Tired of Boring Pork Dishes? Try Ginger Orange Pork Tenderloin with Ramps

Ginger Orange Pork Tenderloin with Ramps

Today was free museum Tuesday at the Huntington Museum of Art. Since my husband and I are trying to expose my youngest son to a wide variety of cultural experiences we thought this would be a great day to take him. Plus it was free which is always a bonus since I am basically pretty cheap. Given the fact that he is 4 he did very well. Most of the paintings and sculptures lost his interest quickly, but he did enjoy the Eastern weapon room and the antique firearms. The piece of art that grabbed his attention the most was outside. It had metallic arms that moved around, basically a modern art version of a whirligig. He was fascinated. There was also a lizard running around the outside walls of the museum that he was determined he should take home (don't worry that was a no go). One of my favorite parts about the museum is that they have a large section of land with nature walks. Since I have a lively 4-year-old it was a great way to wind him down. Given that today was a busy day, I utilized leftovers from a meal I made earlier in the week. It is hard to have fresh meals every night, so I make a point of eating leftovers at least once a week. This way no food is wasted and I save money from my food budget. Tonight my family enjoyed leftovers of the Ginger Orange Pork Tenderloin recipe from the April 2013 issue of All You magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I found clearance blood orange juice, so I utilized it for the recipe. Second, my shallots had gone bad, so I used the ramps that I had in the freezer. I used one whole ramp (leaves and stem), minced. Instead of vegetable oil I used canola oil, I prefer olive oil and canola in my baked goods and recipes. I am happy to say that my herb garden is doing great, so I was able to use fresh thyme.

The ramps added a nice flavor to the sauce in this dish. The pork was pretty plain, so I would suggest a few changes. I would either rub the pork with a spice rub (cayenne would work well if you like a bit of a kick, or a combination of cumin, coriander or cinnamon). Another option would be to marinade the pork in a citrus marinade. Not only would this make the taste delicious it would help to keep the pork moist while cooking. Most importantly I would double the sauce amount since it was the best part of the recipe,  you will want plenty of it to enjoy!

For the recipe go to Ginger Orange Pork Tenderloin.

Pork Carnitas with Garlic and Orange

My oldest went back to school after winter break today. Having school starting again on a Thursday is throwing off my whole schedule. I woke-up this morning sure that it was Monday, luckily by the time my son was at the bus stop I remembered that it was only a two-day school week. I think that my age is starting to show with my lack of memory skills (I'm not discussing what birthday I am celebrating this year, lets just say that I will be halfway between 30 and 40). Since my kids have both been home this week I have been making my dinner meals easy and child friendly. Earlier in the week I made a new recipe for Pork Carnitas with Garlic and Orange from the November 2012 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 4 hours 45 minutes of total time, 45 minutes of which is active and makes 4 to 6 servings. I did have to make a few modifications to the recipe. The pork shoulder that I was able to find didn't have a large layer of fat. Due to this fact I had to add a small amount of stock to keep the pork moist in the oven. This also helped to keep the jalapenos from drying out. It was additionally helpful in making the pan sauce to add to the pulled pork at the end of the recipe. I served the carnitas with avocado and cilantro as suggested by the magazine photo. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Be careful to watch the jalapenos in order that they don't burn. Since my pork shoulder was lower in fat it was necessary to add the stock in order that the jalapenos did not burn. I would suggest following this step if you have the same problem. The roasted garlic was my favorite part of this recipe. It lent a delicious flavor to the pulled pork.

For the recipe go to Pork Carnitas with Garlic and Orange.

Sticky Orange-Glazed Chicken Thighs

This has been a long past couple of weeks. I have been horrible about keeping up with my blog and as some of you may have noticed I haven't posted in the last couple of days. My two boys are at each others throats constantly and my attempts to stop eating sweets has been driving me slightly crazy. My sweet tooth seems to always be on overdrive, which has me irritable and cranky. Luckily the longer I have been reducing my sugar intake the better I feel and the easier it has been. So I hope by next week I will feel a lot better. My motivation for making dinner has also been non-existent, so I have been trying to find quick and easy meal solutions. Last week I tried a new recipe for Sticky Orange-Glazed Chicken Thighs from Everyday Food, which looked very simple and full of orange flavor.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes an hour of total time and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. The broiler on my oven has been broken for years, so I made a major modification to the recipe. I used the broiler on my toaster oven and broiled the chicken in batches. I brushed the sauce on both sides of the chicken before broiling and served the sauce on the side at the table. Without the sauce the chicken is just run-of-the-mill roasted chicken, the sauce is the real star. I made sure to highlight it on the plate and when serving. Turning the chicken half way through the baking time really does help keep the chicken crispy. I would suggest placing the chicken top side down and then flipping halfway through. This way the top will stay crispy at the end. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My family loves anything with orange and this recipe was no exception. The chicken was sticky and perfectly roasted. Serving the sauce on the side was perfect since the sauce was so delicious. My two boys were the most impressed with this chicken. They loved the sauce and ate two pieces of chicken all by themselves. The sauce would also be delicious on pork or turkey. It really is versatile. I would definitely make this recipe again.

