Country Stuffed Pork Loin

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/4 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced apple

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 pkg seasoned croutons

2 large eggs

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Beat eggs in a bowl and then pour package of croutons into the same bowl. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix, then set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a nonstick skilled with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, apple, pepper and salt; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add diced apple; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add this apple mixture to the bowl with the croutons and mix it all together; set aside.

Okay, I'm not going to try to explain how to cut the pork loin...you should watch this video on youtube! (Stuffed Pork Loin Recipe: How to Prep Meat for Stuffed Pork Loin) I watched all the videos on the stuffed pork loin that I could find from the company that posted this video to learn now to to this recipe! You may do the same! (I've changed up the recipe just a little, but it does help to see it done rather than just read it!)

Sprinkle salt on the cut pork loin. Spread stuffing over pork, leaving a 1/2-inch margin around edges. Roll up pork, jelly-roll fashion, starting with a long side. Secure at 2-inch intervals with twine. You can also watch how to tie the twine near the end of the video linked above. If you don't have twine, you can use skewers to poke through the meat and hold it in place.

Place stuffed pork loin into a pan coated with cooking spray, opening side down. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake additional 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155 degrees.

Remove and let pork stand about 10 minutes. Slice pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve. Makes anywhere from 8-10 servings.

Calories 249; Fat 8.3g (sat 2.9g); Sodium 567mg

Salad & Shepherd's Pie (minus the lamb)

This simple salad and extremely easy rendition of Shepherd's Pie can be a quick fix for busy evenings!

Salad Ingredients:
Romaine Lettuce
Cherry Tomatoes
Red Onion
Carrots

Preparation:
Chop and combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve! :)


Shepherd's Pie Ingredients:
1 lb 93% lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups frozen baby vegetable mix (such as Birds Eye)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 cups country-style refrigerated mashed potatoes
Cooking spray
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Preparation:
Preheat broiler. Cook beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add vegetable mix, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Cook 5 minutes or until mixture is slightly thick and thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. While beef mixture cooks, place potatoes in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; vent. Microwave at HIGH 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Spoon mixture evenly into each of 4 (8-ounce) broiler-safe ramekins coated with cooking spray. Top evenly with potatoes; sprinkle with pepper. Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Broil 2-3 minutes or until potatoes are golden. Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 pie.)

Calories: 305; Fat 10.7g (sat 5.6g), Protein 20.6g, Sodium 490mg


This recipe was taken from my favorite cookbook at the moment: Cooking Light: fresh food superfast.

Just a side note: this recipe was the first time I've ever used the broiler setting on my oven! Please be sure that the dishes you use in the oven are safe to broil! :)

A new take on "Grilled" Cheese

This FUN & easy grilled cheese isn't any special or low cal recipe, but I wanted to share it because I think anyone would enjoy it, especially someone with kids!

Ingredients:
Cheese (American or cheddar or other)
Wheat bread
Butter flavored cooking spray
Optional ingredients: Picante sauce, ham, turkey, pineapple

Preparation:
This sandwich is made like any normal grilled cheese, but instead of cooking it in a pan on the stove top you'll heat up your waffle iron.

Preheat the waffle iron. Place cheese (and any of your optional ingredients) on the bread. Coat waffle iron with cooking spray and place sandwich on waffle iron. If cooking multiple sandwiches, you can cook them in batches. Cook 4-6 minutes or until cheese melts and bread is toasted. Serve with picante sauce or enjoy as is!

Buffalo Chicken Thighs

So, the other night I cooked Buffalo Chicken Thighs and they were DELICIOUS!!! :) I was so hungry that when dinner was ready I forgot to snap a few pictures...however, I have created this wonderful delicacy again so that you may also see just how delicious they are!! And I've made them for my family this Saturday!

These Buffalo Chicken Thighs are very easy to make and a very convenient left over to use in a salad, on their own or I'm sure you could probably use them in a (spicy) soup!

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

3 tablespoons hot sauce

1 tablespoon butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy-duty zip-top bag; seal. Shake to blend. Add half of chicken to bag; seal. Shake to coat. Remove chicken from bag shaking to remove excess flour mixture. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add flour-coated chicken to pan; sauté 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer browned chicken to a pan. Repeat procedure with the remaining uncooked chicken, flour mixture, and oil. Discard remaining flour mixture. Bake chicken at 375 degrees for 8 minutes or until done.

