Ingredients:
1-3/4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 pounds boneless pork loin roast

Directions:

1. Combine the first seven ingredients; rub over roast. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Place roast on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 2-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160-170 degrees. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing. Refrigerate or freeze remaining pork (may be frozen for up to 3 months).

Makes: 4 servings

It’s very basic and you might even have all the ingredients in your pantry without realizing it.

Ingredients:
1 – 1.75lb ham
1 – 20oz can of crushed pineapple (with juice)
4 tbsp of brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a separate dish, mix together the pineapple and brown sugar.
3. Score the bottom of the ham with a knife and place inside a roasting pan.  Cut a cross into the top of the ham and fill with the pineapple sugar mix. Using a knife, force as much of the mixture into the cuts onto of the ham.  Pour the remaining mixture over and around the ham.
4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-45 minutes (usually about 15 minutes per pound).

The one thing I initially missed when I was first wrapping these was that you have to make sure you wait until AFTER you’ve included the seasoning.  I started wrapping the first one when I realized “where’s the soy sauce?”

One major change both Jesse and I agree on is that something sweet needs to be added and the broccoli needs to go.  I don’t know if I didn’t put in enough peppers (since I never measure those) or what, but the pork loin was a little bland.  Since I’m not usually a fan of pork to begin with, to me, this wasn’t all that great.  I see potential though.  Ian started eating it once I added honey, so I’m thinking next time around I’m going to add some honey to the soy sauce and sesame oil.  How much, I’m not sure yet.

Ingredients:
1 pound pork tenderloin, sliced
2 cups sliced carrots
1 (8oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 medium green pepper, julienned
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ground ginger
Hot cooked rice

Directions:

1. Divide pork, broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, green pepper and onions evenly among four pieces of double-layered heavy-duty foil, but do not fold close. Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger; drizzle over pork and vegetables. Fold foil around filling and seal tightly.
2. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and pork is no longer pink. Serve with rice if desired.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 packet, calculated without rice) equals 265 calories, 9 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 67 mg cholesterol, 621 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 27 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 1/2 starch.

The recipe originally called for cream instead of the milk, but I didn’t have the cream and used the milk instead and it still thicken up pretty well while it was on the heat.  Personally, so far, I see no reason to use the cream and make this dish any more fatty than it needs to be.

Overall, the dish was really good, but I did make a few adjustments.  The recipe called for a cup of breadcrumbs for the topping and that was just too much.  The breadcrumbs didn’t really….do anything.  In some areas, it worked, but in others, it was like I had just put them on.  So there were too many.  Plus, Jesse thought it was a little runny since I used milk instead of cream, so I’m adjusting that by adding a little more flour.  The milk thicken up nicely over the heat, after mixing it with the flour, butter, and onions; so I figured if I add a little more flour, it should work out perfectly.

This is one I will definitely be making again since it’s a nice change from hamburgers and chicken.

Ingredients:
2 cups 1/2% milk
4 cups cubed deli turkey
3 cups cubed deli ham
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped onions (or to taste)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp dill weed
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine turkey, ham and cheese; set aside.
3. In a saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Add flour, stir to form a paste. Gradually add cream, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, boil 1 minute or until thick. Add dill, mustard and nutmeg; mix well.
4. Remove from heat and pour over meat mixture. Spoon into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Toss breadcrumbs, butter and dill; stir in cheese and walnuts. Sprinkle over casserole.
5. Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Seasoning grilled meat with garlic and a sugary marinade produces a Thai-style barbecue that works well with pork loin or chops. Adapted from The Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen (Workman, 1998).

So, the changes I made….one of the first instructions was to use the food processor on the garlic and sugar to form a paste. Well, I completely skipped this step. Instead, I put all the ingredients (minus the pork chops obviously) into a blender instead and just liquidized it. The garlic didn’t get mashed up as much as it would have in a food processor, but I also didn’t add as much garlic as they did either. We’re also giving this to our son, who’s only 18 months, so we didn’t want it too garlicky; but we still wanted the flavor, so I added about half of what is recommended.

