Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin {Crock-Pot}

Glaze makes everything better. Am I right? Brown sugar and balsamic vinegar reduce down to make a glaze that I want to pour on everything. I may have licked that spoon a couple of times too. With the pork loin prepared in the Crock Pot, it makes dinner super easy.

Balsamic Glaze

Please excuse the glare from my lovely fluorescent kitchen lighting. Gotta love a 1980’s kitchen. Yes, that’s sarcasm. And a post for another day. Actually, home renovation is (just) one of the reason’s I haven’t been blogging of late. We have slowly been doing some work on our house. We’ve had our windows replaced, we did some painting (a work in process) & have a couple more projects in the works.

Glazed Pork Lion

One of the other things keeping me from blogging is my kids’ schedules! They are crazy with spring sports! As much as I love them to participate, having 3 kids to get to three different practices has been running me ragged. Which is why I am so happy to have another crock pot recipe to add to my arsenal. I LOVE the convenience of a slow cooker!

Pork Loin w Balsamic Glaze

I let my pork loin cook in the crock pot during the day, then made up my glaze and added once the meat was finished cooking. I’ve seen other recipes do it different ways, but I like this method, because you get that nice thick glaze covering the pork.

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Recipe source:

I’ve seen recipes using pork loin and pork tenderloin. Yes, they can be used interchangeably, but keep in mind that the tenderloin is more lean and will dry out quicker, so you may need to adjust your cook time. I also think pork turns out better cooked on low in the crockpot, as opposed to high.

What’s cooking at your house? Any home renovations going on? Talk about time consuming and costly! I’d love for the Property Brothers or some HGTV peeps come along and do it all for me! In the meantime, I will be looking for more things to glaze.

Also, if your family is suffering from seasonal allergies like mine, check out yesterday’s post for a giveaway of Pfizer Pediatric products!

 

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , ,  (Tuesday) ,, ,  (Wednesday) , , ,  (Thursday) , ,  (Friday) , , , ,, , , , ,  (Sunday)

Meat Lover’s Pizza Dip

So, I heard there’s a big football game coming up pretty soon. And y’all know me, any excuse to make & eat party food. This pizza dip would be great for a Super Bowl party (or any party), for after school snacking, or you can go crazy and eat it for dinner (which is exactly what my husband did one night recently.) It can be a low-carb alternative to traditional pizza, depending on what you eat it with.

Meat Lovers Pizza Dip

You can also add whatever pizza toppings you like. I made this a ‘Meat Lover’s’ version, full of (turkey) pepperoni, seasoned ground beef, and bacon. Sausage and Canadian Bacon would have been good too.

Meatza Pizza Dip

This is a cheesy, creamy dip, that is good with tortilla chips, corn chips, pita chips, toasted French bread, bread sticks, and the list goes on. I wasn’t a big fan of the pretzels used in the above pic however. They turned a little soft & I didn’t like the texture. Of course, the dip is also good eaten with a spoon!

Pizza Dip

I used: 

1 lb ground turkey sausage

1 jar No sugar added Ragu Light Spaghetti Sauce (with lots of added oregano!) – feel free to use your favorite pizza or pasta sauce

 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

turkey pepperoni – to taste

1/2 small diced onion

**These cheese quantities are estimates.  My crowd likes LOTS of cheese, so you can adjust it to suit your fancy.  I mean taste buds.  You can also add mushrooms, peppers, whatever your family likes on a pizza.  I’ve also made this with eggs mixed in with the meat to form a ‘base’ …more like a traditional pizza. However, since Mr. Three is allergic to eggs, I can’t do that anymore.

DIRECTIONS:

Cook your ground turkey and onion together, drain if needed.  Place a little sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish (I used a 9×13), dump your turkey/onion on top, add the rest of your sauce, top with cheese, place pepperoni on top.  Bake until golden brown and bubbly.

Recipe adapted from  and my Pizza Casserole

As you can see, the amounts and ingredients are very versatile. Anything you like on pizza will probably work well in this dip. Feel free to add more or less meat, cheese, and spices.

Will you be watching the Super Bowl? Thought about what food you will be serving? That is the most important part, right?
I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , ,  (Tuesday) ,, ,  (Wednesday) , , ,  (Thursday) , ,  (Friday) , , , ,, , , ,  (Sunday)

Creamy Hoisin Egg Roll Dipping Sauce

This post was sponsored by MINH® Mini Chicken Egg Rolls and I was compensated to write it. Regardless, what I have written reflects my own opinion and experience. I hope you find it useful.

