Pork & Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

WOW is the first word that comes to mind when trying to explain the flavor in this recipe!  Pair the taste with the fact that this was a freezer meal I pre-made has it quickly jumping onto my 'will definitely make again' list!

I simply defrosted the meal overnight and placed it in my slow-cooker (on the warm feature), so that it's ready to go when we all need dinner at various times tonight.  If our schedule would've allowed us to all sit down together tonight, I would've warmed it up on the stove top (or microwave) instead.

NOTE:  Tastefully Simple's Honey Teriyaki Sauce is going away in a couple weeks.  As much as I adore this product, I'm certain our new Plum Teriyaki Sauce taking it's place will provide just as great a flavor - especially for this dish!

I also sauteed the ground pork, mushrooms, bell pepper and carrots all together and then added the Honey Teriyaki.  Once it cooled, I placedi tin a Ziploc freezer bag.  Worked just fine adding everything in together at once!

Pork and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp. Fiesta Party Dip Mix™
1/2 cup Honey Teriyaki Sauce
2 heads of Bibb lettuce, cored, leaves separated
1 cup matchstick-size strips red bell pepper 
1 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Serve it tonight: Sauté ground pork, mushrooms and Fiesta Party Dip Mix™in a large skillet until pork is no longer pink. Stir in Honey Teriyaki Sauce; heat through. Serve warm pork in lettuce wraps; top with bell pepper, carrots and cilantro. Makes 6 servings. 

Serve it later: Sauté ground pork, mushrooms and Fiesta Party Dip Mix™ in a large skillet until pork is no longer pink. Stir in Honey Teriyaki Sauce; heat through. Cool mixture; place in a resealable plastic bag. Freeze until served. Thaw and heat gently in the microwave. Serve as directed above. 

Summer Salads with Delicious Dressings!

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe to my blog site.  (Too easy to just share on Facebook.)  However, I wanted a bit more space to type out how much I LOVED this salad ...and thus you get a blog post.

I adore a good salad in the summer!  They usually end up being a hodge podge of items I have leftover in the fridge.  I've found that the key to a great salad for me is the dressing!  As a Tastefully Simple consultant for the past 11 years, I've discovered that you can make fabulous tasting dressings by combining salsa and sauces with....any guesses?  Yep - good ole' Ranch dressing.  So, next time you're wanting something out of the ordinary - grab the bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing along with your favorite Salsa or Sauce and see what you come up with!

The below salad (we had for dinner last night) was a combination of mixed greens, hard boiled egg, avacado, tomato, grilled shrimp (marinated in Tastefully Simple's Roasted Garlic Infused Oil and Garlic Pepper Seasoning) and my own dressing concoction.  Dressing:  Equal parts Ranch Dressing and Tastefully Simple Pineapple Chipotle Salsa - DELISH!!

Here are some other FABULOUS combinations:
Ranch & Tastefully Simple Corn, Black Bean Salsa:  Serve on salad with grilled chicken, black beans, corn, tomato, avacado
Ranch & Tastefully Simple Honey Apple Grill Sauce:  Serve on salad with bacon, lettuce tomato, hard boiled egg

And for dessert....our family's FAVORITE - Absolutely Almond Pound Cake!  This time I mixed up a little Lemonade Fruit Dip as a topping along with fresh berries.  Needless to say - no leftovers :)

REMINDER:  Our Garlic Pepper and Pineapple Chipotle Salsa are limited time 'returning favorite' products that are ONLY AVAILABLE until June 30th!!  Contact me to stock up :)

Hope you all enjoy these recipes as much as we do!

Artichoke & Spinach Stuffed Bread

Today is National Pasta Day, so we celebrated with a meal of Spaghetti with Mama Mia Marinara Sauce.  (Mama Mia is a dry mix from Tastefully Simple that you add to a can of crushed tomatoes.)  Since no pasta meal is complete without some good crusty bread, I decided to give this stuffed bread recipe a try.  If you're looking for a nice ooey gooey warm cheese bread - this is it!

