Pinterest: Balsamic Pork Tenderloin!

Who doesn't love a crockpot meal? Everyone loves a little lazy meal, I mean I slaved all day in the kitchen if we are asking Mr. R what happened.  This will just be our little secret! 

So this recipe was a Pinterest find! C&C Marriage Factory is the website it originally came from and she has tons of great recipes on her blog!! 

So here are your main stars of the show!! 

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) boneless pork tenderloin 

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon kosher or table salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic minced or chopped 

1/2 cup water

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

 So this is going to be for your rub!! All the ingredients that you aren't using for the glaze minus the water!! Sage, Salt and Pepper, Garlic! 

 Then get your hands dirty and rub it down! :) 

 Add your pork to your crockpot with your 1/2 cup of water! 

Turn to low and enjoy your 6-8 hours of free time girl! :) 

 When you are about 30 min - 1 hr away from being finished, you will make your glaze!! 

Combine your brown sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and water into a sauce pan and whisk until combined.  It is meant to be a glaze so relax that is is pretty thin. 

 In the last hour of cooking you can use a brush to add some of the glaze to your tenderloin.  Do this a few times in the last hour or so of cooking.  This was about 45 minutes before it was done and this is what happened when I attempted to turn it over. FELL APART!!! I am no Paula Deen, but I think thats a good sign. 

You will take it out, and serve it with some more of the glaze over the top!! :) 

Mr. R approved this meal for a regular! It is a great low carb meal for our house! 

ENJOY! 

Wendy's Skinny-er Chili!

When Mr. R dieted a few years ago, chili was a staple for him and an easy go to because of the low carb and low fat! I attempted to make some chili a few months ago, had every intention of posting it, branched out and added chocolate like the recipe called for etc, it was awful... awwwwfulll.... Mr. R ate it and still tells me it "wasn't that bad babe" but lets me serious, I think i saw him holding his nose like he was taking cough medicine.  So I am trying anything and everything I can to be creative on our diets, when I saw this recipe on Dashing Dish I was so excited to try it! If you don't already know about this website, go ahead and leave my site now, and check it out! Make her stuff, now... right now.  She has some of the best healthy recipes I can find and we make stuff from her site all the time and looove it!!

We played with the recipe a little... but I can not say enough good stuff about her website. 
Here we go...
One package of Jenny-O ground turkey (around 1.3 lbs) and we used the 93/7 this time
16 oz of your favorite Salsa
1 cup of chopped celery
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped red pepper
1 large chopped onion
1 chopped jalapeno 
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15.5 oz) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15.5oz) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (15.5 oz) black beans, drained
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsps chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the turkey meat and the onion and jalapeno to a skillet and cook until meat is no longer pink
2. Add all remaining ingredients to the crockpot along with meat mixture
3. Cook on high for 4 hours stirring occaissionally

For Mr. R I added a little cheddar cheese to the top of his!! delicious and lots of left overs! :)

Jalepeno Crusted Chicken

We enjoy a little kick in our life. Everything I have made so far in the short time we have  been married has been super simple! This took a few more steps but still easy as pie! :) Recipe adapted from My Life as a Mrs.! She has a wonderful blog with lots of amazing recipes! 

Here are the ingredients for the chicken! 

Kettle Cooked Jalepeno Chips--Light Buttermilk--Chicken Breasts---Cayenne Pepper-- Salt and Pepper

 I hate to be partial to a kitchen appliance, but if you have never used a Ninja, you are missing out.  Sorry Magic Bullet, The ninja is my favorite! I put the chips into the ninja until they were the consistency a little bigger than bread crumbs

 In one container you will add buttermilk, a little salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper. The other will contain your chips! 

 Chicken goes into the buttermilk like so... :) 

 And then cover with your chips! 

 And then right onto a baking sheet! Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes! 

 You can't have fried (okay baked) chicken and no french fries right? I just peeled about 5 small potatoes, washed, and cut them into the most peculiar of shapes! I have not mastered the wedge or shoe string look :) 

Here is the cast of flavors! Coat all your fries with a little olive oil and then use whatever flavoring you like.  We are in the spicy mood for dinner tonight so I chose salt and pepper and our favorite seasoning "Slap Ya Mama!" Just a warning, there is a regular version of this and a HOT and let me just tell you that the HOT is suuuper Hot. We like the kick, but we use the regular one! Cook these at 350 for 15-20 mins but you have to watch and turn them a little! 

Last component of our dinner was an Avocado Cream Sauce! For this I used about 1/2 cup of light Sour Cream, one Avocado, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, a handful of cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste! 

 All into the food processor!! 

TADA!! Baked Jalepeno Crusted Chicken, Oven Baked Fries with Avocado Cream Sauce! 

And Don't forget your Shiner! 

Bocconcini Stuffed Meatballs

So this recipe is adapted from Racheal Ray's Look and Cook Cookbook!
Ingredients:

• 4 Slices Stale Bread (Torn into pieces)
• Milk (to moisten bread)
• 2.5 lbs ground beef and pork mixture 
• 2 cloves of minced garlic 
• Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
• 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes 
• 1 Egg
• Salt and Pepper 
• 16 Bocconicini (bite-size mozzarella balls) you can also use a ball or log and cut into 16 pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

Preheat oven to 425. Place your torn bread in a samll bowl and over it with milk to soften it (probably around 5 minutes) 

In your large mixing bowl add the meat mixture, garlic, parsley, cheese, egg, red pepper flakes, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. 

Squeeze the milk out of the torn pieces of bread and crumble it as you add it to the mixing bowl. 

(I would have torn my bread into a bit bigger pieces at first when covered in milk and then crumbled into mixing bowl.  

Then... its time to get your hands dirty!! Use your hands to combine all ingredients until throughly mixed in the mixing bowl.  

When it is mixed well, take out a section of mixture and flatten it to the size of your palm.  

Place the mozz. ball in the center, and roll meat around it. (usualy 2-3 oz a piece) -

 should make around 16 

Place them on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  

Bake for 15-18 mins 

 I made a basic pesto sauce with whole peeled tomatoes, but mine was a bit too runny so next time ill post the pesto sauce! I also made simple couscous (out of a box :)

Enjoy!! :)