You know a marketing campaign is good, when years after it has run its course, you still recall their slogan. I love pork and I think calling it the “other” white meat sells itself short sometimes. My new favorite cut, is pork tenderloin. It is succulent, delicious and is the perfect canvas to absorb all sorts of flavors. The fact that it is relatively lean doesn’t hurt either – especially this time of year.
The recipe I made last night was inspired by one of my favorite wing recipes, Maple Wings. If you have never tried this recipe, you definitely should – they are sensational and everyone always raves about them. I can’t tell you the number of times I have given out that recipe. The combination of soy sauce, teriyaki and maple syrup is spectacular and really brings out the natural flavors in the pork. I love to serve this dish with my Ginger Rice and a cool cucumber salad. Sooooo good!
Maple Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin (approximately 1.5-2 pounds)
2/3 c. pure maple syrup
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. teriyaki sauce (preferably Yoshida’s)
1 T. finely minced garlic
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. crushed red pepper
Directions
Put pork tenderloin in a ziploc bag. In a separate bowl, mix all the remaining ingredients and pour into the ziploc bag. Marinate for as long as you can – overnight, if possible.
Remove pork from the plastic bag and grill or bake in a 400 degree oven until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
While the pork is cooking, boil the remaining marinade in the bag for atleast 10 minutes.
When the pork is finished, slice and serve with the marinade as a sauce.
Now, wasn’t that easy!
There is a Mediterranean restaurant that my husband and I absolutely love going to called, Mediterranean Kitchen. The food is so flavorful (think super garlicky and lemony) and although it isn’t the place to go if you are on a first date (unless you are into that sort of thing) it is definitely the place to go if you want something crazy garlicky good.
I love Mediterranean food which is why I am so excited to share my recipe for a Greek Quinoa Salad that I created. I am always looking for new ways to incorporate these fresh flavors into my cooking so when I found a recipe for a greek salad with yogurt dressing I knew it would be a winner.
The dressing itself is delicious and not only is great as a dressing but also is amazing utilized as a sauce as well. I did create this recipe to be a little more garlicky, a lot more lemony and a touch lighter (in calories) by adding both olive oil and chicken stock then traditional dressings/sauces. I used Greek yogurt for its added protein punch and added quinoa and garbanzo beans to make this salad super filling.
I have been cooking a ton lately, but everything has been so healthy I was craving something that was decadent and blog worthy. Even though I have been trying to cook healthier I can not and will not ever give up sugary, decadent delights such as this Orange Scented White Chocolate Toffee.
The base is the same that I use for my original toffee which is butter, sugar, almonds and vanilla, however in this case I use orange extract in place of the vanilla extract. The orange extract I use is Nielsen-Massey’s Orange Extract, which you can find on Amazon here. I find this extract lends the toffee a mild orange flavor without tasting artificial.
There are still many delicious healthy recipes to be posted, but as with everything in life there needs to be some balance and this Orange Scented White Chocolate Toffee brings balance into my life – well this and Proseco. 🙂
I love going to Farmer’s Markets. I always come home with an abundance of veggies and while I have the best of intentions to you use them all, often times I fall short. Those days are over now with this recipe for Summer Gazpacho Pasta Salad.
In my quest to use up the inordinate amount of fresh veggies I had on hand, I decided to make Gazpacho. Now I love Gazpacho, but unfortunately I am the lone one in my home with this love. My husband doesn’t care for it much and I won’t even attempt to try and feed this to my boys…until now… You see, I had this huge bowl of yummy Gazpacho in my fridge and decided to use it as a pasta sauce on some thin spaghetti last night. Add a bunch of parmesan, fresh basil, salt, pepper and you have a healthy, delicious meal that will definitely satisfy. What else could one ask for?
I have a confession…I am not the best at doing eye makeup, which is why Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara has become my beauty BFF. When I refer to doing bad at eye makeup, I want to clarify that I am referring to eye shadow, so I rely heavily on my lashes.
Since I rely so heavily on my lashes to bring my makeup look together, I am a complete freak about making sure whatever mascara I use doesn’t bleed and create raccoon eyes. I have tried all brands, formulas (waterproof and regular), and colors. Enter Clinique’s Bottom Lash Mascara, $10 at Sephora. This is a formula that doesn’t budge – I have never used a formula for my bottom lashes that worked so incredibly well. The mascara gently sculpts your lower lashes, lengthens them and even though your lashes will be stretched to maximize their effect, the color doesn’t flake onto your lower eyelid.
A couple of things to note – this is a tiny tube. When I first received it I was shocked at how tiny it was. Also, the brush is teeny, tiny, itty bitty. It is great to work those lower lashes, but it is so tiny I was surprised when I saw it so I thought I would mention that as well.
In a nutshell, I freaking love this stuff! It is not often that I buy 2 tubes of an item to make sure that if they do discontinue this item, I have backups – however I did just that with this product. Those amazing Pinterest pins featuring breathtaking eyeshadow looks are not something I have been able to master yet, but that will come (I hope.)
In the meantime, I am getting older and I need all the help I can get, so I am LOVING this mascara and definitely recommend trying it.
Here is an image of the magical mascara:
Here are some celebrities with amazing bottom lashes (I don’t know if they used this mascara, but this just reaffirms how much impact great lower eyelashes add to an overall look):
