The Other White Meat...

As Emeril would say: PORK FAT RULES! Well, so does this pork loin. The glaze on this roast is delicious and everyone had seconds at the table! YUM!

• Pork loin- either 2 (1 lb) loins OR a 2 lb. roast cut in half
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 3 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme- lovin using those garden herbs!
  

How-To:

I used a 2.5 lb. pork loin roast and cut it in half to cook up faster.

• Place pork on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Combine the oil, salt and pepper; rub over pork.
• Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; brush it over pork. Bake 15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160°, basting occasionally with pan juices. Since my roast was bigger, it took about 15 minutes beyond the original 30 minutes. Just keep testing it until the thermometer reads 160 degrees.
  
• Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing to let the juices redistribute.

Serve with: I served this with fresh steamed broccoli and rice pilaf (box mix brand Far East)...it was a delicious meal!! Garnished with fresh thyme.
Oh, and the pan juices from the roast are awesome over the meat.

Chicken & Veggies

I tried to use up veggies we had on hand and the raw chicken breasts we had in the fridge before they went bad. Here is the result:

Ingredients--

• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips (I used 3 large skinless chicken breasts)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1-1/2 cups fresh cauliflowerets
• 1-1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 red or green sweet pepper, sliced up
  
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

How-to:

• Combine the cornstarch, broth and soy sauce until smooth; set aside.
• In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in 1 tablespoon oil until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

• Stir-fry the cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, red pepper and onion in remaining 1 tablespoon oil until crisp-tender. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flakes; cook 1 minute longer.

• Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken back into the pan. DONE! :) I served this over brown instant rice. It was very healthy and a great way to get your servings of veggies for the day.

Red Potatoes

Ok food entry #1...Is there a better side dish than potatoes? I love mashed, baked, fried, roasted...YUM! Well these are somewhat healthy and have lots of flavor. I chose to serve them with BBQ chicken on the grill. So, here is the recipe:
1. Start by scrubbing and cubing about 2-3 pounds of red potatoes. You can leave the skin on. You can use large or small red potatoes. I used about half a bag of large red potatoes.

2. Put them in a big pot of boiling water for just 5 minutes to par-boil them. Drain them right away but don't rinse.

3. Now for the seasonings:
Toss the potatoes in the same pot you cooked them in with 3 TBSP. olive oil. Side note: The oil I used was Olevano. You can buy it off QVC.com. It is imported from Italy and it is AMAZING!! Sprinkle with a little pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 4 cloves of smashed garlic. I used Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic seasoning, which is delicious, but you can use any garlic. Then I picked 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary from our garden and chopped it finely. You only want the "leaves" not the stem of the rosemary. Toss it all around (the lemon comes in after cooking!).

4. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the potatoes on the sheet. They should be in a single layer and not too crowded on the pan so they get crispy. Like this:5. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes. Half way through cooking, stir them around so they cook evenly.
6. As soon as they come out of the oven, cut a fresh lemon in half and squeeze half a lemon over the potatoes. I was dying to use this fresh lemon that my sister picked off her friend's lemon tree in San Diego. Lemon on potatoes = summer, fresh flavor!
Voila! Enjoy! (Garnished with fresh rosemary)

Summer Project

Let me say how glorious it was to wake up naturally at 8:30 AM, roll over, and sleep til 11. Now, I hope I don't sleep that late all summer, but it was nice.
Then I went for a run. And now I am watching Food Network. Hello lazy summer days!

I have a lot of projects to get done this summer, which will be good since I have 0 vacations planned. I was thinking of kind of turning this into a summer cooking blog to track what I try out this summer. I plan to cook a lot and never had a food blog...so maybe I will post what I make. It just might be fun! :)

Mysteries

1. Why did I agree to teach an inservice workshop on vocabulary to over 100 teachers on the first day of my "summer?"

2. Why are pretzels so addicting?

3. Why is lady gaga bald?

Party!!!!!!!!!

For the last month, I have been planning a surprise graduation party for Corey. My parents were fine with it being at their house and I immediately ordered some invitations. After that I had to start planning a party (after I got back from California) but this is the fun part. I really love planning events- the menu is of course my favorite part, and then my mom and I team up for the decor.

I tangled an intricate web of lies leading up to the event and Corey kept throwing me for curves that made it more and more challenging. The plan was that I was "staying in Lititz" for the weekend of the party - in reality I came home to my parents on Fri night but if he knew I was home he would have been around all weekend. Then Sunday my mom would go to church like normal and then offer to take Corey and Taylor (his niece) to Chuck E. Cheese. She would say that she had to go home and take a nap first and then go pick him up. She would then say "Oh I forgot my coupon at home" and send him running in the house for it. Fine.

Plans came to a halt when I called his friend Matt and told Matt to make plans with him Sat. night to keep him busy. He called Corey to do this and Corey said "Oh man I can't I am going to Lititz to surprise Beth." AHHH! So Matt called me and told me this and then I had to think of another lie- "Hey hun I am going to Hershey Park with Julie allll day Saturday." Haha. He bought it! He even asked how Hershey was when we talked Saturday night.

When he walked into my parents- WOW. I have NEVER seen him so confused/shocked in all my life. I am pretty sure he had to catch his breath! I was so grateful that a lot of my family members were able to come, as it meant a lot to Corey and me. Also lots of his family came (some invited, others uninvited but ...that's another story...for another time??)

Here are some pictures of the event:

These were the names of the food I came up with. It was too much fun to do!

The Appetizers!

Shirley TEMPLES! :) Fun stuff and yummy!

The cake!

PASS THE BAR- candy bar! Yummy sweets!

TEMPLE OWLS cookies- well, I tried to make them look like owls.

Corey with his 2 year old cousin, Nicholas. We were so happy to see him and can't wait to meet Nicholas' new brother, scheduled to arrive August 10!!

Well, I really don't have too many pictures of people since DURING the party I was running all around. But, I was able to take pictures of the food before it started.

We played an exciting game of volleyball at the end of the party --where I got terribly bruised but had fun. Can you believe after I threw him a party, he TRADED me so I was not on his team since he said I sucked at sports. :-0

All in all, it was a successful event and Corey said he LOVED the party. I hope to post more pictures on Facebook soon...after work is finished- Yes, I am STILL in school for another 4 days!!! INSANE. NO OTHER SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY IS STILL IN SESSION. Ha.

Current Likes

1. Bowls of sweet cherries! I don't even mind spitting out the pits! They were cheap at the store this week and taste amazing. I love fresh fruit in season.

2. Yoga. My work has been offering FREE power yoga after school 2 times a week. I missed 3 classes back in May, but have been going continuously now and LOVE it. I really notice a difference in my posture, strength, etc. This is the last week and I will miss it. Maybe one day I can pay for a class. On top of my other workout class (which happens to be the same day) I feel like Jell-O mush on Tue and Thu nights. My body usually hates me because I do NOTHING the other 5 days of the week. :(

3. The song "Beautiful Things" by Gungor. AMAZING. You Tube it. I listen to it on repeat. So soothing and inspiring!

4. Dresses to work. I have stopped being able to put together outfits for work, so I am now in full summer dress mode. A dress a day. Easy simple- just throw on jewelry and I am done.