Honey Lime Pork Roast

I have been in love with the new flavor combination of honey and lime. It's tart and sweet and tastes delicious on every meat type I have tried so far (beef, chicken and now pork).

In my usual shopping splurges I bought a pork roast thinking I haven't served that in awhile in my home. But as it sat in my fridge for 2 days, I didn't have a plan for it yet until I saw that I had two limes left in the BACK of my fridge. Inspiration struck and, as usual, I'm oh so glad I followed it.

I love the sweet crust this loin produced from the honey and the slight bursts of heat from the jalapeno. Yum!

Enjoy this tangy, fresh and savory recipe.

Honey Lime Pork Roast                       Serves 5-6

Juice of two limes

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3-4 fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
2 lb pork roast, or tri tip roast

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a resealable Ziplock bag, squeeze bag slightly to mix. Place roast on a cutting board and cut 2-3 deep slashes into the meat, move roast into the marinade bag; seal tightly. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9 roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place a roasting rack at the bottom, generously sprayed with non-stick stray if desired. Remove roast from marinade, place on the rack. Scoop out a few garlic chunks and jalapenos, push into the slashes made earlier. 

3. Bake for 25-35 minutes per pound of roast, or until meat thermometer reaches 160°F. Let stand 10 minutes under a foil tent to keep in the heat.

4. Serve, sliced on the diagonal with steamed vegetables and quinoa or rice.

Calories calculated using Sparkrecipes Calculator: 328 calories per serving

Fish Tacos

I LOVE fish tacos. They always remind of of sitting by the ocean and smelling the salty air, being in a foreign place with fresh produce and just having a good time.

I just recently saw this Taco Festival online last night that I REALLY want to go to some day, and the number one most searched for taco recipe? Fish! I don't think my tacos can compare to their seemingly gourmet ones, but they are delicious and the uncomplicated kind (which to me is better).

These tacos are great for quick dinners (not to mention so much healthier then most packaged quick dinners) and they can feed a lot of people if you are having a party.

Fish Tacos                                      Serves 4 -3 tacos each

2 lbs. fresh Tilapia fillets or any favorite fish

2 tbl butter, melted
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder

8 " flour tortillas

2 cups shredded cabbage

2 green onions, sliced

salt

Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 fresh lime, juiced

Garnish:

sour cream

salsa

fresh lime wedges

1. Thaw fish if frozen and pat dry with a paper towel. Place on a cutting board and cut into diagonal 2" long strips. Spray a shallow baking dish that is big enough to fit all your pieces, lay fish inside dish.

2. Pre-heat your oven to 350F. In a small cup, combine butter, cumin and garlic, brush over fish. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.

3. Meanwhile, shred cabbage and slice green onions if you haven't done so already. In another small cup, combine lime juice and mayonnaise, set aside.

4. When fish are done, remove them the oven and lightly salt to taste. Warm your tortillas however you like. I like to take a small saute pan and turn the heat onto med-high. Place tortilla in the pan and let it warm one side until slightly puffy and dark spots appear on the tortilla, flip and do the same to the other side. This takes about 2 mins per tortilla.

5. Assemble tacos by taking a warm tortilla in the hand, slather a tsp-tbl of mayo-lime sauce on one side. Fill with a large pinch of cabbage, then 2-4 pieces of fish pieces. Top with green onions and other desired garnishes.

Calories calculated using Sparkrecipes Calculator: 423 Calories for 3 tacos, does not include salsa or sour cream.

Lemon and White Chocolate Scones

One of my favorite flavors is lemon. In fact, I most often will choose lemon over any other flavor. There is something about it's taste that is both refreshing and soul warming.

It reminds you of the warm sun on a summer's morning and the refreshing scent that triggers our thoughts of clean homes and fresh produce.

My lemon tree is just exploding now (yay!) and I will soon have a lot of yummy lemon posts to share once I get around too it.

My kick start recipe? Lemon and White Chocolate Scones. Yum...  

Lemon and White Chocolate Scones            Makes 8

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/3-inch cubes

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Mix sugar and lemon zest with hands until aromatic. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon-sugar mix. Add the cut butter and mix just until coated with flour. The butter chunks should be an obvious presence, let them not be less than half their original size.

2. Add the white chocolate chips. Stir gently.  Slowly add the buttermilk and mix until just absorbed. Stop mixing when the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Pre-Heat oven to 350F. Scrape the dough from the bowl and drop by rounded tablespoons.

4. For the classic scone shape, form the dough into a ball. Pat the dough into a 7-inch disk. Cut into quarters and then again into eighths. Set the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Drizzle with your favorite glaze. I used my leftover vanilla bean glaze from my pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

Calories calculated using Sparkrecipes Calculator: 255 calories per scone

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

So in my annual hunt to find new recipes for one of my favorite flavors: pumpkin, I came across the simple idea of Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls at Taste of Home.

It wasn't a new idea, but it just hit me, that I REALLY needed to make these. Have you ever had a recipe haunt you? Well this was mine.

I took my favorite cinnamon roll recipe, added a dash of pumpkin flavors to it and topped it off with a vanilla bean glaze....ooooh.

These are seriously dangerous. I won't make these unless it's for a crowd because these can VERY easily be gobbled up by one person. And if you are inviting me over, that one person will be me. ;)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls          Makes 15-20 rolls

Rolls

3/4 cup milk

2 1/2 teaspoon yeast

1/3 cup  sugar

1 cup pumpkin

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

4- 5 cups all purpose flour

Filling

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup natural sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg, fresh grated or ground

1/2 tsp cloves, ground

1/2 tsp ginger, ground

Pumpkin Glaze

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4-1/2 cup milk
1/2 vanilla bean
4 oz cream cheese

Instructions

1. Heat milk (either in a sauce pan or microwave) until milk begins to simmer- add butter. Let cool until a warm temperature (about 120˚).

