Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Leftover pork BBQ

Usually a day or two after we have our pork tenderloin we take the leftovers (though usually isn't very much left) and make some barbecue pork. It is so easy and quick. But we like to have it with tortillas, which makes up for the quickness and easiness of the pork. :)
All you do is stick the remaining pork in the crockpot and add a little GF BBQ sauce, like Sweet Baby Ray's Original, or most Kraft BBQ sauce and let it cook for a few hours. The longer it cooks on low, the more tender, but an hour on high is sufficient if you don't have much time (as long as it is leftovers and already has been cooked). I threw in a cup or two of cooked rice to help it go a little farther, since we didn't have much pork left, then served it on tortillas.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Pork tenderloin

One of our favorite meals around here is pork loin. With all the spices, it starts to smell real good, real quick. And it tastes as good as it smells.

  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 pound lean pork tenderloin

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. (I like to put down aluminum foil, then spray on the cooking spray for easier clean up.) Combine thyme, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl; set aside. Rub oil all over pork. Sprinkle thyme mixture all over pork and transfer to prepared pan.

Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of pork reads 150ºF, about 30 minutes (that's what the original recipe said, but I think it almost always takes closer to an hour for me). Let stand 10 minutes before slicing crosswise into thin (about 1/2-inch thick) slices.
We usually eat this with potatoes (mashed or baked) and some veggies.

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Bread fail

Last week marks the 1 year anniversary of Jacob being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I remember well my first attempts at making gluten-free bread. Many of them fell in or were just flat and dense. It took a little while and some experimenting with various mixes and recipes before I settled upon the bread I make most of the time.
During the months of July and August I experience about 4 or 5 different bread failures. The first one I noticed was so HUGE when it came out of the oven, and I got all excited: Wow a real-sized loaf!
Then it collapsed. Of course. It had over-risen. All of my subsequent failures were similar. After a couple times I figured it must be all the extra humidity in the air from monsoon season that was making the bread rise too quickly. I tried adjusting the moisture in the recipe and the time I let it rise, but nothing worked, and I finally just gave up until monsoon season is over in the next couple of weeks.
Maybe next year I'll stock up and have a baking frenzy in June so I can have enough bread frozen to last us through monsoon season. I don't know how people in more humid climates manage GF bread. Another reason to be thankful for our "dry heat" here in Arizona. :)
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GF on a Shoestring (and Fried Rice)

I recently purchased a great cookbook: Gluten-free on a Shoestring. She also has a blog. I've only tried a few recipes, but so far I LOVE them all.

Last week I was on a baking kick and actually baked 2 things. In one day. I know. Crazy. My 10-month-old was only holding on to my legs crying for 20 minutes or so, since I mostly planned around her nap. :) 

The first tasty treat was this homemade apple pie-type pastry. Soooo good. And there was extra filling left over, which we all really enjoyed alone, too.
 
The other was pretzels. They were pretty good warm out of the oven, but I messed up on the directions for letting it rise, and going back and trying to do it later didn't quite work out, so I'll try these again soon. They ended up a bit dense and hard once they cooled off, but I am pretty sure following the directions next time will fix that.
 
One last TASTY recipe I really enjoyed was the Lemon Chicken. Since these recipes aren't mine and are copyrighted, I probably shouldn't share them, but I can share how I made some tasty fried rice to go with the lemon chicken. I may try this in the future with orange juice and orange zest, and see if I can somewhat replicate good ol' Panda Express' Orange Chicken.
 
The fried rice is very easy. First, cook some scrambled eggs (1-3 depending on your taste and how much rice you're using), and when the eggs are just starting to solidify, add about a cup of already cooked rice. Once the eggs are fully cooked add another cup or two of cooked rice and some mixed veggies. I just had frozen corn and peas, so that's all I threw in, and it worked great. Stir occasionally until the veggies are cooked/warm, add a splash or two of soy sauce (La Choy is gluten-free), and enjoy! This is so quick and easy. You can leave out the eggs if you want, but they're a nice extra splash of protein.
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Monday, August 22, 2011

Quick and easy black bean dip

I've been on vacation, then recovering from vacation, and now I'm back. At least for one post. I have lots of pictures of food waiting to be posted, so we'll see when I get around to that.
I thought I'd share this quick and easy and DELICIOUS dip.
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
salsa
pepper jack cheese

Blend black beans and salsa in a food processor or blender, adding salsa a little at a time until you get the consistency you want. Pour into a microwave safe bowl, grate some pepper jack cheese into the bowl (or monterrey jack if pepper jack is too spicy for you, or leave the cheese out completely if you prefer), then microwave for 30 seconds-1 minute. Stir, and enjoy with some tortilla chips. It takes all of 3 minutes to whip this deliciousness up. Yum!

If you want to check out other quick and easy meals/snacks, check them out here!