Combine hot sauce and butter in a microwave-safe dish; microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or until butter melts, stirring to blend. Place chicken in a shallow dish; drizzle with butter sauce. Toss to coat. Serving size: 2 thighs

Calories: 318 Fat: 17.8g Protein: 28.4g Sodium: 474mg

I get a LOT of my recipes off of the website www.MyRecipes.com. The great thing about it is there are almost endless amounts of recipes that you can use, alter and enjoy! The recipe for these delectable Buffalo Chicken Thighs can be found by clicking here!

They're fairly simple and very, very delicious!! :)

The whole family loved these! I hope yours does too!!

Honey-Laced Blueberry Parfait

Ingredients:

1 (6-ounce) carton French vanilla low-fat yogurt (such as Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy)

1 (6-ounce) carton blueberry low-fat yogurt (such as Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy)

1 1/2 cups frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed

3 cups (1-inch) cubed angel food cake

2 cups blueberries

1 tablespoon honey

1/ cup honey-almond flax cereal (such as Kashi GoLean Crunch!), coarsely crushed

Preparation:

Combine yogurts in a bowl; gently fold in whipped topping. (or just whip it up, like I do!)

Layer about 1/3 cup angel food cake, 1/4 cup blueberries and 1/3 cup yogurt mixture in each of 4 dessert glasses. Repeat procedure once. Drizzle honey evenly over parfaits. Top evenly with cereal. Serve immediately. Yield 4 servings. (Serving size: 1 parfait)

Calories: 359; Fat 2.6g (sat 1.1g); Protein 9.7g, Sodium 379mg

These are sooooooo delicious!! They're not the lowest calorie dessert, but it is a better alternative to other options that are out there.

Chili-Cheese Sweet Potato Fries

This fun food can be served as an appetizer or as a meal, and it's pretty tasty!

Ingredients:
1 (20-ounce) package frozen julienne-cut sweet potato fries
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1 (15-ounce) can vegetarian chili with beans (such as Hormel)
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sliced green onions




Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Arrange fries on a large rimmed baking sheet. Coat fries with cooking spray. Bake at 450 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until crisp. (As you can see...I almost burnt ours!)
While fries bake, cook chili in a small saucepan over medium heat 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Transfer fries to a serving platter, or individual dish, spoon chili over fries; sprinkle with cheese and green onions. Serve hot. Yield: 6 servings.

Calories: 282, Fat: 11.5g (sat 3.5g), Protein: 10.5g, Sodium: 381mg.

Tomato-Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped cucumber

2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup red onion

1 lemon

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Tomato-Cucumber Salad:

Combine 2 cups coarsely chopped English cucumber, 2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Yield: 4 servings.

Calories 45; Fat 2.5g (sat 0.3g); Sodium 126mg

This small but simple salad is oh-so-delicious!! Please try it out and let me know what you think!!

About Me & My Blog

My name is Katherine and I love food! :)

About two years ago I tried out "blogging" and I had problems deciding what to write about, sometimes it was too personal and other times too general or I just rambled on and on...so I slacked off, honestly I just quit blogging all together. However I've always had the desire to start blogging again.

So, here I am...now blogging about food! I've now been married for a little over a year and have discovered that I can actually cook! I'm no chef or connoisseur of the culinary arts...however I do love food and that's what drives me to try new things and to try to experiment.

If you know me, you'll know that I am a confident person...however when it comes to preparing something, especially food, I almost start shaking in my boots! In the past I procrastinated on many different things like projects for school, baking cookies for a bake sale, doing math problems or cooking dinners, just to name a few things. I now realize the reason I did that is because I was scared. I was scared to start something because I worried the end result wouldn't be good enough.

Cooking has helped me to discover that it's okay if you mess something up, you can try again until you get it right!! You might eat a few not-so-great meals and you may even have to throw out a few things, but these are great learning experiences. I cannot say I've completely kicked my procrastinating habit...however I am getting better than I used to be. Plus it helps that food tastes so good that you almost always have a great end to the project! :) I'd much rather enjoy a yummy meal than know I got a math problem correct!

This blog will mostly be recipes & my photos of these recipes. If you have anything to say regarding these recipes, have tried a similar recipe and would like to share your thoughts or would like me to try a recipe, please feel free to comment on the blog.

I hope you enjoy my posts & pictures! Enjoy!!

Sincerely,

-Katherine Rose