Quick, Late Pork

Cost: $8

Prep: 20 minutes

I told Matt that I had yoga at 6:10 PM, but he still wanted to go to Walmart before dinner. So, 5:55 I am getting dinner on the table, and 6:10 I was out the door.

I ate the salad and a bit of the Stove Top.

After yoga, I was so hungry, I indulged in Tim Bits and tea. Oh well! Dessert is important sometimes!

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Cost: $10

Prep: 20 minutes

Mom is going out! But, before she does, she has been kind enough to feed her men.

I put a pork roast in the slow cooker this afternoon, along with onion, garlic, rosemary, potatoes, and carrots.

For the veggies, I served them my leftover lunch. Seriously. The lunch was grilled veggies, and it was WAY too big a serving for me to eat all at once, so the boys had a hearty serving with dinner.


Okay boys, I have a date! See you later!

Love Mom

BBQ Pork Steak

Cost: $10

Prep: 15 minutes

Another night, another chance to barbeque. We had a giant package of marinated pork shoulder steaks, of which we only ate 1/2.

We kept it simple otherwise: sour cream noodles and steamed broccoli.

Creamy Noods

Cost: $8

Prep: 20 minutes

The pork was simply marinated pork from Thrifty's, and the pasta was just Cattelli Smart. The broccoli was simply steamed before being mixed in.

The added flare to this meal was a new product, Philadelphia Cooking Cream. It was on sale for less than $3 at Walmart. I have to say though, I wasn't a fan. It was way too thick. Granted, there were no directions on the package, so I may have prepared it wrong.

Tiny Pork Meal

Cost: $7

Prep: 10 minutes

As this was a few days ago, I remember very little of this meal. I do remember thinking, "If I see steamed broccoli again, I am going to scream." Later, I thought, "If I eat any more steamed broccoli, I will puke." But it is so hard to make nutritionally valuable veggies that do not take a ton of time. I should research something new. Matt was also so bored with it, he tried chili sauce on some (thumbs up) and pork rub on the rest (thumbs down).

The side dish with an unremarkable pesto Sidekick. The meat were surprisingly decent think cut pork somethings from Walmart. I don't remember what the flavour was supposed to be, but it was quite spicy.

To Grandmother's House We Went

Another night I didn't have to cook! Hooray! (Btw- I also didn't cook Friday because I went to my mom and dad's.)

We were invited to my grandma's for two reasons: (1) they didn't get a good chance to visit with us on Easter because there were so many people and (2) so Matt could fix their wireless.

Dinner at my grandma's can kind of be hit and miss. Pork chops with mushroom gravy (hit); a package of bologna (miss); roast beef (hit); A&W chicken (hit or miss depending who you ask).

Tonight was a definite hit. My grandma made a little roast pork with all the sidedishes. She made mashed potatoes, roast carrots and onions, gravy, canned green beans, fantastic homemade apple sauce, and a garlic asparagus dish.

For dessert, my grandma got a giant pie from Superstore. For a store bought pie, it was really good. She served it with vanilla ice cream and cheddar cheese.

I love my grandma so much, and this meal was total family comfort food.

Carrots and onions

Roast po

Asparagus, apple sauce, mashed potaotes

Gravy

Matt's super size dessert

Charlie and his dessert; he was horribly messy at the end though

My dessert

Costco Souvlaki Pork and Qoola

Cost: $7 (for 4 meals)

Prep: 15 minutes

My friend is staying with us for the next few days, so I have been a bit distracted with my cooking and much more focused with my visiting.

We pulled some souvlaki pork (maybe tenderloin?) from the freezer and made a very basic dinner. We use this pork to make actual souvlaki sometimes, but I always freeze these chops in pairs so we can have them other ways. I just cooked these in the oven, and the rub that is on them needs no improvement.

For side dishes, we had steamed broccoli and (Sidekick's) scalloped potatoes, which I have discovered that I don't like.

Honestly, it was a lame meal, but the focus was on the company anyways, and on the Qoola we got for dessert.