Artichoke & Spinach Stuffed Bread
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
1 packet Artichoke & Spinach Warm Dip Mix
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Ground black pepper to taste
1 lb. loaf French bread

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°. Combine first 6 ingredients; stir to blend. Slice French bread in half horizontally; pull some bread out of both halves, leaving about a 1-inch shell. Spread cream cheese mixture inside the bottom shell; top with top shell. Wrap loaf in foil, place on baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Unwrap loaf; let stand 10 minutes. Slice and serve warm. Makes 8-10 servings.

NOTE:  I found a 7 oz can of artichoke hearts, so I used it.  Thought if I used too many the kids might notice :)  Mission accomplished - they had no idea they were there. 

Pork Loin with Sweet Pepper Glaze

Earlier this week, we took my oldest son out for a 'birthday dinner' at a local steak restaurant (with an Aussie flair).  He's officially too old to order off the kid's menu now.  How is this possible?

Anyway, he ordered a pork loin with a sweet chutney glaze.  After trying a bite of his dinner, I determined the glaze tasted IDENTICAL to our Tastefully Simple Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Jam.  Now, I generally use our Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce on pork loin, but decided to venture out in an attempt to replicate the 'steak restaurant' creation.  In the process, I ended up finding an incredible new way to cook pork loin!  (Thanks Google :)

I've also been working to experiment with some new ingredients, and was very pleased at how these dishes all complemented each other.  I recommend giving them a try!  Get out of that recipe rut and experiment a little :) Couscous on it's own doesn't have a ton of flavor, so it works great as a side dish with the pork.

Pork Loin with Sweet Pepper Glaze
1-2 lb pork loin
seasonings of your choice (I used Garlic Garlic and Seasoned Salt from Tastefully Simple)
Tastefully Simple Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Jam

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Season pork loin and place in a roasting pan (uncovered) on the bottom 1/3 of your oven. Bake pork loin 5 1/2 minutes PER POUND.  Turn oven OFF and DO NOT open it for an hour.  Remove from oven after 1 full hour and let sit 5-10 to allow juices to re-distribute before cutting.  Use meat thermometer to make sure it has reached 150-160 degrees.  Slice into medallions and top with a few spoonfuls of Sweet Pepper Jalapeno Jam.

Roasted Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash (remove seeds and cut into bite sized cubes)
1 Tbsp olive oil or Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil
brown sugar

Combine oil and squash and place in same roasting pan as pork loin, but make sure they aren't touching the meat to aid in cooking both properly.  Squash will be done at the same time as pork.  Sprinkle with brown sugar when you remove from oven.

Couscous with Spinach & Herb
Submitted by Jackie Prehn (IL) 

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup couscous
1 Tbsp. Tastefully Simple Spinach & Herb Dip Mix

Directions
Combine first 2 ingredients; bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. Makes 6 servings.

Super Foods Side Dish

Quinoa and Edimame...two BIG buzz words in the health food market these days.  I purchased these about a month ago and there they sat...sitting in my food pantry and freezer.  I admit, I had NO IDEA how to use them! However, I've heard over and over the high protein benefits of these foods.

When a friend (and fellow Tastefully Simple consultant) shared a quinoa recipe with me yesterday, I decided today was the day to experiment!  The verdict...I'm HOOKED!  Not only did I enjoy the taste of this dish - I feel full yet not weighed down after dinner.  Best of all, I know my family is stocked full of protein as they all go their separate ways to various activities tonight.  And yes...EVERYONE ate it!  Of course I got comments such as "What is this, fish eggs?"  No, it's not caviar.  "Are these lima beans?"  It's soybeans.  But in the end, they ate them and that makes me feel good as a Mom. :)

Given I had no idea how to prepare these foods, I'm going to assume some of you don't either. 

#1 - What are these foods?
Quinoa - is like a grain, but is actually a seed.  I would compare it to brown rice with a bit more texture.
Edimame - fancy name for soybean.  You'll see it served at many Asian restaurants inside the pod.  Many people dip the pod in soy sauce and then bite out the seeds from the pod.

