Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) boneless pork tenderloin (or regular pork loin)

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup water

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:

Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

 

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I found this recipe on Pinterest & am so happy with how it turned out!  I made a side of mashed potatoes & the extra glaze was super tasty as a gravy!  My oldest was out to dinner with his grandparents, so I didn't get to see his reaction to the meal.  I'm guessing he would've enjoyed it...but I'll have to make it again sometime to know for sure!  :)  Do yourself a favor & make this soon!

Lemon Baked Cod

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lb cod fish fillet
• 1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• paprika

Directions:

1. If fish fillets are large, cut into serving pieces.
2. Mix butter and lemon juice.
3. In another bowl, mix flour, salt and white pepper.
4. Dip fish into butter mixture; coat fish with flour mixture.
5. Place fish in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches.
6. Pour remaining butter mixture over fish; sprinkle with paprika.
7. Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven until fish flakes easily with fork, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon slices if desired.

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I tried something new!  I cooked fish.  And we all liked it.  The boys liked dipping it in ketchup, of course.  But my husband & I enjoyed it served over rice, with oven fries on the side.  I'd definitely make this again.

Oven Fries

Ingredients

• 3 large baking potatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Cut each potato lengthwise into eight wedges. In a large bowl, combine the oil, salt, paprika and pepper; add potato wedges and toss to coat.
2. Place in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes. Turn potatoes; bake 10 minutes longer or until golden brown.
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   These were a big hit with me & my husband.  The kids, not so much.  They prefer "french" fries to oven fries.  But in our grown-up opinions, they were perfect! 

Home Canned Applesauce

I consulted this website to learn the steps for preparing & canning homemade applesauce.  I have no idea how many pounds of apples I started with, but I ended up with 5 pints of applesauce.  I kept it simple, with just a quarter cup of brown sugar (the apples were a bit too tart for me) & a pinch of salt.  The resulting applesauce was very tasty & my oldest gobbled it up, asking for seconds & thirds.  :)  I used my immersion blender to puree the cooked apples & it worked great.  I know there were a few chunks throughout, but that didn't bother me.  Overall, a great first attempt at canning homemade applesauce!

Zucchini Spice Coffee Cake

Extra zucchini means creative desserts.  Plus I was in the mood for tea & sweets, so this hit the spot on a blustery day.

 

COFFEE CAKE:

1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 c. zucchini, grated
1/2 c. soft butter
1/4 c. dairy sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla (I actually used maple extract, because I was out of vanilla & it tasted great!)
2 eggs

 

TOPPING:

3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 inch pan. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level off.In large bowl, combine all coffee cake ingredients at low speed until moistened; then, beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Pour into prepared pan.
In small bowl, combine all topping ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over batter. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or cooled.

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Definitely a hit with the whole family, though my 4 year old did refer to it as crumbly.  That's to be expected, perhaps.  I thought it tasted great!

Canned Heirloom Tomatoes

I used this recipe to can some of my abundance of tomatoes! Can't wait to use these in the middle of winter to make soups, stews, salsas & sauces! :)

Superior heirloom tomatoes

Forget pickles and jams on your first go-around. Home-canned tomatoes can’t be beat, are wildly versatile and are economical to boot. I promise you won’t regret the effort.

Ingredients
• 5 pounds heirloom tomatoes
• Lemon juice (from the jar is best)

Method

Make two, criss-cross slits in the bottom of each tomato. Loosen the skins of whole tomatoes by boiling in water for 45 seconds.

Immediately plunge the tomatoes into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Slide the skins off and cut out the cores using a sharp paring knife. Set aside in a large bowl.

Fill sterilized pint-sized jars with the skinned tomatoes, leaving a ½ inch of headspace from the top. Crush the tomatoes by pushing them down into the jars with your fingers as you go.

Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar. If you prefer, you may also add a single basil leaf at this point, although I prefer to keep mine plain so that the tomatoes can be used in virtually anything.

Wipe and cap the jars and heat-process in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes.

Makes about 8 pint jars.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

I followed this recipe & was pleasantly surprised at how tasty these were! I think the chocolate chips really make the brownies rich & delicious. I peeled the zucchini before shredding it to hide the green stuff a little better & it definitely worked. I don't think anyone would've noticed without me telling them. :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 11 baking pan with cooking spray, set aside.

2. In a stand mixer, combine sugar, canola oil, and flour, combine until mixture resembles wet sand. While mixing, on low, add cocoa, zucchini, vanilla extract, salt and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the brownies are set.

4. Cool on a wire rack. Cut brownies into squares and serve.