The holidays are in full swing, and with that brings social gatherings. And obviously you can’t have a get together without lots of good eats…otherwise it’s just a meeting. (Ok, so I’m sort of paraphrasing Julia Child, but she definitely had a point.) I love party food (aka appetizers, appies, finger foods, or hors d’oeuvres <– hardest word ever to spell)

Egg rolls w sauce collage_Fotor

Sometimes we have hors d’oeuvre night where we just have a bunch of party food for dinner. My kids love that (for obvious reasons.) It’s mainly for “special occasions”. Anyway, as much as I love making everything from scratch, like homemade egg rolls, I often just don’t. have. time. So, I was thrilled to find these  at Sam’s Club.

Minh at Sams

They are affordable, you get a bunch in a box, and most important – they are delish!

egg rolls labeled photo

They are the perfect size to serve at a party too. They bake in the oven in under 15 minutes, and come with a tasty sweet chili sauce.

party egg rolls

I’ve sprinkled this platter with dried cilantro and red pepper flakes (green & red!) but it could be easily omitted, or just added to the sauces. You could also use basil I think, but I would not recommend oregano (personal opinion).

Egg Rolls

Along with the sweet chili sauce, I wanted a white sauce (I almost made it green with the addition of green dragon sauce, but I wasn’t sure if it would look appetizing.) This is a mild, creamy, slightly sweet sauce that pairs well with the egg rolls and perfect for those who have a low heat tolerance (everyone in my house except me!), but you can easily spice it up by increasing the chili paste or adding red pepper flakes.

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In addition to mini egg rolls, my other “go-to” party foods are sausage balls (these are a must at Christmas and New Year’s!), Creamy Sausage Dip, Chips with restaurant style salsa, chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and at Christmas, there will be fudge on the dessert table, along with these…022

Pretzel Treats…my kids LOVE these. Obviously, we don’t usually have fancy parties. We have family, kid-friendly parties! What’s your favorite party food?

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Cookie Bars & GIVEAWAY!

I was provided with a Krusteaz Holiday gift pack to facilitate this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

My Christmas baking list is quite long (shortbread, gingerbread, fudge, sausage balls, and so much more!) & I have been in a cookie baking frenzy. Well, I was. Until my 7 year old had a terrible asthma flare up that has been going on for weeks now. Several doctor visits, multiple medications, and let’s not forget – NO SCHOOL. I have three kids, and one of them is not in school with only a couple more weeks till Christmas! Do you see where I’m going with this?

Cookie gifts

BUT, there is one thing I do not need to panic over, and that’s the holiday treats. With the help of Cookie Mixes, we can have all the fun Christmas cookies, without all the time & effort on my part. Not to mention, I don’t have to stress over gift giving. I have a few options to share that will help you if you are short on time this holiday season as well. And seriously, is there ever enough time?!

Oatmeal Scotchie Food gift

Food gifts do not always have to be prepared ahead of time. Many people have lots of goodies on hand during the holidays, so packaging up mixes that can be easily prepared later is a fun gift. You can mix up a homemade cookie mix, or you can save yourself some time and package up a Krusteaz mix. Just place in a mason jar (because everything looks cute in a mason jar) add a bow and some instructions on how to bake! I added red, green & chocolate chips to the above jar of mix. You could also layer the chips in the jar with the mix. (Provided you don’t start layering, then knock the jar over so that they get mixed up. Not that I would know about that. *ahem*)

You can also add some Hot Chocolate Mix, because we all know hot chocolate goes great with cookies!

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars

On the other hand, baking up treats to take to a friend, neighbor, teacher, etc. is always fun too. Save yourself some time with shortcuts, like using Krusteaz Shortbread Mix to make these yummy Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Cookie Bars!

For these time saving sweet treats, simply mix up your Krusteaz Shortbread Mix per directions on back of box. Choose what size pan you’d like to use…the bigger the pan, the thinner the shortbread crust. I used an 8 x 11. Bake according to package directions or until baked through (shortbread doesn’t brown very much, so you can use the toothpick trick). Once done, add melted caramel (this could be homemade, or store-bought caramels), I’m all about short-cuts so I used a bag of caramel bits, melted per directions on bag. Carefully, pour hot caramel over warm shortbread. All bars to cool just until caramel starts to set but bars are still warm. Top with a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. As they sit on the warm caramel they will soften. Simply spread the soft chips to form a chocolate layer. Top with sprinkles if desired. Allow bars to completely cool and then cut into bars.

shortbread bars

You could also add nuts. I added just a few to one end, since my son is allergic.

