Food Fun Family

Pork Tacos with Fresh Pico de Gallo

Lolli — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 13:07:06 +0000

Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield® Marinated Pork.

It’s back-to-school season, and that also means that we’re getting back to sports, back to homework, and back to eating our normal family dinner together every night. Schedules go out the window during the summer…except for swim team. That’s a super-tight schedule, but it means a ton of dinners eaten on the go or at the pool.

I look forward to back-to-school season with great excitement, and not just because we are all (kids included) happier when the kids are in school and the family is on a schedule. I love getting back to normal dinners eaten around the kitchen table.

This past week I was feeling adventurous and tried something totally new for dinner. I love cooking Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork for dinner, but I’m typically pretty boring when it comes to my pork tenderloin meals: roasted pork with a side of potatoes is an easy, no-brainer meal that I know the family will love. Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is Real Flavor, Real Fast, and I love that I can always count on Food Lion to have a good selection of flavors and cuts (Tenderloin, Loin Filet, and Sirloin) to grab for our family dinners.

This week, I had a new idea…and I wasn’t sure that it would work until I took my first bite.

And oh-my-goodness, it worked!

I can’t wait to make this easy weeknight meal again and again.

Pork Tacos with Fresh Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

1 Smithfield Marinated Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Filet
Small flour tortillas
Cooked rice
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Toppings: chopped green onion, sour cream and shredded cheese, if desired

Fresh pico de gallo:

Mix together in a small bowl:

3-4 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced (white onions work best, but I’ve also used red onion)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, chopped, seeds removed
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Dash of pepper

Directions:

Cut pork loin filet into cubes. Sauté in a hot skillet until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Serve pork in a warmed tortilla on top of rice. Top with fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, and cheese. Sprinkle with extra cilantro and green onions.

Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is an easy meal solution for any night of the week, even those busy nights with homework and sports practice. I love that I can use pork for any occasions, not just special ones. These tacos are ready in well under 30 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about spending all evening in the kitchen because it comes marinated! My husband commented on how fresh and tasty these tacos were – Smithfield really is #RealFlavorRealFast!

Pick up some Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork at Food Lion, and then find more delicious, family-friendly recipes here.

Marinated Pork and Vegetable Kabobs #RealFlavorRealFast

Lolli — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 19:51:51 +0000

I think we can all agree that cooking over a hot stove after a long, hot summer day is not exactly enjoyable. During the summer, we love to join our neighbors in our back yards, cooking over the grill instead of inside over a hot stove. There’s something about cooking on the grill that feels like vacation – but grilling doesn’t have to be reserved for the weekend or vacation time, especially when you’ve got delicious Smithfield marinated pork on your plate. I am thrilled to be partnering with Smithfield this week to bring you this quick and easy, family-friendly recipe that I know you’re going to love.

Every day is a good day to cook dinner on the grill!

Last week, I stopped at Food Lion during my afternoon errands and picked up some Smithfield® Marinated Pork and some vegetables to cook with it. I was determined to find a new recipe that I could make on the grill that would be ready in around 30 minutes. I wanted “Real Flavor Real Fast,” and Smithfield® Marinated Pork was the perfect solution. This summer has been so busy with swim team, and I don’t have time to spend long preparing dinner, but I don’t want to sacrifice on flavor.

My little experiment with Smithfield® Marinated Pork could not have turned out better. It was a hit all around! Definitely “Real Flavor Real Fast!” I did learn, however, that potatoes, no matter how bite-sized you cut them, will take way longer to cook than anything else (so I’ve included a few tips for adding potatoes to your kabobs. My main tip: don’t do what I did and try to cook the potatoes from raw!).

