Tag Archives: potatoes

Grilled Pork Chops, Escalloped Potatoes and Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

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This was quite yummy! I kind of put it together at the last minute… I was going to make something else today, but realized I forgot to buy fish!! OOPS! So, a bit of a heavier meal, but perfect after a long day. Turned out yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

Costa Rican Cocoa Porkchops:

4 thick center cut pork chops
2 TB unsweetened baking cocoa
1 packet of instant coffee (the one that’s about 1 tsp. amount, for 1 cup of coffee)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. chili powder
2 TB sunflower (or canola) oil
1 tsp. sea salt

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Mix all seasonings together in a bowl, and make a paste. I cooked these on the grill pan. I heated it up, and salted the pan. I then spread the paste onto one side of the pork chops and set the paste side down onto the grill pan. Then, while that side was cooking, I spread the paste onto the other side. I let it cook for 8 minutes per side, until fully cooked through, no pink.

Escalloped Potatoes (I made them dairy free, you can substitute for butter and milk if you wish)

7 yukon gold potatoes, large
1 green onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 cups milk (I used unsweetened coconut milk. You can use 1/2&1/2 or milk)
2-3 TB butter (I used Smart Balance Olive Oil margarine)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp. grated parmesan (on top)

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Slice the potatoes thin. I used a hand-held mandolin, but you can do so with a knife, just try to make all slices as similar in size as possible. The thinner the better. Once sliced, you layer. Put 1/3 of the slices into the bottom of a coated 9×13 pan. Then, combine the flour, pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir. Then put 1/3 of it sprinkled onto the bottom layer of the potatoes. Then, put bits (1/3 of the butter) of the butter onto that layer. Then, top with another 1/3 of the potatoes and repeat the process 2x until you have 3 total layers. Then, top with 1 tsp of grated parmesan. Heat up the 2 cups of milk in a sauce pan. Should only take 3 minutes or so. Then, pour over the top of the layers of potatoes. Then, cover with foil, and bake at 375 degrees for 60 to 65 minutes. Take out when all potatoes are soft.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts: 

15 Brussel sprouts halved
1-2 TB olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt&pepper

Put the halved brussel sprouts in a single layer on a coated cookie sheet, drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle with salt&pepper. Then sprinkle with a bit of balsamic vinegar on each one.

Rainy Day calls for Beer and Beef Stew!

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Is your crockpot ready? Cuz this one is awesome! It’s one of those recipes for Sunday afternoon in the winter, or a cold, stormy day in the summer when you don’t want to heat up the oven, or stand in front of the stove…but you kinda want something warm to eat for dinner. THIS IS IT!! It’s a good one!

I adapted my recipe from this one: http://bakedinthesouth.com/2012/08/crockpot-freezer-meals-part-2/
She used it as a freezer meal! So, this can actually be frozen in a large gallon bag, and taken out and put into the freezer! I put mine directly into the crockpot though. 🙂

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat (I prefer the grass fed beef like you can find at Earth Fare or Whole Foods)
2 TB olive oil
1 TB salted butter
3 large carrots, cut into large pieces
4-5 potatoes cut into 4 or 6 pieces
2 tsp minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fresh parsley chopped fine
1 cup dark beer (My FAV for this is Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale)
1 cup beef broth
1 cup Pace Restaurant Style Salsa- medium (you can also use Rotel)
2 tsp. Himalayan pink sea salt
1 tsp pepper (or to taste)

put everything in crock pot, cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6-8 hours. DELICIOUS!!!!!

Steak and Potatoes Revisited

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Steak:

I marinated the steak in the following: (I only marinated it in the fridge for an hour, over night would be best!

Marinade
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  •  3 Tb honey
  • 1 scallion (green onion), thinly sliced
  • 1 Tbls Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • fresh ground pepper to taste
  • sea salt ground – approx 1/2 tsp

After the steak has been marinating the the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, place on grill, OR the grill pan. Grill for 7.5 to 8 minutes per side for a medium temperature steak. Enjoy!!!

(If you use the grill pan, drain all marinade extra marinade off of steak, and place onto HOT grill pan that has been sprinkled with sea salt)

Let your steak rest for 8-10 minutes on a plate before you cut into it.

Potatoes, Onions & Carrots

Wash and cut 8 potatoes into 8 pieces each. Then peel and cut carrots into large chunks. Then, cut up onion into large pieces. Put them onto a tin foil-lined cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. spread them out on the cookie sheet and cover with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and fresh rosemary. (about 1/2 tsp of each). Then cut up 2 TB of butter into small pieces and put over the vegetables. Put into the oven at 425 degrees for 40 minutes. Do this BEFORE the steak!!!!! (or as it finishes marinating!)
Take out when the carrots and potatoes fall apart from the fork.

Enjoy!

Easy Peppered Pork Loin

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EASY Peppered Pork Loin (with carrots and onions) with homemade honey wheat rolls and rosemary potato wedges

Ok. So, this will be REALLY easy, especially if you have a Trader Joes nearby.

Step 1: Purchase Trader Joes peppered pork loin.

Step 2: put in crock pot.

Step 3: add peeled and cut (into about 2-3 inch pieces) carrots and add to crock pot

Step 4: add 1/2 onion chopped into large pieces.

Step 5: add 1 cup of water, and pour over top, and add salt & pepper

Step 6: cook on low in crock pot for 6-8 hours (4 hours on high)

That’s IT for the pork!

Potato wedges:

5 potatoes
Olive oil
Salt (I use pink Himalayan salt grinder from TJ)
Garlic powder
fresh rosemary

Wash and scrub potatoes, and then dry. Slice potatoes in half, and then wedges, as thick as you’d like, just try to make sure they are all relatively the same size. Line a cookie sheet or pan with tin foil ( I LOVE the new non-stick tin foil… just sayin’)

preheat oven to 425 degrees
in a glass bowl,  toss the potato wedges with 2-3 turns of olive oil, salt, pepper, and FRESH rosemary (it smells AMAZING!).

Spread over the tin-foil covered pan and bake for 15 min. Then, take tongs, or a spatula and turn them over, and bake for another 15-25 minutes (depending on thickness of wedges) until tender.
DONE! Not bad huh?

Oh… now for the rolls. I followed this recipe to the T, so here it is: (IT’S SOOO EASY!
30-minute honey wheat rolls recipe: http://www.ihearteating.com/2013/07/29/30-minute-honey-wheat-rolls/

They are perfect…. and delicious. All 12 were gone in 2 days! YUM!

There’s that!