Apricot Glazed Pork Loin (slow cooker)

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (1 pound) bag baby carrots
1 medium red onion, thickly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1 (18 ounce) jar apricot preserves
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:

Place baby carrots and onion slices in the bottom of your slow cooker. Place your pork tenderloin on top of the carrots and onions and season with salt and pepper. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together stock, apricot preserves, mustard and thyme leaves. Pour glaze mixture over tenderloin. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until tender and cooked through.

Santa Fe Stuffed Peppers

3/4 lb ground turkey breast
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (15.25oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15.25oz) sweet corn, drained
3 cups rice (cooked)
8 fresh red peppers
1 cup Colby Jack cheese
2 green onions, sliced

Instructions
Wash red peppers and slice the tops off each pepper. Remove the seeds. Stand each pepper up next to eachother in a large baking dish (13x9).
In a large skillet, brown ground turkey until fully cooked. Drain. Return to skillet. Add cumin, salt, tomatoes, black bean and sweet corn. Simmer about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook Jasmine rice according to package.
Add cooked rice to skillet, combining completely. Remove from heat. Fill each red pepper with turkey mixture.Cover dish with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40-45 minutes. Remove foil and to with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and sprinkle with green onion pieces. Serve and enjoy!

Seashell Supper

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound orecchiette or other short pasta
Grated Parmesan and chopped fresh parsley, for serving

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add bacon and cook until browned and almost crisp, about 4 minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes and stir until fragrant, 1 minute. Add tomatoes, breaking them up as you go, and season with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, 15 minutes.

STEP 2

Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted water, cook pasta 1 minute less than package instructions. Reserve cup pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

STEP 3

Add sauce and pasta water to pasta and toss to combine; cook over medium-high until sauce thickens and coats pasta, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate 3 cups pasta for a separate dish. Serve remaining pasta topped with Parmesan and parsley.

Homemade Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.

7. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

Greek Pork Souvlaki Wraps

Pork souvlaki:
1 pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
3 TB olive oil
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
2 TB chopped fresh oregano (I used dried...)
2 TB plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup tahini

Wraps:

Whole wheat pita bread

lettuce (I used a spring mix)

grape tomatoes

cucumber, diced large

red onion, diced

feta cheese


In a medium bowl, combine pork, oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, garlic, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to 8 hours).

In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, cup lemon juice, tahini (if using), and 1 to 2 tablespoons water (sauce should have the consistency of heavy cream).

Heat a grill or pan to high. Grill until brown on all sides and cooked through, about 12 minutes. Assemble pitas and enjoy!

Recipe from Martha Stewart Food magazine. Tested and approved by Lindsay and Andy on 7/17/2013.

Honey Soy Stir Fry

Two chicken breasts

Olive Oil

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp honey

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 cups fresh veggies (bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, etc.)

cooked brown rice

1 tsp sesame oil

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger. Saute 6 minutes. Add veggies and brown rice, saute 10 more minutes. Top with sesame oil.

Sloppy Joes

1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer.

Recipe from Rachel Ray. Tested and approved by Andy, Lindsay, Kate and Lucy on July 11, 2013. Everybody loved it, even Kate! No more Manwich for  us!