Should I Stick With it or Go Crazy?

Many of you know that I have struggled with my weight most of my life. Other than a short lived bout as a size 2 in my early 20's after a bad breakup, I have been chunky most of my life. I wouldn't say obese, just overweight. LOL- ok that sounded weird. I eat right, try to exercise and in general have a healthy lifestyle, but also have the metabolism of a slug. My BP is low and heart rate is a snails pace, so loosing weight can be tough. Not trying to make excuses, it's just the truth. Lately I have been watching the numbers creep up on the scale so I have decided to really rededicate myself to watching every bite and documenting every calorie. Blech- no fun and tedious, but it is what it is. Tonight was a tough one to keep on track. I was feeling pretty sluggish and really just wanted to have the hubby pick up pizza on the way home. We almost never do that, but I felt the need to rebel even though I had a perfectly healthy and yummy dinner in the fridge. Thankfully, my cheap streak overpowered my lazy tendency and I pulled out a great dinner.  Plus, I got to have Ashley help out and was able to feed something healthy for dinner.






Tonight we had Honey Sesame Pork Chops with a veggie stirfry over bean thread noodles. It was so good that I didn't even miss the pizza. The pork chops were a from a batch party and the stirfry was thrown together from what was in my crisper. Aren't all good stir frys made that way?

Ashley started by chopping up some celery into large chunks. She did pretty well with the big knife once I explained that it is better to leave the tip on the cutting board and just slide the celery. Before that she was hacking at the veggies like a serial killer and scaring the crud out of me.


She can scrape carrots like a pro though!



and did a much better job of chopping them.



She sauteed the carrots and celery in a hot pan. We don't have a wok. I know its amazing because we have every other kitchen tool known to man. Ok well I still don't have that torch, but Mother's Day is coming.


She tossed in some broccoli and green beans and a couple tablespoons of teryaki sauce.



She added in some softened bean thread noodles, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Doesn't it look amazing?



The veggie stir fry went perfectly with the Honey Sesame Chops. I decided to grill them since we were having a warmer day.



They were juicy and slightly sweet with awesome grill marks.




The little kids gobbled it up and Ashley was very proud of her contribution to dinner. For more information on getting your kids involed in the kitchen check out The Kids Cook Monday campaign.

Honey Sesame Pork Chops


½ cup beer
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cloves crushed garlic
about 3 pounds pork chops or pork loin


mix all ingredients and put in a freezer bag. Freeze.

Thaw and dump into the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or grill for 10 minutes on each side.

Chinese Braised pork with Brown Rice and Asian beans

This is going to be a great one for batch parties. I placed all the ingredients in a foodsaver bag and put it in the freezer.  The night before I cooked it I pulled it out and put it in the fridge.



The entire contents of the bag were cooked in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours.

I put the fat side up so that it could be easily peeled off after it was done cooking.





The meat was incredibly moist and fell apart when I was cutting it. It really turned into a Chinese pulled pork. I served the meat over brown rice and topped with the cooking liquid. The flavor was sweet and mildly tangy - Delicious!!!!! Look for this on next month's batch party menus!!

Check out this and other recipes on Wanderfood Wednesday!



Braised Chinese Pork Loin


1 (3-pound) boneless pork loin, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped ginger
6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup dry vermouth
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise



High: 1 hour; then low: 8 hours, or until pork registers 170°F.

Serves: 10




Pork Loin   Slow Cooker

BBQ and Beans- Korean Style

I decided to go a bit out of my comfort zone and try something new. That was one of my resolutions after all. Being from Texas, we love traditional bbq with all the trimming. In fact, the Poprik family bbq has become and annual affair. Nothing says home cooking like slow cooked meat with a big side of beans. Why not try it with a bit of a different flair? Last week I made Spicy Korean Pork bbq over sweet rice with Seasoned Spinach and Black Soy Beans.

The Spicy Korean BBq was made with thin slices of pork tenderloin, marinated and cooked in a spicy red sauce. This sauce had a bit of kick since it was made with sweet chili sauce, but it wasn't overpowering with spice. The thinly sliced pork tenderloin was marinated for about 8 hours and then cooked in the sauce.

The big surprise of this meal was the black soy beans. These protein packed little guys were hard to find, but definitely worth the effort. My son who NEVER eats beans loved them. He even asked for a second serving- that's totally unheard of for beans in this house. The season spinach was also a nice surprise. The spinach was only blanched for a few seconds, so it stayed a vibrant green and was just beautiful. I will definitely make this meal the next time we are searching for BBQ with a bit of flair!

Spicy Korean Pork Barbecue

Serves 6

1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin cut into ¼ inch slices

3 tbls brown sugar

3 tbls soy sauce

2 ¼ tbls Thai chili paste

¾ tsp ground ginger

1.5 tsp dark sesame oil

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp chopped garlic

Combine the pork with the remaining ingredients in a 1 gallon freezer bag and freeze.

Thaw and prepare grill. Place a grilling basket on a grill rack. Remove the pork from the bag and discard the marinade. Place the pork on the grilling baskets and grill for 5 minutes turning frequently or until you reach the desired doneness.

Korean Sweet Black Beans (Kongjaban) Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup black soy beans, washed

• 1 cup water

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 Tbsp sesame oil

• 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a small pot, bring water and beans to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.

2. Turn down heat to medium-low and add soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.

3. Stir to combine and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes.

4. If adding seeds, take pot off of heat and stir in sesame seeds.

Pork Loin    Superfoods

Blaze's return to Glory - Green Chili Pork

I don't know what was going on with Blaze, but maybe 2010 was just a bad year for her and 2011 is her comeback year. No matter what that crock pots deal was, she has been treating me right lately. On one of last week's crazy days I decided to trust her again with a delicious green chil pork roast I had in the freezer. This is one of the easiest dishes I know how to prepare and it is a major hit at batch parties.

I just pulled the already seasoned roast from the freezer and thawed it.

Then I poured the contents of the entire bag into the Blaze.

It cooked on low for 6 hours before I drained some of the liquid off and shredded the meat.

Normally I serve this with corn tortillas, but since we are doing the low carb thing we had it on salad greens with black beans, shredded cheese and sour cream. It was delicious! Seriously this is a no fail recipe. You have to try it.

Slow Cooker Green Chili Pork Roast


3 pound boneless pork loin
8 oz jar of salsa Verde
3 tablespoons of lime juice
Place all ingredients in a large freezer bag and freeze.

Thaw completely and place contents of bag in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Serve with corn tortillas and salsa of your choice.

Yet Another Freezer Meal: Asian Style Pork Chops!

Finishing off our week of planned meals was Asian Style Pork Chops. This is a family and batch party favorite.  This meal had been in my freezer since the last big sale on pork about a month ago. It is mildly sweet and full of flavor. One of daughters friends joined us for dinner. She is rather finicky about her food and she cleaned her plate. Her mother was quite impressed. I would definitely suggest trying it. Oh and don't forget to check out the Giveaway!!

I pulled it out of the freezer two days ago and let it defrost in the freezer.

I set it on the counter and let it warm a bit while I heated the pan. The chops were seared on each side.

and then they were put in the oven for 20 minutes.

Asian Style Pork Chops


6 center cut Pork loin chops
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbls sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbls sesame oils
1 tbls ground ginger
1 tbls minced garlic
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Place the chops in a large freezer bag. Combine other ingredients in bag with the pork.

Seal and Freeze.

Thaw. Grill until center of chop reaches 160.