#2 - Soak & rinse the quinoa.
My online research showed to soak for a couple hours and then rinse several times.  I rinsed mine about 5-6 times.  When you drain the water, you'll see a soapy type reside strain off the top.  Takes several times of adding new water, then draining again before all the soapy reside is gone.

Super Foods Side Dish
1 Tbsp Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/2 tsp Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
1/2 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 cup frozen edimame, shelled
1/4 cup Tastefully Simple Sesame Teriyaki Sauce

In a heated skillet (use one that has a lid), add oil and quinoa.  Toast on medium heat about 5-10 minutes.  Add broth and Seasoned Salt along with frozen edimame.  NOTE:  My cupboard was bare, so I actually substituted water! I'm sure broth would've added more flavor, but the water actually worked just fine.  Place lid on skillet and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until liquid is gone and edimame is softened.  Add Sesame Teriyaki Sauce, mix well and serve.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Those of you who follow Pinterest have probably seen the recipe using a muffin pan to bake eggs.  Pinterest is where I first viewed this idea and I think it's GENIUS!  I am not a Mom who gets up early to make her family a full scale breakfast.  I'll help them make oatmeal or frozen waffles, but mornings are just to chaotic for more than that in this home.

However, I do enjoy breakfast foods.  Therefore, every so often we have 'breakfast' for our evening meal.  This is one of my favorites, and thanks to the muffin pan idea they are SOOO easy to make!

Breakfast Sandwiches
1 pkg refrigerated biscuits (I use Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers)
6 eggs
6 slices cheese
6 slices Canadian Bacon
Your favorite Tastefully Simple seasonings.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray.  Crack eggs and place in muffin tin.  Sprinkle with your favorite Tastefully Simple Seasonings.  Everyone picks their favorite which generally means making a couple each using Spinach & Herb Seasoning, Seasoned Salt and Bacon Bacon.  Place biscuits on baking stone or cookie sheet.  Place both muffin tin and baking stone in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Half biscuit and place one slice of cheese and one slice of canadian bacon on bottom.  (I like to microwave these for 15 seconds to melt the cheese.)  Use knife to loosen egg from muffin pan if necessary and finish assembling sandwich.

Sizzlin Steak Fajitas

I've been told by a certain male in my household that I don't cook enough steak.  So, dear husband...this recipe was for you! 

What is it about the sizzle of fajitas that just makes your mouth water anytime a waiter at a restaurant walks by you with a plate?  With my attempts to duplicate this restaurant quality at home, I've found a couple tricks along the way that work well and settled upon the below recipe our family highly enjoys!

 

Sizzlin Steak Fajitas
Ingredients
1 Tbsp Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Oil
1 onion
1 green or red bell pepper
1 flat iron steak (1 - 1 1/2 lbs)
flour tortillas (I use burrito size, but you can use smaller)
Your favoite toppings (cheese, avacado, tomato, lettuce, etc.)
Tastefully Simple Seasonings:  Seasoned Salt, Garlic Pepper, Wahoo Chili, and Fiesta Party Dip



Directions
Season the steak with Garlic Pepper and Seasoned Salt and grill 7-8 minutes (turning 1/2 way through and seasoning other side).  You want to get the nice grill marks and crispiness out the outside - the inside will still be pink.  Remove from grill and let steak rest for at least 10 minutes while you cook the vegetables.  This allows the juices to redistribute into the meat.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Slice onion and bell pepper and add to skillet.  Sprinkle with Garlic Pepper, Wahoo Chili and Fiesta Party Dip.  Note:  The fiesta will add the heat factor, so use it based on how spicy you like your flavor.  Once onions have carmelized, slice steak diagonally into thin strips against the grain and add into skillet.  Continue to stir and cook until steak is done to your liking.  Heat tortillas (I microwave for about 30 seconds), stack your meat, veggies, and toppings & enjoy!