Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Beets, and Kale

It's been a while since I have posted any recipes or meals.  Mostly that is because dinner is now whatever I can make in between feedings, diaper changes, and load of laundry.  I have found that anything I can throw in the oven for a solid chunk of time is really helpful.  This whole dinner took 45 minutes, with most of that being cooking time.  In addition to being easy and fast, this dinner was super tasty and pretty healthy.

Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Goat cheese, Spinach and Cranberries

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
handful spinach
2 oz. goat cheese
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/4 c. balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

Directions:
Preheat over to 350.

Butterfly your pork tenderloin and pound until thin.  Sprinkle 2 oz. of goat cheese over the pork.  Layer spinach on top of cheese.  Sprinkle cranberries on last.

Roll up your pork and place seem side down in a baking dish.  Coat with salad dressing.

Bake 35 minutes or until cooked to satisfaction (I like my pork with a bit of pink).

Roasted Beets

Peel and slice your beets (3 beets is plenty for Seth and I).  Coat with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place in covered baking dish (cast iron works wonderfully).  Roast at 350 for 40 minutes.

Kale

Wash your kale well (it can be gritty).  Pull the steam out of each leaf and tear into bite sized pieced.  Get a pan and just a bit of olive oil  pretty hot.  Dump in a bit a kale, it should crackle and pop a little bit.  Turn it until it starts to wilt.  Add more kale.  Repeat until all your kale is cooked down.  I like mine on the less done side of thing (wilted, but not limp).  Toss your cooked kale with the juice of 1/2  a lemon and a sprinkle of coarse salt.  The cooking process generally takes about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

One Man's Trash...

Its no secret that I am perfectly willing to pick up things off the side of the road in hopes of restoring them in some fashion (I come by it naturally- my mom is the queen of finding roadside treasures).  So when I was out running a summer ago (yes more than a year ago) and I found this beauty, I had to go  back and get it...

Yes, thats right- an old school chair, plastic seat and all.  I placed this sweet little chair on the front porch with promises that I would make it pretty real soon.  And that didn't happen.  The chair ended up sitting there, unloved, for well over a year.  Whoops. 

But with the impending arrival of Seth's family for Thanksgiving, I finally found the motivation to make this lovely actually lovely.

 I started by taking the chair apart and sanding it well. 

I spray painted the frame oil rubbed bronze.  The light fixture on the porch is ORB, so I figured a darker frame would go better.

 I spray painted the sets green.

 And put it all back together...

And placed it back in its home on the porch.

Like most projects I tackle, this was insanely easy and fast.  It really is embarrassing that it took me so long to finally get this done, especially because it looks SO much better.  I think the chair needs a plant or something sitting on it.  Hopefully it wont take me more than a year to get on that...

Thanksgiving revisited

So Thanksgiving, right?  I know, I am a little behind.  Even though it was only a little over a week ago, its already been long forgotten in the rush that is the Christmas season.  But I'm not ready to let it go yet, plus these recipes would all be great for Christmas!

Before I go on much further, let me say I actually impressed myself.  The day was a bit nutty between making dinner, running the dogs back and forth to my moms house, feeding the baby, and enjoying time with my in-laws, but dinner was on the table by 4 and it was mighty tasty.

Lets start- you remember the plan?  I followed it to a T.

The Pork- OMG, the pork.  I skipped the pan sauce, but holy cannoli this was amazing!  Please, promise to make it for a gathering.  Its super simple and way tasty.

The Stuffing- also really good.  I meant to add bacon to the recipe, but forgot.  Seth commented that it was "very appley," which I take as a good thing.

The Carrots- if I could skip one recipe, this would be it.  They weren't bad. so much as they were just meh...

Mashed Taters- I wish I has paid attention cause my MIL knows her way around a tater...  Those suckers were good.  She tells me the secret is evaporated milk and lots of butter.

The Kale- MAKE THIS ONE NOW...  Do not wait for a special occasion, it is amazing!

Cranberry Sauce- generally, I just kinda make up my own recipe and it always turns out just fine.  This year, I decided to take the easy route and used a recipe.  It was excellent and it was so nice to use the crockpot instead of worrying about another pot on the stove.

Pecan Pie- I am not generally a pecan pie kinda girl, but this pie was pretty freakin good.  Give it a try.

Apple Pie- Much like the kale, I demand you make this pie.  I did tweak the recipe just a bit.  I just poured the sauce over the apples and then did a crumb topping.  It was pretty awesome.

That was my Thanksgiving- it was tasty and fairly easy to pull off.  How did everyone else fair?  Anybody started to think about Christmas dinner yet?