Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Reduction

This recipe is incredible easy, fast, and flavorful. I will NEVER do pork tenderloin in a slow cooker again. The glaze is sweet and tangy and the pork is moist and delicious. This recipe is perfect for busy moms.

Cook time: 25 min; Level: Easy; Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

· 2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins, cut in 1/2

· Vegetable oil

· Salt and freshly ground black pepper

· 1 1/2 cups apple cider

· 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

· 1/4 cup maple syrup

11/2 Granny Smith Apple, diced

Corn starch or thickener

Directions

1. Heat oven to 500 degrees F and arrange rack in the upper third.

2. Brush pork tenderloin with oil, and season well with salt and black pepper. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sear pork on all sides until browned.

3. Place pork in oven and cook about 15 minutes, until center temperature is 145-155*. Meanwhile, place the same pan over high heat, add cider, vinegar and apple. Stir while scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until mixture is reduced by 2/3, about 8 minutes. Remove the apples and add the thickener until it reaches desired thickness (note: Once the glaze cools completely it will be thicker than it is hot so keep that in mind while adding thickener) Reduce heat to medium, stir in maple syrup and remove from heat until pork is cooked.

4. When pork is ready, remove to a cutting board to rest about 5 minutes. This is important to keep the moisture and juiciness of the meat. Warm the glaze over medium -high heat. Cut pork into slices and place in the glaze, turning to coat completely. Serve with rice or other starch and enjoy!

The Briggs' Orzo Salad

ORZO SALAD

4 cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups orzo
1/2 can garbanzo or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups red and yellow teardrop tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
¾ cup finely chopped red onion (or green onion)
½ cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
¾ cup Red Wine Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Drain the orzo through a strainer. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss until the orzo cools slightly. Set aside to cool completely.

Toss the orzo with the beans, tomatoes, onion, basil, mint, and enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper, and serve at room temperature.



RED WINE VINAIGRETTE (makes 1 ¾ cups)
½ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp honey
2 tsp salt
¾ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette to taste with more salt and pepper if desired.

Courtesy of Will and Melissa Briggs

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients for TWO separate pizzas:
2 rolls of store bought sugar cookie dough (or use your own sugar cookie recipe)
Variety of fruits (strawberries, bananas**, kiwi, grapes, blueberries, mandarin oranges, etc.)
8 oz of cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 small tub of whipped cream

Directions:
1. Roll out cold dough to form a "pizza" shape
2. Bake according to the package's directions, but add a few more minutes. You want to overcook it slightly (golden brown all over) so that it's baked well in the center. Plus, the toppings will soften it up.
3. Let the dough cool completely before adding on the toppings!
4. Whip the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and whipped cream in a mixer on high speed. Make sure all the chunks of cream cheese are all smoothed out. Spread evenly onto the dough.
5. Decorate the pizza with your choice of fruit.

**If you use bananas, dunk them in a little bit of lemon or lime juice to keep them from browning.

Note: You really don't need that much fruit to cover the pizza. For TWO pizzas I used one small box of strawberries, 2 kiwis, 2 bananas, and a handful of blueberries.

Jello Cake

My family use to make this all the time when I was a kid. It's really easy to make. Bake a white cake according to directions. Error on the side of over-baking and not under baking if you have to. Let it cool, and then poke a bunch of holes in it with a fork or knife all over. Make a SMALL box of whatever flavored gelatin you fancy (we like lime or strawberry the best). Carefully, pour the liquid gelatin over the cake evenly. Let it set up in the fridge for a few hours. Right before serving cover it with whipped cream.

Gina's Chinese Cabbage Salad

1/2 head cabbage
2 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
4 green onions
1 package slivered almonds (the smaller size at the store)
2 T. sesame seeds
1/2 c. olive oil
3 T. vinegar (white usually)
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 Package Top Ramen Noodles

Chop cabbage and onions and refrigerate. Cook chicken. Cool and shred. Toast almonds and sesame seeds with a bit of butter. Set aside. Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and seasoning packet from noodles. Whisk or shake to emulsify. Just before serving, crumble noodles over entire contents and toss with dressing.

Mexican Rice

This recipe works great as a side dish or for inside a burrito. I love it! I think it could be an entire meal if you added some chicken to it.