2. In a deep bowl, add milk mixture, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for five minutes. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour, salt, pumpkin, eggs and mix until combined. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough forms a nice ball and pulls away from the bowl. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and knead the dough until smooth and elastic- at least eight minutes.

3. Grab a clean separate bowl, lightly spray the dough with cooking oil and place in a warm draft free spot until dough has doubled in size (around an hour and a half.)

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 10 by 14 rectangle.

Rub room temperature butter over entire surface and cover with sugar and spice mixture (if it has the words sugar and spice in it, you know it's going to be good!). Roll the dough into a log. Cut into 12-16 1 inch thick pieces. Place in a sprayed pan. I would suggest a 9x13 pan. I myself don't have a pan that big, so I used an 8x8 and a 7x11 pan for 15 rolls.

5. To cook for breakfast the next morning: Cover pans with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight. If you want to continue on, cover and let rise in a warm place for another hour and follow with remaining instructions.

6. The next morning, preheat the oven to 350˚ and remove cinnamon rolls from the fridge and let sit on top of the warm oven to warm and rise to the size you'd like. Mine took longer then I thought, about an hour.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cinnamon rolls are a nice golden brown color. Let cool slightly.

8. While cinnamon rolls bake, take out a small sauce pan and pour in milk. Scrap seeds out of vanilla bean and add to the milk, add vanilla stem too. Cook on low, being careful not to let the milk steam or boil. When the milk begins to smell aromatic, like vanilla turn off the heat. Meanwhile, whip cream cheese until soft and creamy. Mix in sugar slowly until combined. Remove vanilla stem, throw away. Slowly add milk mixture to sugar and cream cheese.

9. Once rolls are out of the oven and while cinnamon rolls are still warm, spoon icing over the rolls. Enjoy while warm (as if there is such a thing as cold cinnamon rolls!)

Calories calculated using Sparkrecipes Calculator: 266.7 calories per roll, with two tablespoons of glaze on top

Soft Pretzels

Last night I was bored and was in one of those snacking moods. But because I'm trying to be good, I make snacking harder to do. I don't just grab anything, I make myself make my snack and perhaps in the process I won't think it's worth the effort and will give up.

Well I got in my mind I wanted one of those big, soft pretzels with a sprinkling of course salt (yum!), so I set out how to make them.

I looked at a few recipes and modified them to make my own, and let me tell you, these pretzels were worth the effort. Even if you're not familiar with how to make bread, these are relatively easy to make and they turned out delicious.

I would love to make these again with my nieces. It's like working with playdough and you can make any fun shape you want!

Soft Pretzels                          Makes 10-15

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 1/8 tsp. active yeast (1 1/2 pkg)
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups warm water
2 Tbs. baking soda

To taste coarse salt
2−4 Tbs. butter (melted)

1. Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add

sugar, salt, and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth
and elastic. Let rise in a warm place at least 1/2 hour.

2. While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbs. baking soda. Be certain to stir often.

3. After dough has risen, pinch off half a handful or more of dough and roll into a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. There is a great tutorial here on how to get that classic twist shape. Dip pretzel into soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzel to rise again.

4. Bake at 450F for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted
butter and enjoy!

Toppings:

After you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. Or try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another bowl, make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously, then dip into the cinnamon mix. Let dry and enjoy.

I woke up this morning to find this. I guess someone else liked these too!

Pumpkin Butter

Dear Pumpkin, I'm so glad its Fall so that we get to hang out for the next few months. We're going to have so much fun together! But please, try not to make me fat, okay? xoxo, Sarah


Oh, hello. My pal, Pumpkin, and I were just having a little chat. You see, I love pumpkin, and it's actually really good for you but its often paired with things like butter, cream, sugar and other items that stick to your booty like a magnet. Making it...not so good for you. But have no fear, I am about to show you that you can still satisfy your pumpkin pie craving without having to break out your fat pants! (And don't act like you don't have fat pants.)

I recently discovered Pumpkin Butter.

Read this post carefully.

If you enjoy pumpkin flavored goodies but not all the taxing calories (or dollars) usually associated with that yummy pumpkin fix, Pumpkin Butter is your new (healthy) friend.

The limits to this goody are seemingly endless, I am VERY excited to show you all the yummy things you can use this pumpkin butter in besides simply just eating it!

For example...does someone reading this blog enjoy pumpkin spiced lattes? I thought so.

Read on, my friend. Read on.

Pumpkin Butter                 Makes 12+ servings

3 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, or 1 -29 ounce can (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup apple cider or juice
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp Saigon Cinnamon
1 tsp ginger, ground
1 tsp freshly grated (or ground) nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves, ground

1. Combine pumpkin, vanilla, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan; mix well.

2. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently! Sorry, this is one of those, "slave over a hot stove" kind of investment recipes. But, I promise, it's totally worth it! The mixture is going to burp and spit a little as the heat rises up and tries to find it's way out. If you walk away even just for 5 mins, I would recommend you put a splatter guard over your pot.

3. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, serve warm on toast. Store in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

It is NOT recommended that you can pumpkin butter or pureed pumpkin at any time. There is no proven method to preserve the acidity of the pumpkin.

Using SparkRecipes calculator: 83.6 calories per serving