Spinach & Mozzarella Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

In preparing our weekly menu (which we have stuck to for...wait for it...a week and a half!!!), a recipe I ran across was this Spinach & Mozzarella Stuffed Pork Tenderloin.  I was very happy with the way it turned out.  It was really moist (don't cringe when reading that word-  I know how some people hate it ;), had good flavor, and was extremely easy to prepare.  In order to achieve week 2 status of our menu planning, ease is a necessity.  Coming home from work, if it would take a lot, I would just revert back to my chips and hummus or canned soup.  Although, canned soup is great on those really quick nights.  (Just don't read the label- sodium--oh my!)  So for a quick meal, that looks like you spent a whole lot more time than you did, try this one.

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves

2 T. lemon juice

2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 tsp. olive oil

1 pound pork tenderloin

1 1/2 oz. fresh mozzarella

2 c. fresh spinach

2 T. sundried tomatoes

salt and pepper.

To start: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  

 1.  Gather all your ingredients. 

 2. Prepare your garlic by removing skin. Chop. We left ours a little coarse, as we love garlic.

 3.  Squeeze, or cheat with above kitchen tool, your fresh lemon. 

4. In a bowl, start will the lemon juice.  Add chopped garlic. 

5. Next add dijon mustard. 

6.  Now olive oil. 

7. Stir well.

8.  Thinly slice mozzarella. Set aside. 

9. Measure you spinach. Set aside. 

10.  Now the sun dried tomato.

 11. Next is the meat.  Butterfly (to the best of your ability) tenderloin.  

 12. Put a light coat of olive oil in your roaster so it's ready to go. 

13. Grab a sheet of plastic wrap and lay it on the counter.  Place tenderloin on top.  Top with 1/2 of the lemon mixture. Spread evening. 

 14.  First, layer the mozzarella.

 15.  Followed by the spinach. 

16. Next is the sun dried tomato.

17.  Add a little more salt and pepper.  Lightly press down.

18. Using the plastic wrap to help, roll your tenderloin. Here, you are supposed to tie string every 2 inches or so.  I could not for the life of me locate this at our local stores so I had to make due without.  It still held up nicely. 

 19.  Carefully place meat in your greased pan. 

 20.  Drizzle remaining lemon mixture. 

 21.  Add a little more salt and pepper. 

 22.  Bake at 425 degrees for approximately 25-35 minutes or until 160 degrees.  I usually like to cook meat to death, but I did follow the recipe for this one.  As mentioned, it was very tender.  I will definitely be following recipes more often.

Once it reaches 160 degrees, remove and let sit for 10 minutes.  Makes 8 servings. We had our oven roasted green beans which paired nicely. 

 And that's it!!  An easy week night meal that we will be making again---for sure. 

White Bean Alfredo Sauce

I have met so many people that say they don't know how to cook. They usually complain that either their Mom would shoo them out of the kitchen when she cooked so they weren't in her way, or that their parents never really cooked "real food" so they never even had a chance to learn. That is one of the reasons (out of many!) I would like to thank my Mother.

She may not realize how much she taught us in the kitchen, but being able to help chop veggies and help out in little ways growing up helped tremendously in learning how to prepare food for our own families as we got older. Yes, there were times when she needed to focus on a big meal and wanted us to go play, but more often than not, we were able to help, or atleast watch what she was doing. She would explain things without making it boring and always made us want to help cook.

When we were little we even had our own hand-crafted "recipe book" where Mom let us go into the kitchen and make up our own recipes using whatever we wanted. Some were actually kinda good, and some were just bad. Really bad. But it taught us independence in the kitchen and being able to experiment. It was fun.

I was able to learn at a young age that sometimes not everything went right in the kitchen. Your gravy could get thin or lumpy (or both!), you ran out of eggs before you had all you needed, or just as you're in the middle of forming bread loaves out of that big batch of dough, you realize you forgot the salt.

We've all been there.

I just have a Mom that was creative enough to work around all these problems. She taught us substitutions and alternate ways of preparing food. It let us be more flexible in the kitchen, realizing that not everything has to be "by the book" and you can switch things up a bit. Because maybe it would make some recipes even better...and sometimes it was just because we had no other choice. :)

Either way, it worked. Because even if we made mistakes, we were still learning.