Christmas Food Gifts

Package your treats in a food safe container, lined with festive tissue paper and a cute tag! My tags & tissue paper came from Zazzle.com, and the little tree clips and plastic container came from Target.

Krusteaz & I would like to help decrease your holiday stress level as well! We have a huge cookie prize pack to giveaway! It includes:

Krusteaz

  • Two boxes of the following mixes: Shortbread, Gingerbread, Snickerdoodle, Butter Vanilla Sugar and Oatmeal Scotchie
  • Some fun holiday baking items like an apron, tote bag, cookie cutters, frosting decorating pen and a mason jar (for gifting and storage!)
  • Holiday cookie recipe ideas for inspiration

Please enter via the rafflecopter form. This giveaway ends soon so that we can (hopefully!) get the winner their cookie prize pack before Christmas (No guarantee on that.) Open to US residents, 18 years or older.

 

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , The Dedicated House, , ,  (Tuesday) ,, ,  (Wednesday) , , , ,  (Thursday) , ,  (Friday) , , , ,, , , , 

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

This isn’t so much a recipe as an idea. I’ve seen it around Pinterest, along with everything else people are putting in the waffle maker. It does kind of make me want to waffle everything. If you follow me on , you know that I made these Cinnamon Roll Waffles for my kids on Halloween morning. Because they weren’t going to have enough sugar that day. Hashtag: WTH was I thinking?! Of course, they loved them.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles Pin

I’m assuming you could make these with homemade cinnamon rolls, but y’all know that’s not how I roll. Roll…get it? Cinnamon roll? Hahaha, I crack myself up. And I’m pretty sure it’s not the first time I’ve made that joke on here. #Lame. {Moving on…} I will bust out with Quick & Easy Cinnamon Rolls on occasion, but for these, I used canned cinnamon rolls by Pillsbury. The ‘syrup’ is just a little of the icing that comes with them. Then we added sprinkles. Because it was Halloween and sprinkles are fun. (Even though I think they taste nasty. Kids like ’em however.)

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Enjoy!

 

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , , ,  (Tuesday) ,, ,  (Wednesday) , , , ,  (Thursday) , ,  (Friday) , , , ,, , , , 

Toffee Brownies {4 Ingredients!}

I love quick and easy recipes and this one satisfies a chocolate craving with just 4 ingredients. It’s a take on one of my blog’s most popular recipes, Chocolate Pudding Dump Cake but uses one of my favorite candies…Heath!

4 Ingredient Toffee Brownies EAH
I’ve shared the recipe for these deliciously easy Toffee Brownies over at , where I am a contributing writer. I’d love for you to head over and check it out!

3-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies {no cake mix!}

What if I said you can make delicious chocolate chip cookies with only 3 ingredients, and it does not contain cake mix? Yep, I’m for real. I’m the Queen of quick and easy recipes. Five ingredients or less, I’m in…3 ingredients? Even better.

My kids and I have made these a few times now, and each time I am surprised by how tasty they are. And how EASY!
All you need are graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate chips. Seriously!
They have a nice hearty texture (similar to oatmeal cookies), and I love the graham cracker and condensed milk flavor combo. I could seriously polish off that plate right now.

3-Ingredient Cookies

16 whole graham crackers (approx 3 1/4 cups coarse crumbs)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  • Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats (this is needed to prevent sticking)
  • Crush the graham crackers into coarse crumbs (a food processor makes easy work of this. I do not recommend using store-bough graham cracker crumbs or pulsing the graham crackers super fine, unless you cut back on the amount of crumbs used.)
  • In a large bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. Batter will be pretty thick.
  • Scoop tablespoon sized cookie balls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown around edges.
  • Allow to cool before removing from pan.
Recipe Source:
You may also be interested in my 2-Ingredient Apple Angel Food Cake or this 4-Ingredient Chocolate Dump Cake!
I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) ,  (Tuesday) , , (Wednesday)  (Thursday)  (Friday) ,, ,

