERE, but I personally recommend the Steak and Chop for filets on the grill, the Baja Chipotle (pictured below) for a PERFECT pork chop on the grill, the Caribbean Jerk for grilled shrimp, and the Balsamic Herb for grilled chicken.

Marinated meat is easier than walking...you just can't do it wrong. Pour the marinade on the meat, refridgerate (it says 30 minutes, but I like to do overnight), and throw on the grill when you're hungry. This is my go-to pork on the grill, and you'll see why if you give it a shot...

I steamed some broccoli and threw some leftover parmesan tomatoes with each chop, and it was a fully satisfying, rub your tummy afterwards, fiance-pleasing, type of meal for under 500 calories.  I plan on trying all the other Lawry's flavors this Summer...now that's going to be a fun goal to work towards!

Grilled balsamic garlic pork tenderloin

I've been on a "carb free after 5 pm" thing lately....well, kinda. When I say carbs, I mean no pasta or bread, I still drink milk and eat veggies with carbs in them (corn, etc). I honestly think if you're trying to kick start some weight loss, sticking to protein and veggies late in the day is key. The best part is, I never go to bed hungry when I have a plate full of meat so it's a win-win!

It's worked...although I've been working out at Kosama since January 9, when I did my last test out the scale hadn't moved. Yes, I had lost fat mass and gained muscle (they have a special scale that tells you all that) but it's disheartening to know after all that work that you still weigh the same. It's taken this long to start seeing the scale shift, even though my clothes are fitting better, and I think dinners like these should get partial credit for that. 

P.S. This was fantabulous! I thought pork loin was expensive but I got a little guy at Hy-Vee for $4 that was enough to feed Justin and I...can't really beat that!

5 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 T balsamic vinegar
2.5 t salt
.5 t ground pepper
2 T olive oil
pork tenderloin

Stir together all the ingredients and then add to a baggie with the pork tenderloin to marinate overnight. Sear the tenderloins on all sides, then grill for 20-30 minutes, rotating every 10 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Just like chicken, you want to keep a good eye on pork, if you get it overdone, it will not be juicy and tasty, it will get dry and lose a lot of flavor. Let the meat rest 4-5 minutes before slicing.

I served this with one of our favorite veggies, the roasted brussel sprouts, and that was that!

I'm a huge fan of marination lately...soak that yumminess up all day while I'm at work so I can put you in my stomach after my workout! Mmmmmmmm, I'm such a carnivore!  :)

Baked pork ribs

I know, I know. I've been MIA lately.  I apologize for my absence, but I'll admit that it was a much needed break. Last week I took the week off from blogging, Kosama, and even a day off work to catch up on sleep and get back to myself after a busy few weeks of seemingly burning the candle at both ends.  We've done so much in the couple weeks leading up to my week of rest that I don't even have the energy to post about it all!

I also got a nice weekend at home with the rents this past weekend, helping Big Dan to recoop from his full knee replacement surgery. I thought it was going to be a little more relaxing than it was, but am so glad that I was able to be there to pick him up from the hospital, get the house set up for his handicap for the next few weeks, and watch over him for his first few days while Mama K had to work.

I'm forcing myself to hop back into blogging even though every free minute I have I want to spend outdoors (record highs this week!) and I am slamdanced at work (going to be a great bonus this month!) because I have sooooo many great meals to tell you about!

This is not really a recipe, but it's one of my favorite easy things to make and was one of the first dishes I ever made Justin when we started dating. I didn't know he wasn't a fan of BBQ, but despite his aversion to normal BBQ sauce, he loves these ribs when I make them. The secret is to get the boneless ones so it's a little leaner meat.  You can get the boneless country style ribs decently cheap at Hy-Vee, Wal-Mart, or Fareway. One package will feed 3 adults! Sidenote: Can you tell I'm a little behind on my posts by looking at the date on the meat?? hehe :)

Slather with your favorite BBQ sauce in a greased baking dish (I use part Big Daddy's mild and part Famous Dave's devil's spit sauce)...the sauce makes the dish. I think this is the reason Justin likes my ribs when he doesn't like standard BBQ, the sauces I use give the ribs a little kick in the pants rather than the standard sweetness of Cookies brand that he grew up on and grew to dislike. Throw them in the 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes (remove when all the pink in the middle is gone) and chow down! I do them on the grill wrapped in foil too and they get a smoky flavor that way....yum!!

I really only take down two but I always try for three since they're so darn good!! I just did a standard roasted asparagus with a little bit of olive oil and fresh cracked salt and pepper for a side....what a filling, but decently low in calorie meal.  I'm shooting for dinners to be protein and veggie for the next few weeks so I'm not getting carbs in the evenings...although I do have some pastas to post that are to die for soon! Stay tuned, I've got a lot coming your way in the next couple of weeks!