3-4 TBSP Grapeseed oil
2 cups white rice (do not rinse)
1 Onion, finely chopped
3 cups water
1/4c chicken broth powder
1/2 can of 15oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes--with chipotles if you want
1TBSP Roasted garlic ( just use reg chopped garlic that is in the refridge)
1TBSP Spice Hunter Mexican seasoning


In a pan saute the onion and rice together in the oil until the rice starts to brown. In at least a 4 cup measuring container, mix the chicken broth powder with water; add tomatoes, continue to add enough water to make 4 cups of liquid mixture. Add the both mixture, seasonings to rice mixture. Bring to boil on medium heat, and simmer until water cooks down to level of rice. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook until water is gone, approx 10 min. Or, pressure cook on high for 3 minutes and allow the pressure to drop naturally.

Courtesy of my mom and Shar's.

Snickerdoodles

This is my favorite snickerdoodle recipe I've tried so far. I really think it has good flavor because it uses shortening AND butter. Most other recipes I've tried only have the shortening and I think they are a little bland. If anyone out there thinks they have a GREAT snickerdoodle recipe send it my way. I'd love to try it!



1 3/4 cups sugar

1 Tbs cinnamon

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 shortening

2 large eggs



Preheat oven to 375. Mix 1/4 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside also.

Cream the butter, shortening, and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar together on medium speed for about 5 min. Beat in the eggs.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients.

With wet hands, form cookies into balls and roll in the cinnamon/sugar bowl.

Cook for about 10-12 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave them on the baking sheet for another 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I got this recipe from my neighbor, Christina Howden. I'm not usually a fan of peanut butter cookies, but these were great. They were so soft!

Also, watch the baking times. I am cooking at a high altitude (5095 feet), so it takes my cookies longer than it would at a lower elevation.

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Extra sugar

Hershey's kisses

.

Preheat oven to 375.

Measure out and whisk the dry ingredients and set aside.

Cream the shortening, sugars, and peanut butter. Then add the eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Finally add in dry ingredients.
Form into round balls and roll in white sugar.

Put on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 8 min.

Push a Hershey's kiss deep into the center and bake for another 2-5 minutes.

Spinach and Turkey Meatballs with homemade white sauce!

I make this ALL the time. It is from my friend Raygon. It is yummy and usually this recipe makes enough for us to eat twice, or feeds a crowd. If we don't have company over, I just freeze half of the meatballs raw, and freeze the leftover sauce for another night.

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
2 lbs of turkey
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
3/4 c bread crumbs
salt and pepper
olive oil

Wring spinach with paper towel and combine all ingredients in large bowl (minus the olive oil). Grease a baking sheet. Form ingredients into bite sized meatballs and drizzle with a little oil, or spray the tops with PAM. Bake in oven 400 for about 20 minutes. (If cooking from frozen cook them a few minutes longer until they look slightly browned around the bottom edges.)

While meatballs are baking, make sauce

white sauce:
2T butter
2T flour
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth (homemade is the BEST if you can!)
8 oz deli sliced provolone cheese, cut into cubes or shredded

Melt butter in sauce pan, add in flour, cook for one minute. Then whisk in cream and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then stir in provolone until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve everything over egg noodles.

Courtesy of Raygon at mealicious.blogspot.com. Check it out! Her pictures are way better!

Applesauce Pork Chops

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Total cooking time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 bone-in pork chops

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 (16 oz) jar applesauce

1 tbsp cinnamon

Preparation:

Season pork chops with salt and pepper. In a frying pan brown pork chops in olive oil. While the first side is browning, season the up side with salt and pepper. Flip and brown the other side. Drain oil. Cover bottom of pan with 1/2 of the applesauce. Put chops on applesauce and put remainder of applesauce on chops. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Cheese Quesadillas

This is my version of my friend Raygon's recipe found here.

This is a 30 minute meal. I'll admit though, that it is a bit caotic to do it. I ususally get my kids involved in the process because it's all pretty easy, I just don't have 5 arms. This version is vegetarian, but you could add any meat you'd like.

Ingredients:
cilantro (cheap item and makes a BIG difference)
2 cans of beans (I usually mix black & pinto)
1 can of salsa
grated cheddar or jack
tortillas
sour cream

Directions:
1. Rinse and drain beans and add them to a medium sized pan. Dump in the entire can of salsa. Pick all the cilantro leaves off of the stem, chop them, and add them to the salsa and beans. Get a kid to stir it as it warms on medium-low heat.

2. Get a kid to grate the cheese, while you butter one side of each tortilla so they can get crispy on the griddle.

3. On one tortillas spoon the bean mixture while the cheese is melting on the other one. Once they've browned enough marry them together. And cut into pizza slices. Top with sour cream and what ever else you fancy.