Candy Bouquet {Dollar Tree DIY}

Since I’ve been MIA from the blog, I wanted to give you all a special gift. Like a bouquet of flowers maybe? Flowers are nice….but a candy bouquet is even better!
This is something I very quickly and easily put together from supplies found at my local Dollar Tree store. It would make a great “little something extra” for that special teacher (end-of-the-year is near!), graduations, birthdays or let the kids put one together for Father’s Day (June 21st!)
This one has a ‘base’ made of my oldest daughter’s favorite candy…Swedish Fish, but any “movie theater” box of candies will work. Then I added various candy, suckers, fun straws, and a balloon in the center. On the balloon, I put her name, using stick-on letters and her jersey # since this was for a sports thing (8th grade recognition night for Volleyball). The Skittles and gum packets were taped to lollipop sticks.
To make…you need 4 boxes of candy, the same size. Then you need one foam block, usually found with floral supplies, like this one…
Photo from
It doesn’t really matter what size, as long as the boxes of candy fit around it. You can also trim the blocks down if too tall.
  • Place the boxes of candy around the foam block, using duct tape, packaging tape, or glue to keep the boxes stable and adhered to block. Next, add your candy. If using suckers/lollipops, stick them evenly into and around the foam block, like you would flowers! Then, fill in spaces with other candy (attached to lollipop/cake pop sticks) or use straws or anything else you would like. Get creative! Now you have your own bouquet to share…
At least she was supposed to share…
I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday)  (Tuesday) , , (Wednesday)  (Thursday)  (Friday) ,, ,

Fun Graduation Treats

Whether you are celebrating high school, college, or Kindergarten graduations soon, these fun graduation treats will make any age graduate feel extra special. We will be celebrating 1st, 6th and 8th grade graduations so I will have an excuse to make them as well! (As an added bonus, they are no-bake treats!)

30 Minute Kid-Friendly Meals {using biscuits, crescent roll or pizza dough}

I know many of you are in the same situation as I am…Spring Sports. The constant running of children from school to practice to games, etc. When is practice? Dinner time. So when do you feed the kids? For us it has to be something super quick and easy. Sometimes portable! Today’s round-up comes from my stash of recipes using store-bought biscuits, crescent roll dough or pizza dough. I try not to rely on these too often, but sometimes you just need some shortcuts, and I still think it’s healthier than the choices my kids would make in a drive-thru!

The most popular on the blog are the “Bubble Up” Recipes, using canned biscuits. These are a hit with my kids as well.

Bubble Up Taco Casserole


Bubble Up Garlic Cheese Bread – not a meal in itself, but serve with a salad and fruit; or with soup/chili…


Bubble Up Pizza – add any ingredients your family likes on a pizza. This is one of the top viewed recipes on my blog and I see different versions all over Pinterest.


Ham and Cheese Bubble Up – this could go for breakfast or dinner!

Speaking of Breakfast…or dessert!

Blueberry Maple Bubble Up


Bubble Up Apple Pie

Other recipes using canned biscuits – 

Ham and Cheese Melts – basically a hand pie made with biscuits…fill with anything you like!


Chicken and Biscuits Casserole

Pizza Cupcakes


Biscuit Breakfast Casserole – another breakfast or dinner option. We love breakfast for dinner!


And a quick and easy breakfast option – Copycat Burger King Cini-Minis

Pizza Dough is also a great option for quick and easy meals. Obviously you can make traditional pizza, but you can also make some fun variations.

Upside Down Pizza Casserole


Pizza ‘Braid’ – this can have any fillings you want, and you can use pizza dough or crescent roll dough. It’s the presentation that makes this one unique!


“Stromboli” 


Stuffed Crust Pizza – this is SO easy and my kids love it. Can you have too much cheese?

And another breakfast option –

Yes, pizza dough to the rescue for Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Crescent Roll Dough

Crescent Roll Pizza Ring – again, fill it with anything your family likes. Throw some veggies in there if your kids will eat them!

Crescent Breakfast Casserole

I also like frozen rolls or bread dough, but it has to be thawed in advance. Both of these can be made with biscuits as well.

Pizza Monkey Bread 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monkey Bread – this is usually a “special occasion” breakfast, and requires prep time the night before, but with Mother’s Day coming soon I thought I would include it!

I also have a shortcut for Caramel Sticky Buns using store bought cinnamon rolls.

So what are your “go-to” meals when there is no time?! I also love the crock-pot, and will do a round up of those soon.

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday)  (Tuesday) , , (Wednesday)  (Thursday)  (Friday) ,, ,