Mouthwatering Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Hello everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend.

We spent most of ours bouncing around from one birthday party to the next. In total, we celebrated FIVE birthdays in one weekend. Phew! That's a lot of celebrating.

Today, I wanted to share a delicious recipe that I came across last week when trying to figure out what to do with the pork loin roast I had purchased because it was on sale.

I am pleased to report that my entire family loved this recipe and the leftovers were just as yummy. This would make a super easy weeknight meal, or could be dressed up with some fancy side dishes and made for company. Either way, I hope you'll give it a try next time pork loin is on sale at your grocery store.

Mouthwatering Slow Cooker Pork Loin

Ingredients:

As simple as this may seem, the only ingredients are:

• Approx. 2 lb. pork loin roast
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 packet of dry onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 3/4 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup water

Directions:

Just like the ingredients, the directions are super simple!

1. Pat your pork loin roast dry and place it inside a greased slow cooker.

2. In a bowl, combine soup mix, red wine, water and soy sauce. Mix to combine, then pour over the pork loin, turning to ensure the entire roast is coated with the liquid.

3. Spread minced garlic on the top of the pork.

4. Cover and let cook on low for 10 hours, or high for 6-8 hours depending on the weight of the pork.

5. Once it is fork tender, shred the meat and serve with the remaining sauce.

I served ours with a huge pan of roasted vegetables. It was the perfect compliment to the pork.

I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

I'll be back later this week with some fun St. Patrick's Day ideas. Stay tuned!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Sausage & White Bean Stew

I'm still coming off my Valentine's weekend high.

I gotta say... I love my kids with all my heart and soul... but spending a weekend alone with my man was just what the doctor ordered.

We went out to dinner and then attended an amazing concert...

We slept in, drank second-cups of coffee, lazed around the house, did random errands with no time limits or children yelling, "WHERE are we going now?!?" or "Are we done yet?!?!"

It was a weekend full of adult "me time" where we did whatever we felt like doing, Quite nice, I gotta say.

My love showered my with my favorite flowers on Valentine's morning:

And I got him a new cheese platter/cutting board, hand-fired with a very inside joke... don't ask... it would take way to long to explain. :)

It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and I was super excited to hug my babies (can I still call them that??) on Sunday. But as all holidays are... this one passed far too quickly, and now we're back to the real world. :)

And since the week is in full gear, I thought I'd share a very quick, SUPER easy, family-friendly weeknight meal with you.

My boys love this so much, and I love it too because it's healthy, takes minutes to assemble, and it is comfort food at its best.

Here's my recipe for Slow Cooker Sausage & White Bean Stew:

Ingredients:

1. (2) Cans of Cannellini beans
2. 3/4 - 1 cup chicken stock (homemade preferred of course) :)
3. al fresco chicken sausage I chose the sundried tomato version, but they are all delicious! And I love that I can pronounce and understand all of the ingredients on the label (chicken meat, sundried tomatoes, basil, etc. - NO by-products or fillers!)
4. Pasta - shells are my top choice for this dish, but penne or bowtie works great too.
5. Parmesan cheese and any Italian herbs of your choosing

Directions:
1. Thinly slice the chicken sausage (it's already fully cooked, so you don't need to saute it unless you want to), and place it in the bottom of your sprayed Slow Cooker. Then generously drizzle with EVOO.

2. Drain & rinse the cannellini beans and dump them on top of the sausage.

3. Sprinkle with any Italian herbs of your choosing. I did some dried thyme, garlic salt, and basil.
4. Pour 3/4-1 cup of chicken broth on top until it almost covers the beans.
5. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for up to 6 hours.
6. Cook pasta and then ladle the sausage/bean mixture on top of the pasta and top with shredded Parm.
7. ENJOY!!

I love serving this with roasted broccoli and a dry white wine. It's a crowd pleaser for sure. And one that you'll want to come back to any time it's chilly outside and you want some savory comfort food.

Cheers everyone!

New Year, New Recipes... Healthy 3-Ingredient Pasta

Living in a house full of boys can be a tad bit challenging when it comes to trying out new recipes.

So, I asked my 9-year old to browse online with me and see what "looked good" to him. I figured if it appealed to his eyes, he would be far more likely to try it when it arrived on his plate.

I Googled "Ground turkey recipes" and the first one that he said, "That looks good"... we tried.

It's original name was "Ground Turkey Broccoli Pasta" but that doesn't have quite the "ring to it" that I was looking for, so I've renamed it "Healthy 3-Ingredient Pasta" (even though there's a few more ingredients if you count things like EVOO, salt and pepper. :)

The good news is, my boys LOVED it! Payton even wanted a second helping, which I count as a home run in my recipe book.

The only time-consuming step was roasting the broccoli, which is really easy, but just takes a little prep time. You could also boil the broccoli along with the pasta, which would cut out some time, but would also cut out a lot of flavor.

Either way, here are the ingredients and steps to this very simple, delicious meal:

Ingredients:

• 1 head of raw broccoli
• 1 box of bow tie, orecchiette, or spiral pasta
• 1 lb. ground turkey breast
• EVOO
• Garlic
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh grated Parmesan
• Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the broccoli florets off the stems and place on a baking sheet, drizzle with EVOO and salt. Roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Set aside. (This can be done early in the day and saved in the fridge until dinnertime).
2. Boil pasta according to package directions, BUT RESERVE 1/4 cup pasta water before you drain it.
3. Brown ground turkey breast and 1-2 cloves of diced garlic in 2 tablespoons of EVOO until browned.
4. Combine cooked pasta, reserved pasta water, browned turkey and roasted broccoli in pan and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Toss to combine and warm through.
5. Serve in bowls topped with freshly grated Parmesan and red pepper flakes.
6. Enjoy!!!