Monday-Pork Night

When planning out the meals for my family, I usually try to plan a month at a time. It really makes sticking to budget easier and helps with the never ending question of " What's for Dinner?" . I figure Monday is pork day, Tuesday is chicken, Wednesday is beef, Thursday's I try to do seafood or vegetarian, Friday is soup night and the weekends are just a mess. I REALLY need to get better on planning our weekend meals. That is where we blow our budgets ( and diets) and eat out or grab something fast.

So, last night was pork night. I am almost embarrassed to post this because it was so easy and feels like a "cheat". At the beginning of the month, I went to the local food warehouse and picked up some pork tenderloins. There were 4 loins in the bags for about $14 and that will make 4 meals for my family of 5. When I got home I divided up the package of loins into 4 freezer bags and put a different marinade in with each loin. Then I just had to grab a bag on Sunday night, thaw the meat and throw it all into a pan.

Last nights meal was a pork tenderloin marinated in Weber Grillers White Wine and Herb marinade. Normally I don't go for the seasoning packets, but this one was really good. You just add water and olive oil and pour it over the meat. I quickly seared the tenderloin on the stove top and then put it in the oven for 20 minutes on 350. I served it with steamed fresh green beans tossed with a little olive oil and crushed garlic and a green salad.

The kids LOVED it, it was finished in less than 30 minutes and it only cost $7 for the entire meal to feed 5. GOOD - FAST - CHEAP - my three criteria for an awesome meal!!! Plus it looked pretty good too. I am working on my plating to make things more appealing to the eye as well as the belly. Let me know what you think.