Italian Herb Pork Tenderloin

Um, hello?  Remember me? I hope y'all are still with me.

Whew!  I worked this past week.  I mean, worked! 10 straight days.  My poor house is suffering. Tired Mama= no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry and no fun!  Lucky for me, Maintenance Man does what he can to help.  But, it's not the same.

I knew I'd have tomorrow off, so I wanted to surprise the family with a good meal.

Italian Herb Pork Tenderloin

adapted from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

 

 

 

Ingredients

1 (3 to 3 1/2 pound) Pork Tenderloin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 Tablespoons dried Italian Seasonings

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Place fat-side up in crock pot and poke holes in it with fork or skewer.  Brush evenly with olive oil. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Rub over entire surface of loin.    Cook on low for 7-9 hours; or high for 3-5 hours.  Internal temperature needs to be 160˚ in the thickest part of loin.  

Such an easy recipe, but the flavors of the herbs really come through.  I served this with green beans and oven roasted Ranch potatoes (more on that tomorrow). 

 

Crock Pot Ribs

I have been pretty lonely this week.  It's amazing how quiet {and clean} a house can become when all the other people are gone.  Oh, and when you're not forced to watch Nick, Nick Jr or Disney all day...there is absolutely nothing on TV either.

le sigh

The boys are adjusting well to school.  They even rode the bus home yesterday! {a milestone quickly overturned, then stepped on}  They decided this morning, they did not want to ride the bus anymore.

So, not only am I trekking to 2 different schools in the morning for drop-off, I'm adventuring to both schools for pick-up as well.  Drop off goes without a hitch, for the most part.  Pick-up in another story.  The middle school line is so confusing. Okay, maybe it's only confusing to me. I'm hoping to make it through this afternoon without a hitch.  I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Wow!  I almost forgot the most important milestone of the week!  Riley walked into the school alone.  WAH!  He let the 'helper' open the door, he got out and Mama drove off.  Alone.  Without him. He walked in to the school. Alone. Without Mama. I will not cry. I will not cry.

Okay, enough of that! On to the recipe of the day.  I had some ribs in the freezer and I wanted to have them in the crock pot.  I have made ribs in the crock pot before and we loved them, so why not try again.

Crock Pot Ribs

Ingredients:

5# Country Style Pork Ribs

1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon season-all
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
brown sugar
1 bottle barbecue sauce (I used Kraft Original)
onion, diced

Directions:

Mix the seasonings together and place in gallon baggie. Place ribs in bag, one at a time, and shake.   

Place ribs in crock pot

Cover with barbecue sauce and onion

Sprinkle brown sugar over the top until coated

Cook low and slow for about 7 hours

I know, I know, I will get slammed by all the barbecue aficionados out there for shaking my ribs and not rubbing them.  But, y'all should know by now, I'm a bit of a rebel. 

It turned my hungry bunch into a very happy family.  Even hubby, and I quote: "You have outdone yourself this time".  

My head has just now returned to original size.

Sharing with these wonderful parties: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Full Plate Thursday,Marvelous Mondays,This Week's Cravings,

Dr Pepper Pulled Pork (take two)

I'm not one to let sleeping dogs (or babies) lie.  So, ever since I made the Spicy Shredded Pork that Maintenance Man liked, but said they were too hot, I've been wanting to try again.

Our local store had pork products on sale, so I bought a pork tenderloin and got another one for 1¢.

Enter...my crock pot.  Here's what you'll need:

4-6 pound Pork Tenderloin

Sea salt and pepper to taste

onion, quartered

ground mustard

garlic powder

brown sugar

apple cider vinegar
Dr Pepper (I've been told you can use any soda, but I lurve DP!)
barbecue sauce

Quarter you onion and place in the bottom of your crock-pot.  Rub the tenderloin with the salt and pepper and place on top of onion.  Pour the Dr. Pepper over the pork.  Mix together the ground mustard, garlic powder, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. Mix in with the Dr Pepper in the pot.
Cook on low for 2-3 hours.  Flip the loin.  Cook for another 2-3 hours.
Take the pork out of the pot and place on a cutting board. Use 2 forks to shred the pork.
Place the it back into the pot and pour the barbecue sauce over it and mix well.
Cook for an additional hour.
Serve on warm buns and top with cheese.

