Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork (or Chicken)

I found this recipe on www.kraftrecipes.com.  They have a lot of pretty simple recipes.  Most are quick as well.  The website has several features that include special dietary recipes, and will even make a grocery list for you.

I usually do not post a recipe until I have tried it, so this is a first for me.  I will be making it tomorrow night and will post on FB how it turned out.  IF, for some reason, it is a major flop I will post on my blog what went wrong and what to do instead, but I doubt that will happen.

This will be a great recipe for those chinese cravings.  I ALWAYS have chinese cravings, but most food from a chinese restraunt is so bad for you, even though it tastes oh soooo good! So try this on for size and see if it helps!

1-1/2  lb. boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
3/4 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, drained
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked

PLACE meat in slow cooker; top with onions.
ADD broth and barbecue sauce; cover with lid. Cook on LOW 6 to 7 hours (or on HIGH 4 hours).
STIR in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, on LOW 30 min. or until rice is tender.

This recipe couldn't get any more simple. I cooked my own rice, used reduced sodium chicken broth, and used chicken instead of pork.

Weigh in After the Holidays

I had a doctors appointment yesterday and got weighed. I didn't lose anything, but I maintained my weight, which is ok with me.  It is EXTREMELY hard NOT to gain weight over the holidays. The average American gains 7-12 pounds during the holiday season.  I still ate the yummy foods, but I did it in moderation.  Very proud of myself!  I determined to move my weight loss ticker (in the left top corner of the blog).  It hasn't gone up, but it hasn't gone down in awhile either.
They also reduced my blood pressure medicine by 50%! This is the first medicine that they have ever reduced for me! It really makes me excited to see myself going in the right direction to get off of my meds and stuff.  I did not get measured yet this month and probably wont until February.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (NO MUSHROOMS!)

*I couldn't get a good picture of what I actually cooked so I pulled one from google images.

This is another great slow cooker recipe.  Its a 2 part recipe, but you can take 8 hours to do the first part if you need to, so its still a good one for doing while not home.  I had come to REALLY dislike beef stroganoff.  Anyone who was at the farm in Texas with me will know exactly why.  It was served to us a few times a week and was NOT very good.  Most like was the hamburger helper version....yuck!  I don't like mushrooms so I left those out, but it turns out nice and creamy!

2

lb.  beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

10

oz.  fresh mushrooms, halved

1

 onion, chopped

1

clove  garlic, minced

1

cup  beef broth

2

tsp.  paprika

1

tsp.  salt

1

cup  sour cream

2

Tbsp.  flour

1

Tbsp.  dijon mustard

1

pkg.  (16 oz.) egg noodles, uncooked

2

Tbsp.  chopped fresh parsley

PLACE meat, mushrooms, onions and garlic in slow cooker. Add broth, paprika and salt. Cover with lid. Cook on LOW 7 to 8 hours (or on HIGH 4-5 hours).

MIX sour cream, flour and mustard. Stir into ingredients in slow cooker until well blended. Cook, covered, on LOW 15 min. Meanwhile, cook noodles as directed on package.

DRAIN noodles; place in large serving bowl. Add meat mixture; mix lightly. Sprinkle with parsley.

ENJOY!

Taco Ring (Pampered Chef Recipe)

This turned out so yummy! I was really worried that putting it together would be difficult, but the hardest part was filling it with the meat, and even that wasn't actually that hard.  This is perfect for parties and other functions.  You can prepare it, stick it in the fridge, and bake it once people start to arrive so its nice an hot once you start eating.  Only takes 20 minutes to bake! Here's a couple of step by step pictures as well to help you along. There is also a cheeseburger version that I will be trying soon.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef             1 pkg. taco seasoning                             1 cup shred. cheese

2 cans crescent rolls        2 Tbsp. water

Garnish:

green bell pepper             salsa                    lettuce                 tomato

chopped onion                olives                   sour cream

*I left out the olives and then forgot the tomatoes so you wont see those in the picture...lol

• Preheat oven to 375.  Brown ground beef and drain grease.  Stir in taco seasoning, water and cheese.
• Unroll crescent rolls and separate. Arrange triangles in a circle on a round baking pan (covered with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray) with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward the outside. There should be about a 5 inch diameter in the center.

• 
  
• Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest ends of dough at center of ring. Bring points in and over and tuck underneath the wide end.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
• You can garnish with bell pepper, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, olives, etc.

* Instead of using shredded cheese, I used sliced cheese.  I laid one layer of cheese down BEFORE the beef mixture, and then another one on on top of the mixture, then folded the dough over.