Sausage and spinach stuffed portabellos

I posted about this dinner on Facebook right after I ate it...it was that good. Here was my status: What was my life like before sausage stuffed portebellos on the Griddler?? I don't know how I lived...


Justin was a little nervous about the portebellos for some reason...he likes all mushrooms so I don't know what his deal was but he sort of cringed when I told him what was for dinner.  Seriously? There's sausage in it, that's like his #1 criteria for food love...so I didn't get why he was being weird about it. Never fear though, he enjoyed these so much, he ate all the leftover ones for lunches before I could get to them....and I didn't even have to ask if he liked them...after half a mushroom he said, "These are make agains".  One point for Abby!

I started my Kosama classes in the evenings a couple weeks ago and since then I have been making my meals for the week on Sundays so I just have to throw them in the oven, or start the crockpot, or whatever in the evening to save time and energy when I get home famished.  I made the stuffing on Sunday and put it in a container in the fridge so it was all ready to throw these babies on the grill when I got home....and they turned out perfectly that way.

6 large portabello mushrooms
1 lb italian sausage
1/2 T olive oil
1 onion, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
red pepper flakes to taste
1 T basil
1 bag baby spinach
2 T minced garlic
grated mozzerella cheese to top

Brown the sausage with the onion, garlic, olive oil, basil, and red pepper flakes.  Add the tomato sauce and the spinach to warm after the meat is done. From here I put it in the fridge but you could keep going if you're not making ahead...

This recipe caught my eye because I've been wanting to use my Griddler, but once I saw the ingredients, I knew it would be a keeper.  Yes, I'm still completely in love with this appliance! 

Take the stems out of the mushrooms and put on the greased Griddler (you can use a real grill too) for a few minutes with the bottom side down.

Flip the mushrooms over and let them cook for a while (10 minutes or so? I wan't counting the best) to get the tops done well...

I heated the container of mixture up in the microwave after I flipped the mushrooms back over to allow the bottoms to cook more, loaded the mixture into the mushrooms, and topped them with the cheese.

Let them grill for another 10 minutes or so on that side....and VOILA!  The mushrooms were tender but still meaty, the filling was soooo flavorful and fresh, and the cheese on top just shot it to another level!  I could've been full with one, but at 300 calories a piece, I went for a second one and skipped my Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich that night....and it was worth it.

If you didn't notice the tab below, these have been inducted into the Favorites section of the blog...so you're gonna wanna try them, mmmmmk?!

Glazed ham

As you know we have a Wilbur and a Bessy in our deep freeze in the garage.  It's really nice to have the freezer space to store all the different cuts of meat we can get if we order a whole cow or pig at once, and although the cost up front is a lot more, the savings in the long run of buying in bulk are very real.  Plus it saves me a ton of grocery shopping time and lugging meat home...so to me, it's a win-win!

We don't use the large hams we get very often, as they seem like such a holiday dish to me...but when we do, I always vow to make them more than just for Christmas each year! Last year my friend Bea got me a raspberry balsamic sauce to glaze the ham with and baste it with while baking, and it was finger licking good...I absolutely loved the stuff! We had to scout out another bottle of it in order to use it for another ham when we had our friends Christmas gift exchange later in January.

This year, Mama K had given me a vidalia onion fig sauce she found. It was recommended for pork so we gave it a shot although I was a little weary of the fig thing (not sure if I like them) and the sweet onion thing (usually like normal onions better).  This sauce did not disappoint!  Since the hams are already cured, they basically just need to bake low and slow in order to warm throughout and get a nice crusty glaze on the outside to get a taste of with each bite you take.

So we slather the hams with the sauce, put them in the oven at 350 for 1-1.5 hours, basting with the sauce every 20 minutes.  Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm!! This is super simple (how awesome is that with all the hubbub of the other holiday food usually) and is the perfect holiday ham in my humble opinion....so if you ever see this sauce, pick it up and give it a shot. It would also work phenomenally on a pork loin I would think.  This is not much of a recipe, more like a recommendation...get a glaze that looks interesting and drown your ham in it....you will not be disappointed!

Sausage stroganoff

It's Justin's turn again!!  My main man made dinner last week since I was preparing dinner for the following night we were going to have guests and doing other odd jobs in the kitchen....I guess he got hungry because he donned his apron and dug right into making dinner for us.