For the recipe go to Sticky Orange-Glazed Chicken Thighs.

Slow Cooker Cochinita Pibil

As you all know I absolutely love my slowcooker. There is nothing better than prepping food on a busy weekday morning and having it all done when you get home. Recently, my youngest has been very clingy and my dinner time prep has turned to chaos. His attachment seemed to have started when my oldest started back at school, so I have been trying to find ways to save time at dinner in order to spend more time with him during the day. So far it seems to be working well and he is slowly acting like his normal happy self again. One of the new crockpot recipes I tried recently came from an unlikely source, a coupon insert from Kroger which came to my mailbox. I love coupons and as I was looking through them I came across a recipe for Slow Cooker Cochinita Pibil, which looked delicious and perfect for a busy weeknight meal.

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, plus 1 tsp. sauce
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. annato powder or paste
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground clove
• 1 boneless pork but (about 4 lbs.)

Cilantro, onions, tortillas, and lime wedges for serving.

In a blender or food processor, puree the first 14 ingredients until smooth. Brown the pork butt in a small amount of oil. Add to slow cooker and pour the seasoning mix over. Cover and cook on high for 8 hours.

I did make a few changes to this recipe. The original recipe did not brown the meat before placing it in the crockpot. Any meat going into a slowcooker needs to be braised in order to remain moist. If you miss this step your meat will be far less flavorful and oftentimes turn out very tough. My family really enjoyed this recipe and I like that it came from an unlucky source. Sometimes the best recipes can be found in unlikely sources! If you end up trying this recipe tell me how it turns out!

Recipe adapted from Kroger Corporation home coupon mailer.

Alpine Muesli

As I've stated in a few of my previous posts I am determined to be better about eating breakfast. My son starts school in two weeks and with the start of school my eating habits go quickly down-hill. I am great about making my two sons eat a healthy breakfast, I just don't follow my own advice. Honestly, I have never been great about eating breakfast. Growing up my dad worked nights and my mom left for work before I went to school. So when it was time for me to eat breakfast my dad was getting ready to bed for the day and I would literally eat peanut butter out of the jar. My mom tried really hard to get me to eat, she even left pre-made breakfasts for me. It never worked. I preferred the peanut butter on a spoon. If given the choice now and if my metabolism was the same as when I was younger I would still be eating jars of peanut butter a week. I love peanut butter. I know better now, but it is still a daily struggle with myself. Last week I tried a new recipe for Alpine Muesli from Martha Stewart Living magazine, which I was hoping would help to encourage me to eat breakfast.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 3 hours and 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients for this recipe at my local grocery store and I made no modifications to the ingredients. For the chopped fruit I used plums and for the sliced fruit topping I used strawberries. I had planned on also using raspberries, however, my two children ate almost all of the fruit out of the fridge before I had the change to make this recipe. Luckily I had just enough fruit. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

As written this recipe needs some work. First, I was not a fan of the fresh orange juice. My two boys refused to eat their servings due to the overly citrus taste. If I was to make this again I would make the following changes. I am not a huge fan of citrus, but if you like the taste of fresh oranges, then I would use vanilla almond milk instead of cows milk. The low-fat cows milk and the orange juice did not work well together. Almond milk would solve this problem. Personally, I think the recipe would be better without the orange juice entirely. I liked the whole recipe, except the citrus taste. So leave out the citrus and add a little more honey and this recipe will be a great way to start the day.

For the recipe go to Alpine Muesli.

Food Network Magazine Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts

I am not one of those people that can limit themselves on nuts. The whole idea of eating 10 almonds for a serving doesn't fit with my snacking personality. I'm lucky that I am constantly moving and burning calories, so I look for high protein snacks that will tide me over until my next meal. As I've stated before I tend to eat 6 smaller meals throughout the day, instead of three large ones. I am drawn towards sugar, so I try to find protein snacks that will satisfy my sweet tooth while providing energy. As I was looking through the December issue of the Food Network Magazine I came across a recipe for Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts, which looked like a great sweet and savory protein snack.

This recipe 11 ingredients. It takes a total of 35 minutes, 10 minutes of which is active, and makes 8 to 10 servings. I thought that I had chipotle powder in my cupboard, but when I got ready to make the recipe I discovered that I did not. Instead I substituted Ancho chili powder, which I do relatively frequently in recipes. I chose to combine all my ingredients in a bowl and then pour onto a baking sheet. This way all the nuts were evenly coated. Make sure to watch the nuts while they are in the oven. I probably turned the nuts about every 8 minutes in order to prevent burning. I would not suggest turning down the heat though, the temp needs to be high enough to caramelize the brown sugar. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The sweet flavor from the brown sugar combines nicely with the savory flavors from the rosemary and chili powder. This recipe makes a lot of nuts, so it would be great as a party snack. If you are making it for your family I would suggest cutting the recipe in half unless you have two growing boys like I do. I served this as an after school snack to my oldest and he loved it. Overall, an easy sweet and savory snack.

For the recipe go to Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts.