Pork Roast with Black Eyed Peas

I am super late with this post but.....hey, It's still January so you can, maybe, implement this yummy recipe next New Years! HA!!

I have Southern and Northern roots in my blood. Family from up North but born and semi-raised in the South. If I had to choose I would pick the South. Better food, friendly people, BUTTER!!

Now don't get me wrong, the North can throw down in the kitchen. I have been to many a fine restaurant, but there is just something about Southern comfort food that does a body good.

Every new year I make a pork roast, with sour kraut and black-eyed peas. This is all supposed to bring good luck based on Northern and Southern beliefs. Pork and sour kraut from the North and black-eyed peas from the south. I'm a pretty lucky girl by my standards at least.

This was good stuff here. Yummy food. Tasty. Delicious. Seasoned. Northern and Southern delightful.

Pork Roast

2 lb. Pork Tenderloin
2 sprigs Rosemary (remove from stems and finely chop)
3 chopped cloves of garlic
1 tsp Tumeric
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
1/4 c. Olive Oil

Wash and pat dry the pork tenderloin. Using a small paring knife make about 10-15 little slits in the top of the pork. This is to stuff the seasoning into the meat. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Using your fingers grab some of the seasoning and begin to stuff inside of the little slits. Once all are stuffed rub the rest of the seasoning all over the meat. Place in a ziplock bag and let marinate for 2-24 hours. The longer the better. Bake uncovered in a small baking dish at 400 degrees until meat thermometer reads 140-145 degrees. Take out of oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice thin. Enjoy.

Grilled Tilapia and Lemon Seasoned Zucchini

It is still pretty hot here in Texas so I wanted to fire up the grill before the cold set in. It's comin' y'all!

I grilled this amazing tilapia and zucchini after marinating it for a few hours. It was delicious.

 This recipe is so simple. You just need a little salt and pepper, lemon, and olive oil. 

Slice the zucchini length wise and then slice in half. Be sure to cut the ends off, as they can be a little tough. 

Zest a lemon.

Put the zucchini in a ziplock bag along with some salt and pepper, the zest of the lemon, and the juice from the whole lemon that was zested. Seal the bag and shake to incorporate all of the flavors. Place in the refrigerator to marinate. I did this in the morning and then took it out for dinner. 

Wash and pat dry tilapia. Season with Gazebo Room Greek Dressing and Zatarains Big and Zesty Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Remove Zucchini from the refrigerator and fire up the grill!  

This is the end product. A nice healthy dinner that is Paleo friendly! 

Shrimp Fried Rice

I made a yummy chicken fried rice with lots of vegetables hidden within. It was so flavorful and could be a side dish or main dish. 

I chopped up red and green cabbage, yellow, red and orange bell peppers, purple onions, green onions, and heated up some frozen peas. 

Shrimp Fried Rice

1 lb. Shrimp, no tail, peeled and deveined

2 c. cooked rice

1 c. chopped red cabbage

1 c. chopped green cabbage

1/4 c. each chopped red, orange, yellow bell pepper

1.2 c. chopped red onion

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 c. frozen peas thawed

1 egg scrambled

1/4 c. soy sauce (will separate throughout recipe)

1/4 c. honey (will separate throughout recipe)

4 tbsp. rice vinegar  (will separate throughout recipe)

4 tbsp. olive oil  (will separate throughout recipe)

In large dutch oven heat 2 tbsp. olive oil. Cook garlic and onion until onion is translucent. Add in Shrimp with 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp. honey, 2 tbsp. rice vinegar. Let cook until shrimp are cooked through. Carefully put mixture with sauce into a bowl and put aside for later. Heat remaining olive oil in pan and add cabbage and bell pepper, cook until cabbage is wilted. Add in peas, rice, egg, and shrimp mixture. Add in remaining sauces slowly, stirring to coat rice. 

Chicken and Dumplings

My hubby had to get his wisdom teeth out a few weeks ago so it was my duty as a wife to make sure he had soft foods to eat. After a few days he was able to chew a little more "tougher" foods so I decided to make him chicken and dumplings. I never made this before and have seen a zillion different versions of it. One of my favorite You Tube vloggers, April from CookWithApril, made a similar soup so I decided to put my own twist on it.

