Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

We've been so lucky this year to have such a mild summer. I have been grilling A LOT!  I'll share some of those recipes in the next few days. Last weekend I decided to fire up the oven for the first time in a while. I decided on pork loin, one of my favorite cuts of meat. It's lean, cooks quick and the price isn't too bad either.  Glazed Pork Loin with Brussels Sprouts was so delicious.  I will definitely make this again.  I know it sounds fancy and difficult but really could not be easier.  Try it and let me know what you think.



Good Old Fashioned HOBO dinners

Have you ever been camping? One of my favorite meals when camping is HOBO dinners. You know, hamburger patty, potatoes, carrots and onions wrapped up in a foil packet and cooked directly on hot coals that you took hours to get "just right".  We haven't been camping in a couple of years but that doesn't mean I can't have my favorite campsite meal at home. 

4-6 oz. ground beef per serving

Carrots, sliced in chunks or use baby carrots

Onions, sliced

Potatoes, chunked

Foil

Cooking spray

Lay piece of foil on flat surface, spray with cooking spray, place ground beef patty on foil, season with salt and pepper. Top with onions, carrots and potatoes. Wrap tightly and lay directly on hot coals with the meat on top so the juices will drip down as it cooks.  My dad used to have an old army shovel that he would use to flip these, he lost that in the tornado:(. Anyway, cook about 40 minutes, flipping once. 

I cooked this on the gas grill about 35-40 minutes, flipping once. I have also baked these in the oven and they turned out great. 

Mmm, mmm, mmm..top with ketchup and enjoy!

Whiskey Mustard Pork Chops - Maple Mustard Salmon

I'm a big fan of mustard.  Anyone else?  Not just regular old yellow mustard, I like using coarse ground or stone ground mustard.  It's a good, low/no calorie coating for all kinds of meat.  Here are a couple of recipes I've tried recently that use that tangy condiment.

I promised I would share some of the things I've been grilling.  Up first, Whiskey Mustard Pork chops with apples, sweet potato and green beans.  For the glaze you just mix 2 Tablespoons stone ground mustard, 1/4 cup whiskey, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 t. Vanilla until sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper, baste with sauce, grill until cooked through basting while grilling. Reserve 3 T. Sauce to toss a sliced apple and grill along side the chops. 

The green beans were cooked in a foil pack on the grill...take fresh green beans, drizzle with salt and pepper and wrap tightly in foil, then just throw it on the grill.  I'm guessing it takes about 20 minutes or so, flipping once.  I also wrap my sweet potatoes in foil and cook those on the grill, I usually just squeeze to test for doneness. 

Earlier in the summer I made Maple Mustard Salmon and also grilled up some shrimp.  On the side, I grilled up some green beans in a foil packet and also had some brown rice. 

Simple Summer Salads

When the days are long and hot, the last thing you want to do is stand in a hot kitchen making dinner.  I was at the farmer's market the other day and this guy had yellow zucchini.  I had never seen it before and the man said it was good to eat raw so I thought I would try it.  I decided on Grilled Shrimp Salad.  There is no recipe for this, I just thawed some raw shrimp, peeled and deveined it, drizzled with salt and pepper and grilled it in a grill basket until done.  For the salad I had romaine, spinach, yellow zucchini, red onion and carrots.  So light and refreshing.

The next salad isn't a no cook but it's a no brainer!  Taco salad...romaine, black beans, corn, chopped red pepper, lean ground beef, crushed tortilla chips and salsa.  YUM!

This next one is a new one I tried and it will be a regular.  I made Barbeque Chicken Quinoa Salad using leftover rotisserie chicken.  In the original recipe you just eat it plain but I put topped it on some chopped romaine and made a real main dish salad out of it. 

Hope you enjoy these ideas and, the rest of your summer!

Burrito Bake

Happy Father's Day everyone!  Today Chris and I met both our dads in Enid for lunch. We got home fairly early and Chris started working in the yard. I guess I should start out by saying the other day Chris and I bought this huge brisket at our local store and to fit it in the freezer I had to take some stuff out!  There was this plastic container of cooked ground beef and I had put it in the fridge to thaw. Anyway, back to my dinner. About 6:15  I started wondering what I could fix using the cooked ground beef. My first thought was tacos but that's what we had for lunch so that was a no. I got my iPad out and flipped through the recipes on Pinterest that I had pinned and I found this recipe for burrito bake. A weight watcher member had posted it so I knew it was going to be lower in points than it sounds. Here are the ingredients:

1 lbs 93% lean ground beef, cooked

1 package taco seasoning mix

1 cup reduced fat bisquick

1/4 cup water

1 can fat free refried beans

1 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese, shredded

1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

I mixed the beef, taco seasoning and a little but of water together and microwaved for 3 minutes or until hot. Drain excess liquid. Mix bisquick, 1/4 cup water (little more if looks dry) and can of refried beans. You read that right...mix beans with the bisquick. (Who thinks of this stuff?). Spread the bean mixture on bottom of 9x13 sprayed with cooking spray. Top with beef, then cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until browned. 