This is no ordinary apron, and if you are below the age of 18, I would feel better if you stopped reading here!  :)  He loves this apron because my Aunt Vicki and Uncle Mike sent it to him a few months ago, and it's been handed down in Mike's family for quite a while. Vicki was inducted into the family officially when Mike's dad scared her with what was underneath the towel and we've had such fun times getting my girlfriends to accidentally touch it or get a glimpse of it while grilling or camping.  It's homemade and is some of the cheapest (albeit crude...hey, we're not old yet) fun we've had this summer! Not too realistic looking from the side view but if you get a quick sighting out of the corner of your eye, you'll be surprised at the gasps that come outta  you!

On with the recipe! Stroganoff is one of his specialties but this recipe was a little different, and turned out quite well I might add. We didn't have any hamburger in the house, so as any hungry man would do, he used italian pork sausage instead of walking out to the deep freeze to get the correct ingredient.  When I do this, I create cooking disasters....when he does this, it just works for him.  It actually worked better, and we decided that italian sausage is the way to go with stroganoff from here on out.

1 lb italian sausage
1 bag no yolk egg noodles
1 family sized can cream of mushroom soup (98% fat free)
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 can mushrooms, drained
1 onion, diced
1 T garlic powder (we like the stuff so you may want to use less)
salt and pepper to taste

Pretty easy from here on out....Boil your noodles according to the package.  Brown your meat...

...and then add the onions and mushrooms to saute a bit. After draining this mixture, add the mushroom soup and sour cream before adding garlic powder and salt and pepper and then heating it all through again.

Add the sauce to the noodles after draining and you have got yourself one of the most quintessential comfort foods we make in our house.  We served with garlic bread and devoured...BOTH of us had seconds!

Prosciutto wrapped pork chops

Because why wouldn't you wrap your pork in more pork?  I've done this a couple times for easy grilling nights, and it's always a hit (which is nice because it literally takes 3 minutes to prepare before throwing on the grill).  Prosciutto is not something I keep laying around because jeeeeeeez, it's expensive!  I did have sort of an obsession with it for a while though when Mom and I ate at a wood grilled pizza place and we had some on our pie....so yummy and salty! 

Prosciutto is an Italian dry cured ham, so it's basically thinly sliced cured ham that doesn't even need to be cooked.  Most of the time it's served uncooked, but the grill crisps this up nice and tight to the pork chop to leave it with almost a ham crust...yes, I said ham crust.  Thank me later...

2 pork chops
4 slices prosciutto
salt and pepper to taste
rosemary
olive oil

Rub your pork chops with olive oil and season with freshly cracked salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Secure 2 slices of prosciutto to each pork chop with toothpicks...

Throw them on the grill on medium low heat (you want to cook them slowly), and flip after 10 minutes.  When pork chop is no longer pink inside....serve.  You can write me a thank you note tomorrow. 

Best ribs ever

Ahem.  Attention, please...today is a milestone.  This is my 100th post, holy CRAP!!  And it's a Friday, you can't really beat that!  Fitting that this is one of the best recipes/methods I've got up my sleeve, even if it's also one of the easiest....and that it was passed to me from my Aunt Lisa.

My Aunt Lisa makes the best ribs ever.  Hands down. No question.  Well, my friend Cynthia's dad and brother's ribs are literally unbeatable, but it's a secret recipe which means I can't have it.  Disappointing but totally understandable since they actually enter rib competitions with their recipe...soooo this is the next best thing.  Aunt Lisa made these for us when we visited her in Chicago a couple years ago and this is now the only way I will think about preparing them in our house...they literally fall off the bone!

The trick is to bake them beforehand, this cooks them evenly and keeps the moisture in the baking bags so they don't dry out on you.  I do 2 racks per bag, throw a dash of flour in the bags, along with a dash of water, the ribs seasoned with Lawry's, and onions on top for moisture as well.  Secure the bags closed and bake at 250 degrees for 2.5-3 hours.

When you remove them from the oven, slather them liberally on both sides with the BBQ sauce of your choice...I use Devil's Spit because we like heat and Justin doesn't care for sweet BBQ sauces...but you do what you want!

Throw them on the grill on low heat for 10-15 minutes per side, keeping a close eye on them in case the sauce drips between the grate and makes the flames rise up like mine did.  You don't want to burn these suckers after all the time you've put into them!

And this is the closest picture you'll get of them being done.  We literally couldnt wait to eat them and tore into it without even thinking of taking a picture.  These are finger-licking, fall off the bone, yumtastic to the nth degree.  I can't even give a good enough description to portray the flavor these throw in your mouth.  Just try it.  Then try to explain it to me...maybe you can do better.  Enjoy!