Marinated Pork Tenderloin Recipe

This is to die for!!! Simply AMAZING and one of the best parts about making it: besides the pork, I had everything at home to make it! YAY!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

4-6 lbs pork tenderloin
1 1/2 cup oil (canola or olive oil) **I would omit this all together if putting in crock pot
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt **I would omit the salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 garlic cloves, minced)

Combine all ingredients and whisk gently. Pour marinade into gallon bag with pork tenderloin. Let marinate over night or no less than 4 hours. The longer you marinade, the better this tastes!
Heat grill to medium high heat. Sit pork out and let it get to room temperature, this will allow the meat to cook more evenly.
Remove pork from marinade, and reserve marinade. Cook pork for around 25-35 minutes or use a meat thermometer and pull once it reaches 145 -150 degrees for medium.
Let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting, this locks all the juices in. Cut into 1-2 inch medallions.
Heat reserved marinade in a small sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil for about 5 minutes. DO NOT use the marinade without first cooking it! It was sitting in raw meat, so you don’t want to do that!
Serve pork medallions with marinade as a sauce, and I even serve the sauce over mashed potatoes!

*My CROCK POT notes: I threw all the ingredients in the crock pot and cooked it ALL DAY LONG (10 hours on low). I served it over brown rice. It just fell apart and was so delicious. I would forgo the oil and salt --unnecessary, in my opinion.

Most importantly, my 5 year old daughter ate TWO helpings. This recipe is a total keeper and will become a regular in my rotation. :)

Original recipe found HERE!

Crock pot Chicken & Dumplings

Crock pot Chicken & Dumplings --very easy!!!

Doesn't this look delicious? This lovely Fall-like weather has inspired me to post one of my family's FAVORITE dishes.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 boneless chicken breasts or 6 boneless chicken tenderloins, frozen OR thawed (it doesn't matter)
1 chopped onion
can of cream of chicken
can of cream of celery
a few shakes of poultry seasoning
a few shakes of thyme
a can of refrigerated biscuits

(fill soup cans with water or add a can of chicken broth)

Add everything to crock pot except for biscuits. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. When you have an hour left, tear up the biscuits and push them down into the mixture. They'll cook but still be a little gooey like dumplings.
My notes: The original recipe called for 2 cans of biscuits but I just use one and cut them up into tiny pieces. This way I feel like I'm getting more dumplings without the extra calories. :)

I use fat-free soups, so besides the biscuits, it's really not that bad for you. Also, I sometimes only let the biscuits cook for 20-30 min --b/c we are in such a hurry to eat. I know it says to cook for 5-6 hours on high but obviously that doesn't work for me (full-time working momma)! So, I cook it on low all day long then crank it up to high when I put the biscuits in. I usually forgo the seasoning and just do a few shakes of Italian seasoning and add a little chicken broth. You really can't screw it up. No matter how I make it, it always taste the same lol.

The kids gobble this one up and they frequently request this one, too! Speaking of the kids, this is one of those recipes I can sneak vegetables in without hearing any complaining. I typically add carrots and mushrooms. YUM!

I would give credit to where I found this awesome recipe but, honestly, I've been making this for so many years that I have no idea where the recipe came from. I've also tweaked it so many times to our liking, I'm not sure how similar it is to the original anyways. :)

Linking up to Tasty Tuesdays and Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesdays. Blessed with Grace, Balancing Beauty & Bedlam and A Stroll Thru Life, Fudge Ripple, These Creative Juices, All the Small Stuff

Cafe Rio Chicken

This chicken is perfect for either tacos, burritos or nachos which means leftovers are awesome because you can have burritos one night and nachos the next! :) I love it when that happens!!!

My friend, Meghan, gave me this awesome recipe. I could not get over how EASY it was and anyone who knows me well, knows that when the crock pot is involved then I am ALL OVER IT!

Cafe Rio Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (I use fat free and works great!)
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast

and whatever toppings you like for tacos/burritos/nachos!

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

*I cook mine on low for 8-10 hours and the meat just falls apart! No manual shredding involved. :)

My family loves fresh cilantro so I top it with that and sharp shredded cheddar cheese. I usually get corn taco size tortillas or whole wheat burrito size tortillas. Sometimes I will serve it with a side of rice or beans but most of the time just the tacos/burritos are enough to fill everyone up.

Credit: Recipe came from here.

Meghan also makes the rice but added this note: I usually do 3 cups water to 2 cups rice because when you add all the additional liquid from the blender it equals about a cup. I also use a full small onion and a bouillon cube, and I add juice from 1 lime to the blended stuff too. I've never tried the salad dressing recipe, but it sounds good too!