Jack Daniel's Pork Tenderloin

Jack Daniel's???? Wha' you say?? Yes, that's right. Beautiful Spring weather calls for lots of grilling out! Ahh, I love it. We had two pork tenderloins that needed to be used, so decided to toss them on the grill. My best friend's Mom, Anita, sent me her "go-to" pork tenderloin marinade. I have had this before and loved it, so decided that's what we'd do. I let the pork marinade in the "sauce" overnight to let it soak up as many flavors as possible. Daniel put them on the grill and voila! Thank you, Anita...enjoy everyone. (You could put this marinade on just about anything)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Jack Daniel's
1 cup of pineapple juice (or one of the small cans that comes in a convenience pack of 6)
2 T. of brown sugar

*I served the tenderloin with fresh corn on the cob (yayyy glad this is back in season!), brown rice and a mixture of stir fried mushrooms and broccoli...perfection :)

St. Patty's Day Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I didn't have an Irish meal planned for dinner, yet I had to make something festive. With the ingredients on hand, I whipped up some vanilla cupcakes with green icing. Easy, quick, and festive! I planned on dying the vanilla batter green, but totally forgot to add the food coloring, oops! Instead, I added the coloring in the icing. Use this recipe if you are in need for quick & delicious cupcakes...add any color frosting and decorations...viola!

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk (I used skim milk)

Directions

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
-In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
-Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
-Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
-Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cupcakes are done when it springs back to the touch.

Makes 12 cupcakes

May the luck o'the Irish be with you!

Egg-in-a-Hole

Sometimes it's the simplest recipes that taste the best. You know those nights when you come home from work and think, "oh no...what am I going to make for dinner?" You are tired from waking up way before the crack of dawn (literally), working all day, fitting in a work out, working more, then wham...you need to make dinner for you and your family. phew. You need something QUICK to make as everyone is hungry, so whatever you're making needs to take 2.5 seconds from start to finish. What do days like this call for? EGG-IN-A-HOLE! Growing up, my Dad would make these and I have fond memories of them. I was never a huge egg eater when I was young, but somehow this satisfied my palate. I think it's even better now that I'm older...plus sometimes, breakfast is just good for dinner. This recipe is simple, yet so comforting, healthy, cheap and EASY. I used white/wheat bread that we had on hand tonight...would have been better with thicker bread, yet this still did the trick. I rarely buy anything but 100% whole wheat, but decided to change things up this week. To top it off, I used a farm-fresh egg...straight from the farm. Doesn't get much better than that, folks!

Ingredients:

1 slice pf your favorite kind of bread
1/2 Tablespoon butter
1 whole egg
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Instructions:

-With a biscuit cutter (or the rim of a glass or knife), press/cut a hole in the center of the slice of bread.
-Next, heat a skillet over medium-low heat and melt the butter in it. When the butter is all spread out, place the piece of bread in the skillet and crack the egg straight into the center of hole.
-Cook for at least 30 seconds or so before attempting to move the bread or things could get messy. Sprinkle the egg with salt and pepper to taste. After about a minute, flip it over with a spatula and salt and pepper the other side. (Don't be too nervous about flipping it over, it should hold just fine)
-Now move the whole piece of toast around the skillet, soaking up all of the glorious butter. Let it cook until the yolk feels, to the touch, still soft without feeling over-jiggly. Here’s the key: golden brown toast, white (not brown/burned) whites, soft unbroken yolk.
-Make sure and throw in the circle of bread that you cut out into the skillet. Push this around in the butter as well...yum!

Enjoy!

An egg-in-a-hole is also called other names such as: Toad Hole, Private Eyes, Bird's Egg Nest, etc. What do you call this?

Richmond is for (food) Lovers

My blog made the "Eating Richmond" website! Check it out! On this website many various blogs about eating are featured. If you just discovered my blog, I hope you enjoy it. I will try to post new recipes as often as possible. Thanks again for reading...please become a follower!

*Picture is of my husband and I celebrating our first anniversary (last year) and about to cut into out wedding cake! Holding up a "1" because we are going to take a picture of each anniversary with the number and put our pictures in frames on a wall. A great idea we got from family friends who have been married 40 years! It's great to see the changes throughout the years...