How to Make Marinated Pork and Vegetable Kabobs

Yum

Marinated Pork and Vegetable Kabobs

Ingredients

Garlic & Herb Smithfield® Marinated Pork (approximately 2 lbs), cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 zucchini, sliced thick
4-6 baby Portobello mushrooms, halved
4-6 Campari tomatoes, halved
1 bell pepper, cut into bite sized chunks (I used half each of a yellow and green bell pepper)
1/2 a large red onion, cut into 1-2 inch chunks (keeping layers together)
3-4 small to medium red potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks, optional (see tip below)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
Skewers

Instructions

Cut vegetables and place into a large bowl. Toss veggies with olive oil and spices.
Prepare pork by cutting it into bite-sized pieces (about 1-2 inches).
Thread pork and vegetables onto skewers, adding 2-3 veggies in between each piece of pork. Place skewers on a hot grill and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until pork is cooked through.
Remove pork and veggies from the kabobs gently with a fork and enjoy!

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Tip: If you’d like to add potatoes to your kabob, either stick them in the microwave for a few minutes or roast them under the broiler until just barely cooked. Or you can cook your potatoes separately and toss with the grilled pork and veggies when serving. Don’t be like me and expect the potatoes to cook at the same rate as the rest of the veggies!

Since I had a limited number of skewers, I threw the rest of the vegetables and pork chunks in my cast iron skillet and cooked until the pork was heated through. You could also throw the pork and vegetables inside a foil packet (just take two pieces of aluminum foil and fold the edges down to seal the food inside a little pocket. Place the foil packets on the grill, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until pork is cooked through.

You’ve got to try these delicious kabobs! Since the meat is pre-seasoned, you really have to do very little to make a delicious and quick dinner – perfect for weeknights or weekends! Look for Smithfield® Marinated Pork for Real Flavor Real Fast at your local Food Lion store.

Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield® Marinated Pork. The opinions and text are all mine. #RealFlavorRealFast

Classic Southern Biscuits and Gravy

Lolli — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 16:39:30 +0000

This recipe for biscuits and gravy is sponsored by Ovation TV and the new show Southern Uncovered With the Lee Bros. Recipe, images, and opinions are my own.

I grew up in Northern California – pretty much as far from the South as you can get. I grew up cooking alongside my mom – we made lots of dishes with a Mexican flair, cookies, casseroles, pastas. But not much Southern cooking.

Somehow, though, I ended up married to a Tennessee boy. So when I was challenged to cook a Southern-inspired recipe here on Better in Bulk, I turned to him and asked what good home cooked Southern recipe HE wanted me to cook.

When he suggested biscuits and gravy, I hesitated for a few minutes. To me, biscuits and gravy are almost too iconically Southern. I wanted to be a little bit more unique. If I hadn’t already blogged about my #1 favorite Southern dish – Black Eyed Peas and Sausage – a few years ago, I would have made that (go check it out…it’s a family favorite)

I decided to go ahead and cook the biscuits and gravy for him (he asked so nicely)…and in the end, they turned out so good that I had to share them, cliche or not.

I didn’t know what I was missing.

Whether you’re a Southern at heart (or at stomach??) or a biscuits and gravy novice like me, you have got to try this recipe!

Italian Sausage and Tomato Soup {Groundhog Day Recipe}

Lolli — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 23:51:10 +0000

Earlier today, we were talking with the kids about Groundhog Day – what it means, what happens on Groundhog Day, how long it’s been a tradition in the US. My husband decided that we needed to start a new family tradition and find a new recipe to prepare and eat every Groundhog Day. After a little bit of brainstorming, our 14-year-old son suggested a recipe with ground HOG (ie, ground pork), which we ALL thought was perfect.

My husband put on his thinking cap…and, meanwhile I headed upstairs for a much-needed Sunday afternoon nap. When I woke up, the house smelled heavenly and dinner was ready to eat.

Pictures first, of course!

The only thing we may change for next time we make this soup is to use crushed tomatoes instead of diced, since the kids said that there were too many big chunks of tomato. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for everyone, though. My husband and I loved all of the tomatoes!