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

Ingredients

4-6 lb pork tenderloin

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

sea salt and pepper to taste

medium size onion, quartered

1 can Dr. Pepper

1 bottle of barbecue sauce

Directions

Place quartered onion in the bottom of the crock pot.  Rub salt and pepper over tenderloin and place on top of onions.  Pour 1 can of Dr Pepper over the pork.
Mix the mustard, brown sugar, garlic powder and apple cider vinegar together and mix with Dr. Pepper in the pot.
Cook on low for 2-3 hours and flip the loin.
Cook for 2-3 hours more.  Take the tenderloin out and place on a chopping block.  Using 2 forks, shred the pork.  Place it back into the pot and cover with barbecue sauce.  Mix well.  Cook for 1 hour more.
Serve on warm buns and top with cheese.

This was the one!  Maintenance Man loved it!  He told me 'don't change a thing; keep it just the way it is'  Perfect.  {I'm secretly trying to figure a way to keep the chipotle flavor but leave out the heat.}

Shared with All My Bloggy Friends #5, Show Me What You Got #24, Weekend Potluck #27, Terrific Tuesday #25, Church Supper #48, Freedom Friday #11, Made Monday #30, Scrumptious Sunday #21, Whimsy Wednesdays #21, Show and Share #50, Uncommonly Yours #38, Blog Stalking Thursday #51, Sunday Round-Up #19, Melt In Your Mouth Monday

Grilled Baby Back Ribs

Well, I have to admit that we have already strayed from the menu.

It was 106˚ degrees in Texas yesterday.

Well, that, my friends, is hot.

In my opinion, too hot to cook.

So, I opted to make a frozen pizza instead of Biscuit Taco Bake.  (I might add, that my pizza wasn't too frozen from being in the refrigerator freezer outside). It's just that dang hot!

We did have a wonderful weekend.  Not as hot, comparatively speaking.

So, I decided to grill.  No, I decided to have my husband grill.  Good little Maintenance Man.

Grilled Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cumin

2 tablespoons paprika

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cumin, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Rub both sides of the ribs with the mixture. 

Like Paula Deen says "don't be afraid to rub your meat, y'all". 

Refrigerate overnight.

Heat grill to med-hot.

Place ribs on grill, making sure to keep the heat on one side and the meat on the other side.  This keeps the meat from cooking too quickly and drying out. 

My husband turns his about every 20-30 minutes, cooking for about 3 hours, until no longer pink. 

Now, we're from Texas, y'all, so we do NOT put barbecue sauce on our ribs.   But, this is where you could brush with barbecue sauce (bottled or home made) for the last 10 minutes of grilling. 

The measurements listed above is enough rub for 3 Spare Ribs, so I had way too much rub left over.

I put the leftovers in an airtight container for later use.

I saw something on Pinterest the other day. (I know you're surprised at my being on that site).  Cute litte glass jars filled with barbecue rub, wrapped with a cute litte ribbon and sealed with a cute little note. How CUTE!!

Oh..if you're on my Christmas list, disregard that last paragraph.

:o) 

Freedom Friday #8, Patriotic Potluck Weekend #24, Church Supper #45, TWC #94

Spicy Shredded Pork- PW Style

I have to preface this whole post by saying that I knew better.  Anything with the word 'spicy' in the title isn't for my husband.  

I even left out the word 'spicy' when he asked me 'what's for dinner?'  

"Oh honey, we're having shredded pork.  Doesn't that sound yummy?"

But, when it came down to it; the recipe was way too spicy for my Maintenance Man and the 5 year old.  

Kolby is 9 and had no problem with it.  He just kept drinking his V8 Fusion and adding more cheese. :)  My Maintenance Man must have a baby mouth.

How can one get through life; IN TEXAS, and not eat hot stuff?  

He did say that the chipotle added wonderful flavor; it was just too hot.  I know he liked it because he asked me to make a to-go plate so he could take it to a couple of guys at work.  Now, that's saying something. 

So, here goes: 

I followed Ree's recipe.  I call her Ree because we're tight like that. 

She has absolutely NO idea who I am.  So, I wonder, with that being said, if I should call her Mrs. Drummond?  Or perhaps HRH Pioneer Woman?  hmmmm.  

But, I digress.   

My changes were: 

My pork roast was only 3 pounds, I only used about 1/4 of a can of chipotles, and I used 3 TBS of brown sugar.  

As you can see, I served ours on buns, with Colby Jack cheese.  

These were soooo good!  I cannot wait to make them again.  I need to find a new way though; without the chipotle.  

Any suggestions?  How to keep the flavor, but take the 'hot' out?  

I'm scared about tonight's dish, too. I already have Salsa Lime Chicken in the crock pot.  

AHHH! I'll let ya know, Monday how that turned out.  

See y'all then.  Have a safe weekend!