Leek, Mushroom, Sausage & Pesto Pizza

One of my best friends, Martha, came to Richmond Friday evening to stay with Daniel and I before we left together Saturday morning for Baltimore to celebrate Charlotte's bachelorette. Although we got back late Thursday night from skiing, and I had to turn back around and leave early Saturday morning for Baltimore, I knew I wanted to make a home cooked meal Friday evening for the three of us. What to make? Thanks to my sweet mother and father in law, I wanted to use the great cast iron skillet they gave me for Christmas. I have complied a few recipes that call for a cast iron skillet, and I finally tried one out for Friday's dinner. Man oh man, do I love it! After another 9 mile run I was craving pizza for our Friday night's dinner. Low and behold came this recipe. I have never cooked with Leeks before, yet they were delicious and I will def. do it again soon. I forgot to take a picture, so I took a picture of the magazine page in which I found the recipe. (Woman's Day) I made a few changes to the recipe so here is my version below:

Leek, Mushroom, Sausage & Pesto Pizza
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 small leek (white and green parts only), halved crosswise and lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 T. olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 lb. pizza dough (if you are near a Trader Joe's-get their whole wheat dough!)
4 T. Pesto
4 oz. Fresh Goat Cheese, crumbled
Low-fat Sausage (one packet, sliced)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 425. In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms, leeks, oil, 1/4 t. salt and 1/8 t. pepper.
2. Shape the pizza dough into a 12-inch round and place in the bottom and slightly up the sides of a large cast-iron skillet.
3. Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving a 1/4 inch border. Top with the vegetables, then the sausage, and sprinkle with the goat cheese. Bake until golden brown, 30-35 minutes.


For dessert...we had this cherry "cobbler" that I have now made a few times and is always a hit. I don't have a picture for you, but it is STUPID easy and so delicious.

In a crock pot add:

2 cans of low-sugar cherry pie filling
1 box of yellow cake mix
3/4 of a stick of butter
1 cup of walnuts

Pour both cans of pie filling into crock pot and spread out along the bottom. (In a separate bowl), melt the butter in a bowl and then pour it over the cake mix and mix it up. Pour the cake/butter mix over the pie filling and spread it out. Spread 1 cup of walnuts on top of cake mix. Cook for about 3 hours on low. Serve on top of ice cream or with low-fat whipped cream on top.

(side note- when you mix the butter and cake mix together, it's going to be lumpy and not at all completely mixed up)

I heart Spring!

Horray for 73 degree weather! Spring is my most favorite time of the year. I love to decorate for Spring/Easter almost as much as I love decorating for Christmas. I probably get this from my Mom as she is the same way. She collects bunny's, and I've begun to do the same. Thanks to Susie, Steve, Elise and my Mom whom helped with the purchase of a few of these fabulous decorations! On the branches in the dining room, the eggs say "Happy Easter" although it's hard to tell from this picture (love this, Elise!) I hope these pictures put you in the Spring mood.

Shrimp "fajitas"

It was a beautiful 65 degree day here in Richmond and after a lovely 8 mile run, I was craving something light, yet filling for dinner. I stumbled upon one of my friends blogs and last night she had posted a recipe that was just what I was looking for! I got fresh shrimp from a seafood market nearby, and it was so good. If you are wanting to go out to eat at a Mexican restaurant soon, don't do it...stay at home and make this! It is full of healthy ingredients, VERY little sodium (compared to eating out), the flavors are abundant, and it takes very little time to make. Enjoy!

Shrimp fajitas
Serves 4

1 med. red onion, sliced thin
1 large red pepper, sliced thin
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
1 1/2 T. chili powder
1 T. paprika
1 T. cumin
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lime
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, diced
plain, nonfat greek yogurt for garnish
1 can black beans, heated through on stove
Brown Rice

Preheat a grill pan over med-high heat. Spray with cooking spray then add peppers, onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes stirring often to prevent burning.

Meanwhile, combine chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add shrimp and toss to coat.

After peppers and onions are softened and browned, remove from pan and place on a platter. Add shrimp to pan. Cook for 1 - 1/2 minutes per side until opaque and pink. Add onions and peppers back to pan as well as the lime juice and cilantro. Mix well.

Pour mixture out onto same platter used for peppers and onions previously. To plate, place brown rice on plate, spoon black beans onto plate and cover with a good helping of the shrimp fajitas. Top with diced avocado, a dollop of greek yogurt, a fresh squeeze of lime juice and a little more cilantro.

...Off to watch "Eat, Pray, Love!" Have you seen the movie or read the book? I have read the book, and liked it...well it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. I hear the movie isn't very good, but I'm going to give it a try. Here's to hoping I don't fall asleep halfway through...that is wishful thinking for this lady who's body shuts down at 10 pm......