Soy and Cherry Cola Braised Pork Shoulder

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

I knew when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light that I would most likely love it and I did! It’s rich and tasty and the hit of crunchy tangy vegetables on top of the slow cooked pork is amazing! The vinegar in the topping cuts right through the fattiness that pork can sometimes have. My husband, a die hard BBQ fan and pork snob (that’s right I said it) really liked this sandwich. I’ve adapted the recipe slightly from Cooking lights version by substituting Cheerwine (a delicious cherry cola) for the soda the recipe called for. You could use any soda you please but the cherry taste went really well. Do yourself a favor and don’t skimp on the carrot, cucumber and red onion slaw. The sharp tang and crunch from the veggies makes the dish! Oh and to make things better it comes in under 500 calories, wohoo!

Soy and Cherry Cola Braised Pork Shoulder
Adapted from: Cooking Light/October 2011

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 3.5 lb bone in pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon peeled fresh ginger
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cherry cola
1/2 cup of hoisin sauce (click here for a recipe to make your own!)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup lower sodium soy sauce

Slaw
1 cucumber, sliced thinly
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
3/4 cup matchstick carrots (or carrots sliced thinly)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 300
2. Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat. Add oil to pan. Sprinkle pork evenly with salt. Add pork to pan, saute for 8 minutes turning to brown all sides. Remove pork. Add ginger and garlic, saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in cola and the next 3 ingredients (through soy sauce) bring to a boil. Return pork to pan, cover and bake at 300 for 1 hour and 50 minutes until tender, turning occasionally. Remove pork from pan and let stand for 10 minutes. Shred pork with two forks. Skim fat from cooking liquid.
3. Place pan over medium high heat. Bring cooking liquid to a boil. Cook 15 minutes or so until reduced to about 2 cups, stirring occasionally. Combine pork and 3/4 cup sauce in a bowl. Toss to coat.
4. While sauce is reducing, in a separate bowl combine cucumber, carrot, onion and rice wine vinegar and toss to combine. Set aside.
5. Top sandwich with slaw, a little vinegar from the bowl of slaw and additional sauce to taste. Devour promptly!

 

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Posted in 500 Calories or less, Pork Dishes | 5 Comments

Menu: 11/27-12/3

Posted on November 26, 2011 by

Can you even BELIEVE that we are days away from December? Wowie, this year is going by way too fast! Well holidays or not, we are still plugging along on our diet. My husband is only one pound away from losing thirty pounds! (whoop whoop)! Sure, we cheated our faces off on Thanksgiving but no worries we are back on track this week. 🙂

So here’s our menu for the week, I think it’s going to be a good one!

 

Sunday: Friendsgiving with some of my besties! Beef roast and all the fixings (because, seriously I can’t even LOOK at turkey right now). Except there will most definitely be pie, lots and lots of pie.

Monday: Double lemon chicken with tomato basil salsa and whole wheat pasta

Tuesday: Thai Green Coconut Curry Shrimp and brown rice

Wednesday: Lemon Thyme Chicken, roasted potatoes and salad

Thursday: Black bean and Corn Quesadillas with salsa verde and avocado sour cream

Friday: I’ll be working in the kitchen all day so most likely- leftovers

Saturday: Cupcake fundraiser during the day so I think I’ll be ready for a date night with my hubby

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Mini Bacon Meatballs

Posted on November 25, 2011 by

Thanksgiving opens the floodgates for Holiday parties it would seem. Every weekend until Christmas there is some event or party going on and what’s a party without appetizers? Which is why these little beauties caught my eye. Let me just tell you, bacon and meatballs are a match made in heaven! Even better, these little babies come out to 170 calories for 7 meatballs which make them part of a perfect meal idea for any time of the year too!

Remember these meatballs if you need a quick, crowd pleasing appetizer. You won’t be sorry!

Mini Bacon Meatballs

Yield: 28 mini meatballs

2 strips bacon, diced

1⁄4 cup diced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1⁄2 lb. ground beef sirloin

1⁄4 cup dry bread crumbs

2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1⁄2 tsp. paprika

1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt

1⁄2 tsp. black pepper

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a broiler pan with nonstick spray.

SautĂŠ bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until starting to crisp, about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. drippings from skillet.

SautĂŠ onion in same skillet in reserved drippings over medium heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic to skillet and cook, 1 minute.

Combine beef, bacon, onion mixture, bread crumbs, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in beaten egg.

Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs and place on prepared broiler pan. Bake meatballs until fully cooked, about 10 minutes.

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Posted in Appetizers, Beef Dishes | 1 Comment

Marinated London Broil with Blue Cheese Sauce

Posted on November 21, 2011 by

If you’ve been a reader of my website for a while you may have noticed that my go to red meat is London Broil. I can feed two people for 5 dollars with it. It’s lean and when cooked properly, it’s tender, flavorful and tastes great with almost any seasoning. The best part of this recipe is you don’t have to cook the sauce! Just mix the ingredients and it’s ready to go.
P.S. You don’t need a grill or grill pan for this recipe. Preheat oven on broil to 500. For a one inch thick cut, broil 4 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other for medium rare, about 1 minute longer on each side for medium. Allow to rest 5 minutes before carving on a sharp angle, thin and against the grain.
Oh yeah and it’s only 350 calories per serving! Woot Woot!

Marinated London Broil with Blue Cheese Sauce
Recipe adapted from here.
Serves 4

  • 1 1/4 pounds London Broil or Flank Steak
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
  • 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
  • 2 tablespoons low-fat buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives
  • Dash Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sugar and 2 cloves of garlic. Put the London Broil into a sealable plastic bag with the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

In the meantime, in a small bowl combine the blue cheese, buttermilk, remaining garlic and chives with a fork, mashing until creamy. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Spray a large grill pan with cooking spray and preheat over medium-high heat.

Remove the meat from the marinade and season both sides with salt and pepper. Discard the marinade. Cook the meat in the grill pan over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per side for medium rare. Allow London Broil to rest 5 minutes, carve thinly against the grain. Drizzle with blue cheese sauce and garnish with extra chives.

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Posted in 500 Calories or less, Beef Dishes, Quick and Easy Recipes | 2 Comments

Menu: 11/20-11/26

Posted on November 19, 2011 by

Oh Joy! This week is a dream week for someone who loves menu planning and grocery shopping, such as myself. Several lists, spreadsheets and text message-athons with my family later and I think I’ve got this weeks menu and most of all Thanksgiving day figured out. 🙂 We have a big family and so we have two large celebrations, one for my family and one for my husbands. Instead of trying to cram both events into one day we are doing one event on Wednesday and one on Thanksgiving.

I would LOVE to know what your menu is for Thanksgiving, be sure to comment below and fill me in on all the juicy details. If you’re not hosting, go ahead and tell me what dish you’re bringing. 🙂

Sunday: Leftover Green Chile Enchiladas 

Monday: Prep begins for Thanksgiving so keeping it light and fast. Shrimp Ceviche and flatbread.

Tuesday: Lavash flatbread pizzas.

Wednesday: My family Thanksgiving!
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Cornbread Stuffing
Skillet Scalloped Corn
Broccoli/Cauliflower Au Gratin
Green Bean Casserole
Butternut Squash
Macaroni and Cheese
Cranberry Sauce
Yeast Rolls
Pecan Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Italian Thanksgiving Cake

Thursday: My husbands family’s Thanksgiving! I can’t wait to dig in all over again! I’m bringing Pecan Pie, Mashed Potatoes and another vegetable I’m sure. 🙂

Friday: Pasta with mushrooms and pumpkin gorgonzola sauce

Saturday: Asian Lettuce Wraps

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Posted in Menu Plan Suggestions | 1 Comment

Browse by Category feature

Posted on November 17, 2011 by

For faster searching, we have broken down this site into categories! Please use the drop down menu and select the category you would like to view.

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Glazed Doughnut Muffins

Posted on November 17, 2011 by

Oh my goodness. These were a yummy treat this weekend. You can imagine how excited I was when I saw these come across my screen last week. I love glazed doughnuts, I love muffins. One would assume that I would have to like these muffins and I did! I was expecting a really sweet, almost sugary muffin but surprisingly they weren’t that sweet. The glaze was the perfect topping to a warm cinnamon and nutmeg spiced muffin. Definitely a winner in my book!



Glazed Doughnut Muffins (thanks Sweetpeaskitchen!)

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

For the Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter; melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. With the mixer on low speed, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla until just combined. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
Spoon batter into cups, filling the cups, and smooth tops. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake until muffin tops are a pale golden and springy to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 10 minutes before glazing.
To make the glaze, In a medium bowl mix together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.
When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. Once hardened, dip a second time and allow to harden then serve.

Yields: 12 muffins

Note: Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.

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Posted in Breakfast | 3 Comments