I think we only marinated it for about 45 minutes and it still came out pretty good. I’m not a fan of pork, so I really didn’t have much, but the bite I did have was pretty good. I’ll let Jesse give an accounting for the taste, so check for his comment.

Ingredients:
4 (1-inch thick) or 8 (1/2–inch thick) pork chops (2 pounds total)
1 head garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons rice wine
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Make 1 or 2 cuts in fat side of each chop to prevent curling.
2. In a blender, combine garlic, sugar, soy sauce, honey, wine, sesame oil, ginger, salt and pepper. Spread over both sides of chops, place chops in baking dish, cover and marinate in refrigerator 1 to 2 hours.
3. Preheat grill to high. Brush and oil grill grate. Place chops on grate and grill until brown 6 to 8 minutes per side for thick chops and half that time for thin, or until temperature on an instant-read thermometer is 160F. Serves

So why am I posting about chili during the beginning of summer? Well, Jesse was thinking about it the other day and he showed the recipe to some of his co-workers and the next thing I knew, it was being requested. The only problem is, neither Jesse or I drink beer. Well, I used to (and on some occasions will take a sip or two), so I have no idea what kind to use. Plus, what beer I did drink was imported and I’m not sure if Corona would taste all that great with it (I learned how to drink in Mexico, give me a break). When I made it before, I used chicken broth which was fine. However, I’m going to leave it up to the people who are going to be eating it. Do I use beer or chicken broth? If I use beer, what kind do I use? The plan is to make this in two weeks, so people have two weeks to give their input.  There is a poll in the sidebar, so go cast your vote.  I’ll be back in two weeks to give commentary on the recipe while I make it.

Ingredients:
3/4 of a lb of bacon
1 lb of chicken breasts
1 lb of stew beef
1 lb of sausage
1 can (24 oz) of chicken broth or beer
1 can (32 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (16oz) kidney beans
1 can (8oz) tomato paste
2/3 tsp black pepper
2 bouillon cubes
2-2/3 tsp ground cumin
1-1/3 tsp garlic powder
2-2/3 tsp mustard
2-2/3 tsp oregano
2 celery stalks
1 large green bell peppers
2 large onions
5 oz cornstarch (optional)
16 oz Salsa (garnish)
24 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese (garnish)
12 oz sour cream (garnish)
24 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Chop the stew beef and brown. Add to crock.
2. Chop the bacon into small pieces. Fry bacon preserving grease. Fry the vegetables in the bacon pieces. Moisten mixture with beer. Add to crock.
3. Brown the sausage. Chop the chicken into small pieces. Fry the chicken in the sausage. Moisten mixture with beer. Drain fat from sausage/chicken mix. Add to crock.
4. Add diced tomatoes, bullion cubes, and spice (to taste) to crock. Add beer to keep mixture moist.
5. Simmer for 2-4 hours.
6. Add tomato paste and beans. Add beer as needed to keep moist. Add cornstarch if you added to much beer. Simmer more. (total 12-24 hours)
7. Serve with tortillas, salsa, cheese and sour cream. Substitute chicken broth for the beer when needed

I took the base of this recipe from Betty Crocker, but I added and changed a few things and I think it came out better with the changes.

Edit on 3/23: My father tried this for Easter weekend, however he made two different versions. My sister doesn’t like green peppers, and he was making a ham to go along with it, so he didn’t add any meat to either batch and he left out the veggies in one of them. I have to say, without the meat and veggies, you need to cut back the liquid.

Edit on 4/26: I tried this recipe with maple flavored sausage and I think it would have came out good if I hadn’t also used southwestern flavored hash browns. Needless to say, the two flavors together didn’t work out well. Using different flavored hash browns is good, but you need to make sure the meat doesn’t clash with it. I’m hoping to try this recipe with sausage again, but with the correct hash browns.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked, diced Ham
1 pkg Hash Browns (Betty Crocker Seasoned)
Green Bell Pepper
Onions
2 cups shredded (8oz) Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Bisquick
3 cups Milk
1/2 tsp Pepper, black
4 Eggs (or 1 cup egg product)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches.
2. Layer ham, potatoes, bell pepper, onion and 1 cup of the cheese in baking dish. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into baking dish; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
3. Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown around edges and cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes.