Crock Pot Apple Pork Loin

Pin It It's apple season and I have lots of apples at my house from a recent apple picking trip.  According to my husband this pork is "lick the plate" good.  It is also probably one of the easiest crockpot recipes I have ever made.  The apples almost melt away and make a nice sauce for the pork.  I was worried that the honey would make this too sweet for a dinner item, but I didn't notice much sweetness at all.  Go get some apples and make this delicious dinner!

This recipe was shared at Six Sisters' Stuff Link Party.

Crock Pot Apple Pork Loin
2 lb boneless pork loin (mine was slightly smaller and worked just fine)
2-3 Jonathan apples, thinly sliced (or any variety of apple you want)
2 Tbsp honey
garlic, salt, pepper
water

1. Slice slits 3/4 of the way through the pork, 1 inch apart.
2. Place 1 apple slice in each of the slits.
3. Season pork with garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Lay a layer of apple slices on the bottom of your crock pot.
5. Place the pork on top of the apples and drizzle the honey on top.  6. Layer the remaining apples on top of the pork.
7. Pour 1/2 - 1 cup of water into the crock pot or until it is about 1/2 inch deep.  This will keep the pork from drying out and help create a sauce.
8. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. 
**I cooked mine for 8 hours on low and it was fork tender and fell apart like pulled pork

Grilled Pineapple

Pin It So I'm always trying to be healthy and this is the perfect dessert for those of you wanting to jump on the healthy train without sacrificing all sweets.  It's sweet, crisp and tangy.  Sometimes I enjoy mine with a scoop of ice cream on top (ok, not so healthy...).  This would be a great end to a summer BBQ.

This recipe was shared at Trick or Treat Tuesday and Weekend Potluck.

Grilled Pineapple
1 pineapple, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp honey
sprinkle of cinnamon

1. Slice pineapple into 1/2 inch rounds.  There is no need to core it before grilling.  I think the pineapple would  fall apart on the grill if you did.
2. In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, honey and cinnamon.
3. Grill pineapple for about 3 minutes per side over medium-high heat.  Brush on lime juice mixture.
4. Pineapple is done when the outside starts to caramelize and there are nice grill marks.

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pin It So these cookies are grain free, oil free, egg free and white sugar free.   I was leery of trying them and thinking they might not satisfy my sweet tooth.  I was pleasantly surprised.  You would never guess that these are healthy by looking at them.  I also had several friends and family members try them without telling them they were healthy and tricked all of them.

Check out Six Sisters' Link Party.  There are so many good ideas there!

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Original recipe from Texanerin
1 can chickpeas, drained (also called garbanzo beans)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a food processor.  Pulse until well blended and smooth.  Stop several times to scrape down the sides so you don't have chunks of chickpeas in your cookies.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.  Dough will be sticky.
4. Scoop tablespoons of dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until they are no longer glossy looking and slightly brown.

**Be careful when removing from cookie sheet, they can be fragile

No Bake Granola Bars

Pin It Since it is officially summer it is too hot to turn on my oven very often.  Because of that I was looking for some no bake recipes.  These granola bars are chewy, filling and quite delicious.  They are great for breakfast, a snack or even dessert. 

No Bake Granola Bars
1 cup rolled oats, I used instant
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans ***optional
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

1. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.  This just helps the bars come out of the pan easily.  You could skip this step, but you might have trouble getting the bars out in nice pieces.
2. In a mixing bowl combine the peanut butter, vanilla and honey.  Stir in oats, coconut, flax, pecans and chocolate chips.  **If the mixture seems too dry add a little more honey to bring it together.
3. Press mixture into the pan.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to let it firm up.

Strawberry Lime Shortcakes

Pin It Strawberries have been amazing lately.  I wanted to make some sort of dessert that was on the healthy side and wouldn't heat up my house with the oven.  This was the perfect solution.  The tartness of the limes adds a little something extra for your tongue.  I did cheat a little and buy a store bought angel food cake, but sometimes you just need a little help.  Feel free to make your own if you want.

