I'm back...again?

Ok, so my goal of posting once per week isn't going well.  But, honestly, it is because I haven't been cooking. Anything. Now that school is back in session and I'm back to work, cooking will be part of the routine again.  Summer nights are just far too care free and busy to cook dinner, after all.

So, my first post summer meal was a balsamic glazed pork tenderloin that was delicious and maple mashed sweet potatoes that were to die for!  And it involved the slow cooker, which is the best way to ease back into cooking every night.

Here we go:

Pork Tenderloin-
1 1/4-1/2 pound pork tenderloin
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup water

1.) Place pork well seasoned with salt and pepper in slow cooker.
2.) Pour water over pork.
3.) Cook on low in slow cooker 5-6 hours.
 4.) In the last hour, empty water out of slow cooker and pour glaze over the tenderloin, reserving a few tablespoons of glaze.  Allow to finish cooking.
5.) Use reserved glaze to brush on at the last minute!

Balsamic Glaze-
1/4 balsamic vinegar
1 tbs. soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbs. cornstarch

For glaze:
Put all ingredients in small sauce pan. Whisk together to combine.  Cook on medium heat until bubbling and thick (about 5 minutes).  Stir frequently to prevent sticking and burning.


Want the to die for mashed sweet potatoes?  So easy!

2-3 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup real Maple syrup
1 tbsp. butter
3 tbs. milk or cream
Salt and pepper

Peel, chunk, and boil potatoes until they will break apart easily with a fork.  Mash together with syrup, butter, milk, and seasoning.  Adjust milk, butter, and seasoning to your taste.

Chicken Sausage Veggie Pasta

In January, admittedly as a New Years Resoultion, I began eliminating dairy, grains, and refined sugar from my diet. Most people know this as paleo. I have stuck with it since then, about 80% of the time. If I'm out to dinner, or at a friend's house for dinner, I don't really worry about it. This recipe is one of my "go to" Paleo recipes. For those that aren't interested in Paleo, you can use pasta instead of the zucchini. But give it a shot, it is better than you would imagine! 

So you start with the following ingredients (picture above): 

1.)Fennel (also known as anise) and use the bulb- the white part. This is delicious- the texture of celery but a sweet licorice flavor.

2.) Large zucchini, sliced with a julienne peeler.

3.) Package of chicken sausage (your choice in flavor) but I use Hannaford's all natural spinach and garlic because when you look at the ingredients it only contains chicken, spinach, garlic, water, and salt.

4.)  A jar of spaghetti sauce ( or make your own-most store bought sauces contain sugar!) 

5.) You can also add other veggies to this mix-bell peppers, summer squash, or asparagus would be delicious. 

6.) Olive oil

Directions:

1.) Chop all veggies (except zucchini) to bite size and slice chicken sausage into coins. 

2.) Heat about 1 tbs. olive oil in large deep skillet.

3.) Add veggies and sauté until al dente (just before soft). 

4.) Add chicken sausage and continue to sauté with veggies until chicken sausage is slightly browned.

5.) Pour in jar of sauce and continue to heat until warmed.

It will look like this! Yum!

6.) Turn down to simmer while you prepare the zucchini. 

7.) Using a julienne peeler, peel the zucchini length wise to create 'spaghetti.' You can boil the spaghetti for a few minutes if you wish, but I find that the pieces are thin enough and the sauce is hot enough that you don't really need to. 

8.) Put a pile of 'spaghetti' on your plate and pour desired amount of sauce on top.

 Even my 2.5 year old devours it!