Simple Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
2-3 small cans of cream of mushroom soup
1-2 lbs of cubed stew meat
1 packet of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix
Small tub of sour cream

Directions:
Add everything but the sour cream to the crock pot. Cook on low for about 10 hours or high for about 6 hours. Right before serving stir in about a cup of sour cream. Serve over potatoes or egg noodles.

Easy Fruit Smoothies

Isaac brought home a healthy cookbook from school and we've tried out some of the recipes. This is one that is easy and yummy. I also like it because within a few minutes I've added a few additional fruit servings into my kids daily intake. Most days I have all of the ingredients on hand, so I can whip it up in just a few minutes. I ususally don't measure the ingredients too closely either. Makes about 2-3 servings. Just toss it in the blender and blend!

8 oz can of pineapple juice
handful of strawberries
1 ripe banana
1/2-ish cup of vanilla yogurt

Wontons with Sweet and Sour Sauce

My friend Tiffany opened my eyes up to the world of FRIED WONTONS. She makes the most delicious Thai wontons EVER! I got her recipe off her blog and did some online searching to compare. I fiddled with Tiffany's recipe a little and thought my experimental batch turned out pretty good. My sister's friend, Mayuko was visiting us from Japan when I made them and she approved! (She's really nice, so she totally could have been lying.) She said my batch turned out more like Chineese Wontons. I think next time I'll play around with them some more. They can be filled with whatever you fancy! Give it a try!!!!

Tiffany's Sweet and Sour Sauce:
You can make the sauce ahead of time. It takes all of five minutes.

1 C sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 C water
1 T ketchup
2 T cornstarch, mixed with a little water (or sprinkle in Ultra-Gel until you like the consistency.)

In small pot add water, sugar, salt, and vinegar. On medium heat, slowly bring to boil. Once boiling, add ketchup and stir. Add cornstarch mixture or Ultra Gel gradually, stirring constantly until it thickens.
Remove from heat and keep in fridge until serving time.

Wonton Recipe:
I doubled this recipe and served it with veggies and rice for seven adults and three kids. There was BARELY enough! If you have leftovers, they microwave up good the next day. (Feel free to play with this till it suits your tastes!)

1/2-3/4 lb ground beef (or whatever ground meat you prefer, Pork is more authentic)
1 package cream cheese
2 cups shredded and chopped cabbage (keep the pieces small so they'll fold easily into the wonton skins)
1 tsp salt
2 T minced onion
1 tsp fish or soy sauce
1 egg (I've forgotten to add this and it turned out just fine)
3 T coriander
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
1 package won ton skins*

*in my area, I've found wonton skins in the produce section of Albertson's and Wal-mart. I like the ones from Albertson's a little bit better because they are thinner skins.


I have step by step pictures or you can check out Tiffany's site. You basically mash all of the above ingredients like you would with a meat loaf. Then place only 1 TEASPOON of filling in the center of a wonton skin. Wet your fingers with water, and gently rub the edges of the wonton skin. You can follow the directions on the Wonton Packaging or get creative! I folded mine into the shape of a diaper. Because. I'm a mom. And that's what I see all day. Maybe my little brother can fold his into the shape of the Statue of Liberty. Anyway, folding them all up is the most time consuming part.

Once the wontons are all folded, throw small batches of them into a fryer (or pot of hot oil) until golden brown. Cut into the first one to make sure the meat is cooked all the way through. Dip them in the sauce and ENJOY!

Here are the directions in pictures:

The filling

The Wonton skins.


THE PROCESS:

Spoon a teaspoon of filling into the center of the wonton skin

Dip your finger into a cup of water and rub on the edges of TWO OPPOSITE SIDES. Water will seal the edges when folded together.



Folding. Gently press and seal.




Either pinch edges up like this, or try folding all the triangle's corners into the center for a diaper shape without the crispy edges.

The batch.

Fry until golden brown on both sides.

They are SO HOT for a long time, so let them cool before you take a bite!

Dip in sauce.

Enjoy!

SO GOOD!

Playdough

There are a lot of great playdough recipes out there: peanut butter playdough, Kool-aid playdough, oatmeal playdough, chocolate playdough... However, the thought of making the edible kinds makes me sick. Kids hands usually aren't the cleanest and I usually don't steralize the counter before busting playdough out! So, I just do the standard playdough recipe and add some food coloring. Here's my favorite:

2 cups water
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup salt
2 Tbs cream of tartar
Food coloring
Large Saucepan
2 cups flour

Directions
1. Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in pot and heat until warm. (You can omit the cream of tartar, but it helps the dough to last FOREVER.)
2. Remove from heat and add flour.
3. Stir and knead until smooth.
4. Store dough in a Ziploc bag.

There's lots of fun to be had!