Since I am currently doing Weight Watchers, I like to plug everything in to the Weight Watchers recipe builder to calculate the PointsPlus value…and honestly, with the sausage in this soup I was expecting a pretty high PointsPlus value. I was shocked to find that this soup is a LOW 4 PointsPlus per serving (the recipe yields about 10 good-sized bowls of soup!). I even added the tortilla chips to the calculation….so the final Points+ is 4, garnishes and all! To say that I was thrilled with that number is an understatement!

The trick with the healthy factor is this soup is that it is 95% good stuff – veggies and black beans and broth. Since I used 12 ounces of sausage (the sausage I used was 2 PointsPlus per ounce) there’s a very small amount of sausage per serving…but the flavor is BIG!

Ready for the recipe?

Italian Sausage and Tomato Soup {Groundhog Day Recipe}

Italian Sausage and Tomato Soup (Or Groundhog Day Soup)

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

Author: Lolli

Serves: 10

Ingredients

12 ounces ground mild Italian sausage
½ cup chopped onion
3 (14.5 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes, with liquid
4 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Sweet peppers, sliced thin (optional)
Tortilla chips, crushed (optional)

Instructions

Brown Italian sausage and onion over medium-high heat in a large pot, stirring to break up sausage.
Add remaining ingredients except tortilla chips and sweet peppers.
Cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes.
Serve with sweet pepper strips and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

PS – as you might have seen from my pictures above, I used Vegetable and Flaxseed chips from Trader Joe’s. If you happen to have a Trader Joe’s nearby, or if you can find something similar, I highly recommend a veggie and flaxseed chip. If you can’t find them, then regular tortilla chips are yummy, too!

Be sure to check out my other Weight Watchers Recipes!

Note: I am currently a paid ambassador for Weight Watchers, but this recipe post is not sponsored or endorsed by Weight Watchers in any way. I am just excited to share the fun and fresh new recipes I’m finding and eating while I am losing weight!

If you like this recipe, you are going to love these recipes, too:

Click on one of the Weight Watchers-Friendly below to see the recipe:

Cuban Pork Chops

Lolli — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 17:29:09 +0000

My intention when I made this Cuban pork chops recipe for my family was not to share it on the blog. I really just wanted to make something simple, eat it, and enjoy a relaxing evening with a full belly. I was actually looking forward to a meal with no responsibilities other than to eat it.

After taking my first bite of these Cuban-style pork chops with mojo, I had to drop everything, run up to get my camera, and take some pictures. They were too delicious not to share.

So much for my night off. Honestly, though? It was worth the hassle.

I typically find pork chops to be a little on the boring side. Not these. They were tender, juicy, and full of flavor, and honestly they were so easy to make!

Just pair these pork chops with a side of rice and black beans (and maybe a salad too?) and you’ve got yourself a perfect dinner.

Cuban Pork Chops

3.0 from 1 reviews

Cuban Pork Chops

Save Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Lolli

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice
½ cup lime juice
¼ cup vinegar
6 bone-in pork chops (about 1 inch thick)
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Adobo seasoning
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
¼ cup white wine

Instructions

In a large resealable bag, add orange juice, lime juice, vinegar and pork chops. Let marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the spice in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat (I used two large skillets to cook all of my pork chops at once).
Remove pork chops from bag. Rub each side generously with the spices. Add to heated skillet.
Brown each side of meat for about 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until they're heated through (you can check for doneness by making a small slice in the middle of one of the pork chops).
At this point, I removed the cooked pork chops from one of the skillets and placed them in the second skillet to keep warm. Add an additional few drops of oil to the now-empty skillet; add the sliced onions and garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes; add white wine and cook, stirring, until onions are translucent. Pour onions and juices over pork chops and serve with rice and beans.

See how easy that was? I can’t wait to make these pork chops again! Note: this version is based on Guy Fieri’s recipe on Food Network. I changed around the spices and the method, but the inspiration came from him. I wouldn’t change a thing from my little experiment!