**The bell pepper salsa cup is very easy to make. Just cut off the top, the smallest amount you can.  Scoop out the middle.  Cut the sides into 1/2 in triangles to make the gagged pattern.  Fill with salsa, and put in the center.  Wait to put garnish and salsa cup in the middle until right before serving so it doesn't get warm.

What Are You Gonna Gain?

As I have said before, I do not like New Year's Resolutions.  People rarely actually keep resolutions, but I believe we should be making year round healthy goals and decisions for ourselves.  

Personally I have been struggling lately.  I am struggling with going to the gym, I think its been a week now.  I am constantly hungry right now, but spite that I did very well over the holidays!  I am also in the middle of making some new and healthy goals for myself.  When things don't seem to be going as they should, or working for you like they should, that's when its time to re-examine your goals.  See where the problem actually is, then tweak it! Its time for me to re-evaluate myself and my goals.

The number one resolution people make is to lose weight. It may be 10 pounds or it may be 100 pounds.  A lot of times we get so caught up on what we need to lose, that we don't look at what we will GAIN!  There is so much to gain from weight loss.  Better health of course, but you gain pride in yourself, self-worth, energy, optimism, self-confidence, and many more.  It will help us in every relationship, from our spouse to our co-workers.  There is also abilities we will gain.  Things we couldn't do before.  Jogging down the road, riding a horse, getting on that roller coaster, these are all personal abilities I want to gain.

If counting down the pounds and seeing how much you have to lose is not working for you, maybe you should try counting the things you want to gain and WILL gain!  Here's hoping there are wonderful things to come for us all in 2013! Happy New Year!

Eggs Benedict Casserole - Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope the next couple of days will be a true enjoyment to you and your family! Remember that Christ is the TRUE Reason for the Season.  Surround yourself and your family with the things of the Lord, and forget about all the materialistic things of Christmas.  The holidays will become less stressful and more enjoyable for all. :)

I was so excited when I found this recipe!  My husband does not like eggs benedict simply because of the hollindaise sauce, and since it gets drizzled over top, he will eat this without the sauce.  So if your family doesn't like the sauce, they can still have the casserole!  It doesn't take long to put together, but it has to soak overnight, so make sure you give yourself the time needed.  

• 2 cups chopped canadian bacon (I used left over slow cooked brown sugar ham)
• 6 English muffins, split and cut into 1-inch pieces 
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1 teaspoon onion powder (I used minced garlic)
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• Pepper to taste (no salt needed, the Canadian bacon is salty enough)
• I also added chopped peppers and onions even though it didn't call for it, but I add them to everything...lol

1. Grease 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. Place half of the Canadian bacon in bottom of baking dish.
3. Top with English muffins and remaining bacon.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and onion powder.
5. Pour egg mixture over the top of English muffins and Canadian bacon.
6. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. Remove dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
9. Sprinkle paprika over the casserole.
10. Cover and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
11. Serve warm with Hollandaise sauce (you can make your own, but we’ve found the Knorr brand packaged Hollandaise is just as good – not to mention a whole lot easier to manage!) – we suggest offering the sauce in a small pitcher so guests can pour as much as they wish onto the casserole (plus, it keeps the dish from getting soggy when bringing it to the table).

Last but not least, remember that you don't have to pig out during the holidays and hate yourself at New Years.  Eat small portions, and still enjoy yourself!  Its do-able...it really is!  Hoping you all have a very Merry Christmas!

NOT Waiting For The New Year! (Fitness Challenge December 2012)

Last month I was able to hit my latest goal of being able to be weighed on the scale at the gym.  It took me MONTHS to get there, bouncing up and down in a 10 pound area.  That shouldn't have happened. Yes, there were stresses in my life, sickness and other things, but the more excuses I come up with the farther from my other goals I get.
A lot of people say, "Ill just make it through the holidays, and start new after January 1st".  That's not the attitude to have.  That's giving ourselves permission to overeat on the holidays, and then we have an extra 10 pounds to get rid of.  And if we all kept our new years resolution, we wouldn't have to RE-make it EVERY YEAR!  I am NOT waiting for New Years!  It is the beginning of the month, and I am making it count.  Excluding Sundays and holidays, I have 22 chances to workout at Curves this month.  I am determined to make it to at least 18 of those.  I will go on at least 20 walks this month, and I will leave the last 2 bites of every meal on my plate.  There are other small things I plan on doing, but I need to get back to where I was. There was a point last year where it was a daily routine and it didn't matter what was going on, a workout and walk were just as important to me as anything else in my day and that's gonna happen again!
It will take determination, motivation, and support from all of you!  I can say I have a huge support system in place and thank God for those who push me! Thank you!  I will update how I am doing half way through the month!