I love Qoola. I sampled the peanut butter and mint, but I don't think I could do an entire cup of either. I settled on a trifecta of blood orange, mango sorbet, and mixed berry sorbet. The mixed berry was my favorite, but all were good. For toppings, I had yoghurt chips, coconut, mango sauce, kiwi, strawberry, one chocolate mint square, 1 piece of brownie, LOTS of mochi, and all three types of those little juice balls--man those are good! I almost always have the same toppings and am never disappointed with the freshness and quality.

I also love how the same workers are there, and I am pretty sure the one boy is the son of the owner. Even thinking this, and sometimes seeing the owner, makes me want to be there. It makes me feel like they care about their business and, therefore, their customers.

My only problem is that I have trouble controlling myself and end up spending more than I want, hence my $7 sundae.

Italian Pork Roast

Cost: $12

Prep: 20 minutes

We tried Walmart meat again tonight, and it wasn't bad. We bought an Italian Pork Roast. Although it was very fatty, it was tasty. But, it was REALLY fatty, like an entire inch on the top, and I am not sure if it is just the cut or if it is supposed to be like that.

We paired this with some 1/2 baked finished baking bread, steamed broccoli, and an alfredo noodle Sidekick.

Post Village Stir-fry

So, after our delicious lunch at Japanese Village, I couldn't even think about dinner. However, Matt and Charlie still needed to eat.

So, first, Charlie spread Cheerios all over the floor and ate those.

Then I told Matt I was on a cooking strike, but there was some pork he could cook in the fridge. He decided on a stir-fry. He used some lime leaves, specifically kefir. He used the last of the Chinatown carrots, some beans, broccoli, maybe some other stuff, some sauce, the pork, maybe some spices, I dunno.

I did have a couple bites off Charlie face, but I really couldn't eat. Charlie ate it though and loved it!

My plate: still clean

Family dinner

Another slow-cooker day! It was nice not to have to take too much time away from being a family to make the evening meal today.

I made a slow-cooker pork roast today. I used a recipe from the "Fix It and Forget It" cookbook my friend Jamie lent me. Although I did not have all the ingredients, the recipe was called "Savoury Pork Roast".

The recipe called for simple ingredients: onions, bay leaf, and soy sauce along with the roast. I didn't have a bay leaf, and I accidentally spilled far too much soy sauce in. I also added carrots and potatoes.

I paired the roast with steamed green beans, zucchini with butter and parmesan, and Pillsbury crescent rolls (leftover from Christmas-time--must use up). Using the drippings and soy sauce from the bottom of the pot, I made a surprisingly good gravy. Little cups of apple sauce completed the spread.

My parents, even my mom who is a fantastic cook, gave their approval! So, I guess I can safely say week 1 was a success.

Happy Valentine's Day: Here's some leftovers and pork

Cost: under $10

Prep time: minimal, maybe 15 minutes

Tuesdays are a very difficult dinner day. Matt coaches until well after the time that Charlie is a grumpy-hungry-maniac boy. It is difficult for me to keep Charlie occupied and have dinner going. Last week, Charlie dumped the entire pitcher of water into the crisper while I was making a chicken dinner.

So, I selected something easy for dinner tonight. I think I will try to make things that do not need the oven on Tuesdays (and also Thursday...and sometimes Wednesdays. Hmmm, this may not work...).  Anyway, the oven is the most difficult as Charlie runs for it every time the door is open, and I end up with a smokin' hot pan in my hands while holding a baby back with one foot. Not cool. Literally.

I started prepping tonight's dinner last night by cutting up the leftover potatoes and onions for hashbrowns tonight.

I put the pork steaks on at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, and took them out 10 minutes ahead to let them "set". Is that something real? Who knows? It was a big pack for only $6, and we set one aside for a meal on Thursday night.

Today....

I reheated the carrots and beans from yesterday and steamed up a big pack of asparagus.

It was not a bad meal: nothing exciting, but nothing horrifying. There was no crying either, from me or Charlie. That is a good measure of success here at dinnertime.

Yesterday.....