I used my crockpot and let the chicken simmer all day in spices. Once it was done I shredded the meat, turned the heat up to high, put the biscuits (dumplings), covered, and let it cook. It was ready in 30 minutes and boy was it delicious. 

Chicken and Dumplings

1 can of refrigerated biscuits

2 chicken breasts

1/2 c. chopped green, red, and yellow bell pepper

1/2 c. purple onion

1 tsp. tumeric

2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

2 c. water

*1 Knorr Homestyle Stock

*You can just use 2 cans of chicken stock but the Knorr adds all of the seasonings so there won't be a need for salt or pepper. If you use the chicken stock you will need to add in salt a pepper.

Place all ingredients, except for biscuits in a crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Shred chicken and put back in crock put, stirring all ingredients in crock put together. Turn crock put to high setting. Cut 5 biscuits into fourths and place on top of the soup mixture. You will cover the entire mixture with the dough so be sure to fit all of the pieces in. You may need to add more biscuits if you have a fairly larger crockpot or if you used more chicken. Cover with lid and let cook for 30 minutes. 

Peach Pie

These yummy peaches were a part of an amazing and quick dessert that I made last week. I had some peaches that were in the fridge. I wanted to make something with them; smoothie, cake, fresh fruit salad......but none of that seemed appealing at the time. I am a big fan of the blog How Sweet It Is. The writer is from Pittsburgh, PA. This amazing city has a special place in my heart. She made and amazing Ginger Peach Galette with Almond Crust. I wanted to recreate this with my own twist and ingredients. I didn't have time to make a fresh pie crust so I just used a frozen deep dish one. I took it out of the foil pan it came in, and rolled it out until it was 1/4 thick and kind of circular around. 

My yummy Peaches!! 

Ingredients:

1 deep dish pie crust

3 peaches peeled and sliced

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 egg + a few drops of water (egg wash) beaten together

1/4 c. of your favorite nut, chopped. I used walnuts

1 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine peaches and next 3 ingredients together. Mix well and set aside for at least 10-15 minutes. Roll out pie crust to 1/4 inch thick. It should be kind of circular around but there is not a particular shape that it needs to be in. Place dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put the peaches mixture in the center of the of the crust leaving at least a 1-2 inch border. Fold the crust over the top of the peaches leaving the middle exposed. Brush the crust with the beaten egg wash and layer with you favorite chopped or sliced nuts. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. of sugar. Bake for 40 minutes or until crust is browned and cooked underneath. 

Shrimp Tacos

I made these shrimp tacos out of shear desperation for something quick and easy. It's hot here in Texas and I some days when the temperature is 100+ degrees, I don't feel like turning on the oven or slaving over the stove. These shrimp tacos are fresh and easy to do. I used a cast iron skillet to heat the tortillas. They taste much better than just putting them in the microwave or eating them straight out of the package. 

Ingredients:

Your favorite taco seasoning (I used Penzy's Fajita Seasoning)

1 lb. shrimp

3 tbsp. olive oil

8-10 yellow corn tortillas

2 c. shredded cabbage

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Salsa

Limes

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Coat shrimp in taco seasoning. I like it spicy so I add about 3 tbsp. of the Penzy's seasoning. Cook shrimp in skillet until pink and cooked through. In a black cast iron skillet, warm tortillas. Put 4-5 shrimp in one tortilla. Top with cabbage, salsa, and lime juice. Enjoy! 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Picture is kind of blurry, but trust me this is great! 

I really tried to get a better picture but the food feature on my camera was not cooperating that day. This was the best photo that I could get. 

I used the Gazebo Room Dressing again. This time I used the vinaigrette version to marinate the chicken and it did not disappoint. I marinated it the night before I was going to make this so that the flavors would be even more intense. 

Once the chicken was marinated I wrapped each chicken breast (you could use thighs too) in two pieces of bacon with then ends of the bacon tucked underneath the chicken so that it would stay put. I put the chicken on a foil lined sheet pan with sides. I cut up some potatoes, added carrots, and sprinkled everything with 2 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, 1 tbsp. olive oil, dash of salt, and pepper. I baked it at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. After about 30 minutes in the oven I used a metal spatula and flipped over the potatoes and carrots so that they would not burn.