           

Chris really liked it, he went back for seconds!  I topped this with spinach since I didn't have any lettuce, 1 tablespoon light sour cream 1 PP, and 1/4 avocado (2PP). 

8 PP for 6 servings or 6 PP for 8 servings

Breaded Tilapia on the Grill

I know, I know. I said I would do better at posting but my computer is so slow, it's a pain to start it up, load the pictures, write the blog, yada, yada, yada. I now have the ability to load pics strait from my iPad, which makes it a lot easier. 

Tonight, I decided to try to make breaded fish on the grill. What!?!  Yes, you heard right. I was wanting to use up some breadcrumb/parm cheese mixture I had in the fridge but I didn't want to use the oven. It got hot today!  Anyway, my mixture was mostly breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dill weed. Just eyeball it!  Then I patted my thawed tilapia with a paper towel, drizzled some canola oil then pressed the crumb mixture on both top and bottom. Next, I placed the fillets on a pizza pan specially made for the grill (sprayed with cooking spray) and sprayed the top of fish with addition cooking spray. I then placed the entire pan on the gas grill and closed the lid. Well, I MAY have had the burners on a little high so the cooked really quickly (and burned a little around the edge, lol) but were just fine to eat. I served these with my favorite foil veggies (today's selection was green beans, carrots and cauliflower). These can not be simpler. Take a large piece of heavy duty foil, spray with cooking spray, dump your veggies, drizzle with canola oil and seasonings of your choice. Tightly seal and throw on the grill. They usually take 20 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your vegetables. TIP:  leave the cauliflower in pretty large pieces or they will turn into mush. I also threw. Sweet potato wrapped in foil on the grill, you can tell that is ready when you press it and its soft, lol!

                                                   

I usually count 1 PP for the veggies, tilapia is very low in PP, 2 PP for 4 ounces. I counted 2 PP per fillet for the breeding mixture. Sweet potatoes are 4 PP for a whole large one, I just had a half of one, my whole plate here is just 11PP. That's a bargain!

On another note, on our way back from vacation yesterday we stopped at a store in Stillwater and found the biggest jalapeños I have ever seen. Chris said "what are we going to do with those"? And I said "I don't know, but if you find jalapeños that big you gotta get 'em"!

So, anyway, I decided since I had the grill on I would char up those jalapeños. I plan on using them all week in different recipes.  I'll share those later. 

After charring, I placed them in a bowl and covered with plastic wrap. When they are cool enough to touch, I used a technique that kept me from having to touch the peppers too much. I used the tongs and cut the top off, cut down the middle length wise, spread it open and used a spoon to scrape out the seeds, flipped it over and scraped most of the charred skin off. Then I just diced them up and put in a container for the fridge to use later this week. I'm not sure what I'm going to make but probably a jalapeño stuffed burger for Chris will be on the menu:)

                                                

                                

Chicken, sandwiches & stroganoff

Everybody loves chicken strips, right?  What's not to like?  Crispy, crunchy, juicy chicken fried to golden brown and dipped in ranch dressing.  Mmm, Mmm, Mmm!  This recipe is all the above EXCEPT they're not fried.  You heard me.  Ranch Chicken Strips were very easy to make and hit all the right spots when you are craving crunchy chicken.  I halved the recipe so I had 4 servings and according to the recipe builder they come out to 8 PP per serving.

I just baked up some frozen onion rings to go with this.  I know, not very healthy but it sure hit the spot!

How 'bout making tonight "sandwich night"? These sandwiches are fast & easy and can also be made ahead of time and re-heated or frozen for dinner another day.  .  I topped these Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes  with part-skim mozzarella cheese instead of making the cheese sauce.  Using a whole wheat bun, my sandwich came in at 8 PP.  I only used 1 teaspoon canola oil instead of 1 tablespoon and I use 93% lean ground beef in all my recipesI served this with my favorite Baked Ruffles and pickle spears. 

Skillet Beef Stroganoff is what's up next.  You will not believe the amount of food you get for one serving!  This recipe serves four, I figured the points including 6 oz. of whole wheat egg noodles, at 12 PP per serving.  I definately think you could get 6 smaller servings and be completely satisfied with the portion. I served this up with mini corn cobs (2PP).  Yummo!