Now let’s see what you’ve been cooking!

I’m teaming up once again with From Val’s Kitchen and This Mama Loves for our weekly recipe linky. Since mine is a year-end favorite recipe round up, I would LOVE to see your favorite dishes from the past year.

Please post the direct link to your recipe (not your blog URL) and the name of your recipe below. Then be sure to visit again next Monday for a new recipe and another chance to link up!

Pork and Cabbage Wontons

Lolli — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 21:42:48 +0000

I am obsessed with this recipe. I was craving wontons the other week, finally found wonton wrappers at the grocery store, and experimented with some of the ingredients I had on hand (I couldn’t find any wonton recipes that used cabbage and carrots, but they sounded good and so I figured I’d give them a try). The wontons were so incredible that I couldn’t stop eating them, which is probably a bad thing since they’re fried.

Paired with rice and a vegetable side, these wontons make a great main course, but they’re also a perfect finger food to put on an appetizer try at a party.

Pork and Cabbage Wontons

Author: Lolli

Recipe type: Main Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork, minced
4 green onions, chopped
⅓ cup finely shredded cabbage
1 carrot, shredded
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 packages wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

Mix all ingredients except for wonton wrappers in a medium bowl.
Fill a small bowl with cool water.
Spoon a small amount of filling (about 1-2 teaspoon) into the middle of each wonton wrapper.
Dip a finger into the bowl of water and wet two sides of each wrapper. Pinch closed. Wet far corners of the triangle you've just created and pinch the ends together, as pictured.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium-sized pot (about about ½ inch deep) over medium-high heat.
Drop about 6 wontons at a time into the hot oil and cook, turning once with a slotted spoon, for a few minutes, until the wonton wrappers are lightly browned a crispy.
Remove wontons from oil with a slotted spoon and dry on a paper towel.

Notes

The wontons do take some time (and patience) to wrap and fry, but they are so worth it. Also...this recipe makes a LOT of wontons.
Great served with rice, a side of veggies, and your favorite dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Black Eyed Peas and Sausage with Sweet Corn Cake

Lolli — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:00:09 +0000

Do you ever discover a recipe that used to be one of your favorites, but for whatever reason has been lost and forgotten?

I remembered this recipe for black eyed peas and sausage with tomatoes the other day, made it for my family, and fell in love with it all over again. Paired with this sinfully delicious sweet corn cake, this is a dinner that you’ll want to make again and again.

I’m already ready to make it another time.

I was actually surprised that the kids were such die-hard fans of this dish, since it’s heavy on the tomatoes and other veggies. But trust me when I say that the flavor is so fantastic that the kids didn’t complain about the tomatoes or onions or celery at all. That’s a huge win!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Black-eyed Peas and Sausage with Sweet Corn Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 lb smoked sausage (any variety), sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 (15 ounce) cans black-eyed peas with liquid
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp minced garlic
¼ cup ketchup
2 tsp dry chicken bouillon
*SWEET CORN CAKE*
1 can corn, drained
1 can creamed corn, undrained
1 box Jiffy Corn Bread mix
2 eggs
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup mayonaisse

Instructions

Saute smoked sausage until slightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
Saute bell pepper, onion, and celery in butter until crisp-tender.
Add sausage, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, garlic, ketchup, and bouillon.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 10 minutes.
To prepare SWEET CORN CAKE:
Combine all ingredients (from corn through mayo) in medium sized bowl. Mix with fork and pour into 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until set and lightly browned on top. For a fun presentation, scoop the corn cake out with a large ice cream scoop.

This recipe can easily be converted to a hearty vegetarian dish by leaving the sausage and chicken bouillon out. I got this recipe from an old friend many years ago (almost pre-internet. Ok, maybe not that old). Enjoy!

Another note: you can certainly leave out the sweet corn cake and substitute corn bread…or just eat it by itself. We just love the combination!