Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork Loin

Break out the slow cooker. You're going to want to try this soon! It's so easy and completely yum to the tum. 

                 

Six Sisters Stuff is to blame for this one. Here's the thing- I'm stuck in St. George and I only brought four cookbooks with me. Two of them are Six Sisters, and since I'm loving their "stuff" lately, that's what I'm cooking and blogging. Costco sells a two-pack of pork tenderloin, and within that two-pack are two tenderloins, so you're really dealing with four tenderloins per total package. Use two of the tenderloins (or one half of the total package you've purchased) for this recipe. 

I like to make my cranberry sauce (thank you OBB girls- I haven't forgotten you!). 

Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork Loin (Click to go to the original post at SSS)

3 lbs. boneless pork loin or tenderloin  

1 can (16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce (or click on the cranberry sauce link above to make your own)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 T light brown sugar

1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

Place roast in a slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over the roast. Cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 6-8 hours, making sure the internal temperature of the pork is 145°F. Remove roast and cover with foil while you make the sauce. 

To make the sauce, just add a little water and cornstarch to the mixture left in the crock pot. Whisk until combined. Serve with sliced pork.

I didn't thicken my sauce as I felt it was fine without the cornstarch mixture.  

Breakfast Casserole

It's real name is Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake but that's just too much to type. So I'll call this Breakfast Casserole instead.
I made this for breakfast when the Chambers' family came over and they loved it, so I made it again yesterday for our missionary zone meeting and it was nearly gone at the end of the meeting.

I found the recipe here. The first time I made it, I followed the directions to the letter. I thought I didn't like the mustard, so the second time I made it I left it out. As it turns out, it needs the mustard in for a little more flavor. I guess Betty knows what she's talking about. After all, she's been at this business for a lot of years! I read once that there wasn't actually ever a real Betty. I think that's kind of sad.

Pork Chop and Stuffing Bake

Here's another freezer meal I made.

Pork Chop and Stuffing Bake
4 cups crumbled cornbread (luckily I had leftovers from the meal the night before)
3/4 lb bulk pork sausage (I left this out; I dislike sausage)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup coarsely chopped apple
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried sage, crumbled
1 tsp salt, (plus more to sprinkle on the pork)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (plus more)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 large egg, beaten
3 T olive oil
8 thick-cut pork loin chops (about 1/3 lb each)

Sauce
2 T unsalted butter
2 T flour
1 cup apple cider (I used apple juice)
1 cup beef broth
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup heavy cream

Making:
Place the cornbread in a large bowl. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
Sauté the sausage (if using) in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces, until it is no longer pink. Drain all but 1T of fat from the skillet. Add the onion, celery, apple, dried thyme, sage, salt and pepper to the pan. Cook with occasional stirring for about 5 minutes. Stir in the milk and chicken broth, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the mixture to the cornbread bowl and briefly stir to blend together. Add the beaten egg and mix well. Spread the mixture in the prepared casserole dish.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper and sauté until golden brown on each side. Remove the pork and place on top of the stuffing in the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate while preparing the sauce.
In the same skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Slowly add the cider, beef broth, and fresh thyme, bringing the mixture to a boil. Add the cream. Let it cool, then pour over the pork chops in the prepared pan. Re-cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month (or bake immediately).
Baking:
Defrost the pork in the refrigerator overnight, if necessary. Preheat oven to 325°F. Allow the pork to come to room temperature for 20 minutes.
Bake the chops, covered, for 45 to 55 minutes, until the chops are cooked through and register 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.

For as "prepared" as I'm "supposed" to be, I found myself out of sage. How could that be? I couldn't believe I didn't have any in my spice cupboard. Then I remembered, it's because it grows in my yard like mad during the spring and summer and I always just go pluck what I need. Well, I need to harvest it better so I never run out again, because having to pay for it was torture.

Vertical Salad

A couple days ago, Karen showed me a salad that she wanted to eat. I made a couple of mistakes, but she still said it was great.

For instance, when we sat down to eat it, I said "shouldn't this have some cheese on it?" Sure enough, it should have. And the red peppers? Yeah, they were supposed to be tomatoes. So we added them later. But look at all this deliciousness!

Then Karen said "Stop making it pretty and just let me eat it!" So I stopped, and she ate.

She's looking forward to putting the leftovers together for another salad for lunch today between CONFERENCE SESSIONS!!! Woohoo! We love us some Conference around these here parts!!! This is my favorite weekend of the year!