One of the things I remember her teaching us was how to make a white sauce in place of cream of whatever soups. You could use it for pizza or pasta and season it to fit your dish. And that's what I've been doing for most of my married life. However, learning at a young age to "experiment" I've continued to realize that even your substitutions can be substituted. 

Yes, in place of alfredo sauce you could make a white sauce. But you could also use my sister's Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce (see, it's not just me) or this White Bean Alfredo Sauce. Either choice would be tasty. So go ahead and branch out. Try something new. Even if you don't like it, at least you tried. :)

White Bean Alfredo Sauce

15 oz. great northern beans, rinsed & drained

1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan

1 c. unsweetened almond milk (or regular milk)

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. cajun seasoning

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender.

Blend until smooth.

Pour into a saucepan.

On medium-high, heat thoroughly but do not boil.

Pour over pasta or rice and serve immediately.

Oven Roasted Green Beans

Sometimes I just crave veggies! I need to go to the store to grab some fresh green beans, carrots, broccoli, or cauliflower right that minute. This is not one of those times. With the new year, I figured I would be all sorts of motivated.  The day came and went and I still want my ice cream and my peanut butter M&M's.

  Realizing that I hate constantly talking about trying to eat healthier, I told my husband, in 2015 I need to focus more on just eating in general.  That may sound funny but I have not been cooking much lately.  I may have mentioned in an earlier post, we have been living mostly on chips and hummus (oh so good though).  So anyway, in focusing on actually cooking, I hope the healthy meals will follow as I try to get in my new routine. 

I made my menu this week and I was happy to see that a healthy side was present!  I thought I would share it as it is so easy and very yummy. 

Things Needed

Green beans

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Pan

Aluminum Foil

Bowl

Paper Towels 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. Line your pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up. 

2.  Rinse your green beans in cold water. 

3. Spread paper towels out on the counter and place green beans on them. 

4. Pat dry.

4. Return to bowl and drizzle with olive oil. 

5.  Place on pan, careful not to have the beans on top of each other. 

6.  Sprinkle with sea salt. 

7.  Bake at  425 degrees for 20 minutes or until done to your liking. 

8.  I served them with my Spinach and Mozzarella Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (recipe to come!).

UPDATE:  The Spinach & Mozzarella Stuffed Pork Tenderloin has been posted!

Spaghetti Squash w/Chickpeas & Kale

The more I cook with beans the more I love them. They are so versatile! I've used beans to make vegan chili, healthy Buddha bowls, spicy chipotle black bean burgers, and "refried" bean tacos. You can make fresh Texas caviar, serve up some crunchy roasted chickpeas for a snack, and go as far as using beans in brownies! The possibilities are truly endless.

I was recently introduced to spaghetti squash and immediately fell in love. I'm in awe every time I start scraping out the normal looking squash and gather up these little strings that are so similar to pasta. So what better way to use this awesome variety of squash than to mix it up with the, oh so amazing, garbanzo beans. Oven roasted, of course!

With this recipe we were trying to keep it more on the "vegan friendly" side. Normally I would slice up some grilled spicy chicken breasts and toss it all with a garlic white sauce filled with butter and milk. (If you try that, savor it for me.) However, even though we didn't use any meat and nixed the creamy sauce, it was still flavorful and satisfying. Definitely a hit that we will be making again. :)

Spaghetti Squash w/Chickpeas & Kale

1 spaghetti squash

1 bunch of kale

1 can garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)

1 medium red onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. butter

chili powder, to taste

garlic powder, to taste

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse and drain chickpeas.

Drizzle with a little olive oil.

 Toss with desired amount of seasonings. (I like to use quite a bit.)

Set aside.

Cut squash in half lengthwise.

Remove the pulp and seeds.

Place on one end of a large baking sheet face up.

Spread chickpeas in a single layer on the other end of the baking sheet.

Place in the oven for 40-50 minutes, occasionally stirring up the chickpeas.

While that is in the oven, clean the kale, slice the onion, and mince the garlic.

In a large pot, heat some olive oil on medium heat and toss in the onion and garlic.

When the onion is becoming translucent, add the kale.

Cook down until the kale becomes wilted, but not mushy.

Remove the squash and chickpeas from the oven.

