Ham and Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

Have you been looking for a quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe? This dish is super easy and perfect for a busy family, yet looks and tastes special enough to prepare for dinner guests too. And to top it all off; it's prepared with just FIVE ingredients!! Perfection!! Don't let the lack of time and ingredients turn you off from trying this dish. Nearly every delicious bite is full of cheesy goodness and the sun-dried tomatoes offer an added "wow" factor that my family absolutely loved. Be sure to give this one a try!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

On a side note; my friend Sarah is tomorrow's (Thursday 10/22) featured blogger for SITS and is hosting a fantastic giveaway. Please check out her wonderful food blog and leave a comment to enter!!


Ham and Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

8 oz. uncooked linguine
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham

Cook linguine according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet coated with cooking spray, saute tomatoes for 1 minute. Reduce heat; stir in cream and cheese. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Simmer, uncovered , for 5-7 minutes or until thickened.

Drain linguine; stir into sauce mixture. Add ham; heat through.

Source: Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious Sep/Oct 2009

Pork Tostadas

These tostadas were the second dinner prepared from the original Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin posted earlier. I was so excited to be using left-over meat to prepare an entirely new and exciting meal.

These were absolutely delicious!! The combination of the spicy pork, salsa, and beans was perfect and packed with huge flavor! At first, I was tempted to leave out the black beans and salsa combination, that the recipe called for but after tasting the first bite of my tostada I was so thankful that I went ahead and prepared it! To be honest, the beans didn't look appetizing at all, but..oh, my they had tremendous flavor!

This meal was another successful one for our household, not only delicious and packed with tons of flavor but also a great savings on the weekly budget! Hooray!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Pork Tostadas

3 tablespoons corn oil
6 (5-inch) corn tortillas
3 cups Seasoned Black Beans (Recipe follows)
1 (15.5-ounce) jar prepared salsa
Guacamole (I omitted)
2 pork tenderloins, warmed and shredded
1 (16-ounce) container sour cream

In a large nonstick skillet, heat corn oil over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels.

In a small saucepan, add beans, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until all liquid has evaporated. Use a potato masher to mash beans.

To assemble tostadas, layer beans, salsa, guacamole, shredded pork and sour cream on each tortilla. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired.

Seasoned Black Beans
(I halved this recipe for our tostadas)

4 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook according to above directions.

Source: Cooking with Paula Deen Jan/Feb 2009

Spice Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

Lately I've been on the search for dinners and recipes that will offer and provide a couple of different meals throughout the week for our family. Trying to stretch our family grocery budget has become a priority with me not working over the summer months. And it never hurts to tighten up the budget strings anyway...just ask my husband! :)

Pork tenderloin was not on sale the week I had this on my menu so I hesitated a moment at the meat counter. These two loins were a total cost of $10.34. As I stood and figured out that I would be preparing three different meals for the six of us, I realized that the cost per person per meal for the meat was right around .55 cents. WOW-not such a bad deal after all!!

This recipe was quick and simple to prepare. After rubbing the loins with all the spices, I browned the meat for a few minutes per side to seal in the flavor and juices of the meat and then baked them for 20 minutes. Pretty easy, huh?!

The flavors of the spices on the tenderloins were fantastic!! It definitely had a little "kick" to it, but not too much that the kiddos wouldn't eat it.

In my next post I'll be sharing a recipe for Pork Tostadas using shredded pork reserved from this recipe!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!
Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
4 (1.5-pound pork tenderloins, trimmed)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine chili powder, coriander, cumin, kosher salt, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper. Coat tenderloins evenly with spice mixture.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook 1 tenderloin for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove tenderloin and place on prepared pan. Repeat with remaining olive oil and tenderloins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of tenderloin registers 155 degrees or desired degree of doneness. Slice to serve.

Source: Cooking with Paula Deen Jan/Feb 2009

Barbecue Pulled Pork

I love recipes that are simple yet are filled with such amazing flavor that it tastes as if I spent all day on it. With today's lifestyle for so many families, evening schedules are packed with a variety of extra-curricular activities that leave little time for the family to gather at the table to share a meal. Multiple studies show that families that sit together and share the evening meal three to four times per week have children that are more successful in school, are more communicative with parents and are less apt to experiment with drugs and alcohol. I don't know about you, but this seems like a such a simple way for me to to help keep my family safe, successful and confident.

My friend Sarah fixed this recipe not too long ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. It takes no time at all to throw into the slow cooker, let it cook, shred and serve. I think we ate this as leftovers for lunch for several days, and I never did tire of it. Yummy! She shared her recipe with me and my family loved it, it's now a regular on my monthly menu.

In today's tough economy, I've begun to try to save money any way I can at the grocery store without compromising flavor and taste to our meals. One item I've never been picky about brand names is barbecue sauce. That was until I had Sarah's pulled pork with Sweet Baby Ray's sauce. It was/is the best sauce I've ever tasted and now the only one I purchase. If you have never tried this bbq sauce, give it a try with the pulled pork. It's absolutely delish!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and your food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Barbecue Pulled Pork

Pork shoulder picnic roast (any size)
Minced garlic
Minced onion
1 stick butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place roast in slow cooker, salt and pepper to your taste, cover with minced onion and garlic. Cut the butter into small pads and dot the roast with it.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Remove roast to platter to pull apart. Pork should be pulled into bite sized strips.

I drain about half the liquid from the pot and keep the rest to mix with the bbq sauce and pork.

Place pulled pork and bbq sauce back into the slow cooker and warm to desired temperature. Serve on rolls.

Source: Sarah O'Brien

Honey Ham Quiche

Sometimes on busy nights, we love to have breakfast for dinner. When the kids were younger this meant only pancakes or waffles. They would never try anything that looked slightly different. But, thankfully times have changed and my precious little ones' tastebuds are beginning to venture out to new and exciting recipes. Whoo-Hoo!!

Not too long ago, I was craving something different. I had a ready-made pie crust in the fridge and decided to see what the family did with a quiche for dinner. If the kids didn't eat it, there was always cereal for them to eat.

I was so pleased with how this quiche turned out. With the artichokes and red peppers "in" the dish, the kids never suspected what they were eating and the swiss cheese was just the right amount that the kids recognized it and loved it. What kiddo doesn't like cheese? The sweetness of the honey ham went incredibly well with the eggs and the crispness of the pie crust completed the quiche to make a perfect dinner!! I have made this several times since that first time and I'm thrilled that our breakfast-for-dinner now includes a new recipe!!

Honey Ham Quiche

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. salt

3/4 c. solid shortening

4 T. cold water

1/3 c. sweet yellow onion, chopped

1 sweet red pepper, chopped

2 T. butter

7 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 c. sour cream

1/3 c. milk

3 T. parsley, chopped

4 oz. honey ham, chopped

14-oz. can artichoke hearts, chopped

4 oz. Swiss cheese, shredded

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Blend in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle with water, one tablespoon at a time, if dough is too stiff. Roll dough out thinly and place in a quiche dish. Bake crust for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In a skillet saute onions and red pepper in butter until tender. In a mixing bowl beat eggs, sour cream and milk thoroughly. Add parsley, ham, artichoke hearts and onions and red peppers. Pour over crust and sprinkle cheese over top. Bake until quiche is firm. Allow to stand 5 minutes, cut into wedges.

**I have used ready-made crusts the many times I've made this.

Source: Gooseberry Patch: Backyard Gatherings