Strawberry Lime Shortcake
**I'm vague on measurements because you can make one or a dozen depending on your crowd
Strawberries, rinsed and sliced
Angel Food Cake, cut into slices
Whipped cream
Juice and zest of one lime *or more if making more than 3-4 desserts
1 tsp honey
toasted coconut (optional)

1. Combine lime juice and honey in a small bowl.  Stir until well mixed.
2. Place one slice of cake in a bowl.  Top with desired amount of berries. 
3. Pour a small amount of lime juice mixture over berries.
4. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with toasted coconut and lime zest.

Citrus Glazed Ham

Pin It We were given some leftover spiral sliced ham.  I have never been a fan of ham and scalloped potatoes and we just couldn't eat any more ham sandwiches so I had to get creative.  Let's face it, leftover ham can be dry and tough.  This glaze will give you that juicy, just baked taste that you crave.  It is also a great weeknight 30-minute dinner.  I will definitely be using this again when I make a big ham.  Your ham does not have to be leftover for this recipe to work.  You could use this glaze on any ham, ours just happened to be leftovers.

Citrus Glazed Ham
Leftover sliced ham (I had about 8 slices)
juice and zest of 2 oranges
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp garlic
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a shallow baking dish mix all ingredients except ham together until sugar is dissolved and honey is well incorporated.  Adjust salt and pepper to your liking.
3. Arrange ham in dish, flipping to coat well in glaze.  It is ok if the slices overlap.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Asian Citrus Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Pin It I love cooking pork tenderloins.  They are fast and tasty.  I also make them a lot because it is a dinner that Albert and I both enjoy.  I'm always looking for new ways to spice it up since just roasting it can get a little boring.  This is one of those recipes that I just came up with based on ingredients that I had handy.  It has all of the Asian flavors I love: sweet, spicy and tart.  This marinade would also be great on chicken or shrimp.

Asian Citrus Marinated Pork Tenderloin
* This is for 2-3 people.  Adjust amounts for your crowd
1-2 lb pork tenderloin
Juice from one orange or 2-3 clementines
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp chili garlic paste or sriacha hot sauce (to taste)

1. Mix all ingredients in a gallon size ziptop bag.  Place tenderloin in the bag, seal and mush around to make sure meat is well covered in marinade.
2. Allow pork to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375.  Place pork in an oven safe dish.
4. Bake 35-50 minutes unil pork is done.  (Time depends on the size of your tenderloin).
5. Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Pin It

I rate restaurants based on their bread.  Texas Roadhouse has one of my favorites mostly because of the awesome cinnamon butter that comes with their piping hot rolls.  I stumbled upon a recipe on Pinterest and modified it a bit to make the correct amount for us.  This was also my first attempt at making yeast rolls and they turned out perfect.  This is definitely a good beginner roll recipe.

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

*makes 10 rolls

1 1/2 cups four, divided

1/2 tsp salt

1 T sugar

1 packet (1/4 oz.) yeast

1 egg white

1/3 c warm water

1/3 cup warm milk

2 T melted butter

1. Mix 1 cup flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl.
2. Combine egg white, water and milk.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the milk mixture into the well.  Mix by hand until well combined, paying special attention to the bottom and sides of the bowl.
4. Stir in melted butter.
5. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour.
6. Cover bowl with saran wrap and let dough rise in a warm place for 45 minutes or until double in size.
7. Punch down dough using cooking spray coated spoons (the dough is super sticky).
8. Spray 10 muffin cups with cooking spray.  Divide dough evenly between cups.
9. Cover dough with a damp papertowel and allow dough to rise again for 30 minutes or until double in size.
10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
11. Bake rolls for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with cinnamon honey butter.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

*enough for 1 batch of rolls - easy to double/triple
1 stick butter, softened
2 T honey
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Combine all ingredients, stirring until smooth and well mixed.