Using a fork, scrape the squash out and add to the onions and kale.

Add the butter and chickpeas.

Season with salt & pepper and gently toss.

Serve immediately.

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Rinse and drain your chickpeas and drizzle with some olive oil until coated.

 Toss with desired amount of seasonings.

I generally toss my chickpeas with quite a bit of seasonings. I have really grown to love roasted chickpeas!

Set aside.

Cut squash in half lengthwise.

Remove the pulp and seeds.

Place on one end of a large baking sheet face up.

Spread chickpeas in a single layer on the other end of the baking sheet.

Place in the oven for 40-50 minutes, occasionally stirring up the chickpeas.

While that is in the oven, clean the kale, slice the onion, and mince the garlic.

In a large pot, heat some olive oil on medium heat and toss in the onion and garlic.

When the onion is becoming translucent, add the kale.

Cook down until the kale becomes wilted, but not mushy.

Remove the squash and chickpeas from the oven. (Yum!)

Using a fork, scrape the squash out.

It always amazes me how perfectly it comes out like pasta! So cool!

Add the squash to the onions and kale.

Add the butter and chickpeas. Season with salt & pepper and gently toss.

Serve immediately.

Soft-baked Snickerdoodles

I recently discovered that one of my husband's favorite cookies are snickerdoodles. Who knew!? You think you know someone, but after more than 8 years, I'm still learning little things about him! I know he loves monster cookies, good deals on antique hardcover books, makes amazing brownies and "secret ingredient hot cocoa", but I never knew he liked snickerdoodles.

When I learned this {and seemed pretty shocked} he explained that he doesn't like "all" snickerdoodles. Apparently he only likes the ones that are "made right." Which means they have to be soft and chewy and not thin and crispy. If they are too crunchy they taste too much like sugar cookies. Therefore, I present....soft-baked snickerdoodles.

Ingredients

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)

SET ASIDE FOR ROLLING:

1/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla.

Beat another 2-3 minutes until fluffy again.

On low speed, beat in the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. (Batter may look crumbly.)

Stir with a spatula to smooth out the "crumblies".

Spread a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a large plate.

Using a medium scoop, form balls, place on the plate and flatten slightly.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While you are waiting for the dough to chill, mix the 1/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl. 

After the hour is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the dough balls from the fridge and roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, just until edges are set and top just begins cracking.

Let cool on pan for a few minutes then transfer to a clean counter to cool completely.

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This recipe yielded 17 cookies for me. 

I also used whole wheat pastry flour which I thought worked perfectly, but you can use all-purpose flour if you choose to.

You want to be sure to flatten the dough balls slightly, but don't smoosh them too much.

Covering them lightly with plastic wrap before refrigerating works perfectly.

Underbaking these cookies yields are softer, chewier cookie. 

If you like yours firmer, just bake a couple minutes longer.

In addition, if you like your cookies thicker, do not skip the hour of refrigeration.

Not refrigerating them will produce a flatter, more crisp cookie. (Which is fine if that's what you're going for!)

Sarasota: A Moscato Punch

Happy New Year! 

I cannot believe it is already 2015. I have heard from sooo many people that time flies the older you get, but with the way time already seems to be flying by in my twenties, I swear I can pretty much blink twice and turn a year older at any given moment. I can't imagine how much faster it's going to go in the coming years. Eek.

As I freak out about how fast my life is flying by, I will tell you about the drink I made to celebrate the passing of 2014. It is called a Sarasota and it is pretty marvelous. If you don't like sweet drinks, I wouldn't suggest making a big pitcher of it. A few people that tried it said they really liked the flavor, but one glass would be plenty for them. Me, on the other hand, drank half the pitcher last night. Oops.

Ingredients

2 bottles moscato
1/2 can raspberry lemonade concentrate

2 c. Sprite
1 container fresh raspberries

Directions

Mix the moscato and concentrate in a pitcher.

Stir in the Sprite. (Use more or less, depending on preference.)

Slightly mash half of your raspberries then toss them all in the pitcher and gently stir.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

One of the best parts about this drink is the fact that the raspberries have time to soak up all the yumminess before you eat them! So kick back, pour yourself a Sarasota, and reminisce about all the good things that happened to you over the last year. :)