I bought a small pork loin this morning - not sure why but it was on sale and I was trying to grab something so I could have a mindless dinner planned. But now I don’t know what to do with it. LOL. I DON’T want to eat it as a roast like you would a beef roast with vegetables. It’s early enough I could marinate it or throw it in a crock pot or instant pot later.
I’d like to NOT be eating a big piece of meat - would rather shred it or cut it up in chunks or something…… something with good flavor/spices. Any suggestions??/
Thanks all. The fact is a loin is going to stay a loin! I’m just not a “hunk of meat” person. Husband is though so I’ll probably season it well, sauté in instant pot, then cook in IP - and choose some fun sides that I will like!
Sometimes I just don’t want to be bothered with dinner - can you imagine a life where dinner just get served for you? Doesn’t happen to me at my household!
For small (about 1lb) pork loin we almost always do it on the grill. Actually no “we” about it for cooking step… BBQ is hubby’s domain - yay.
Sometimes I buy a huge pork loin and cut into two or three roasts (extra to freezer). Then crockpot it with some potatoes and maybe carrots and some water. Resulting juices are thin, but I don’t turn into gravy like for pot roast.
Yeah truth be told I don’t even really like pork roast - I’m not a huge meat person for a “slab of meat. But I was jist trying to make the dinner task easier - I don’t have to eat it!
I’m not a pork eater but I think pork loin is tender and you don’t want to dry it out. But what do I know I’ve never made one. Lol
I’m trying to use of things in my freezer. We are doing a termite tenting soon and I don’t want to have to bag up a ton of food stuffs. I found in my garage freezer several bags of wild blackberries from last summer. I also have a frozen pie crust. I’m not a pie baker, recipe suggestions? The quick google search left me u sure if cooking from frozen or defrost is best. Would love ideas. Thanks
I can’t but my husband certainly can. Dinner just mysteriously appears on the table. How does that happen?
He would say the same about the lawn. Somehow it gets cut.
But seriously, yes I do get tired of cooking. Mostly meal planning.
I bought cheese ravioli for those nights. A salad and a roll that I’ve frozen. Or shrimp. We will have shrimp cocktail and baked potatoes for those nights I can’t muster up the energy to think about what to make.
I long ago dragged my husband into the meal planning / prep process. Of course he hasn’t cut the lawn himself since 1993, and it rarely snows enough to need him to snowthrow (usually I’m the hand shoveler). The year that he was retired and I was super busy still working a crazy job he mostly did it all himself. Now we split it.
Ahhh… ditto here. We are on a vacation that was not long enough to rent a condo, so we eat out and I enjoy the fact that someone else is bringing me food at dinner! I don’t care what they bring… as long as my husband is happy with his plate!
ETA: Mr. B was our chief grass “farmer.”’ Lol. He celebrated our move to a house without a lawn. the new place still has a kitchen!
If you don’t want to do a blackberry pie, you could just bake and cool the crust, and fill with a blackberry fool (see Martha Stewart or NYTimes websites for recipes - basically a cool creamy berry concoction), using the pie crust as a serving vehicle/texture contrast/salty bite.
I have some blackberry plants, and always freeze several containers of blackberries every summer. As you may know, when you let them thaw there is always a good bit of blackberry juice that results from the defrosting process; usually I just make blackberry jam from the juice and the berries, but I have often thought of making a blackberry cobbler from the defrosted berries and juice. Just an idea.
The blackberry fool does look really good, however; I may give that a try!
Encouraging people now that it’s warm weather season, to post cool non-having-the-oven-on-for-hours dishes! Even if it’s a salad that works as a meal or a special grilling recipe or a cooling dessert! Doesn’t have to be heavy “comfort” food.
We are pretty good about posting on this thread so let’s not let the season get us off track!
Today for Memorial Day, I’m doing burgers on the grill with brioche buns - sort of smash burger style - melted cheese, pickles, onion, tomato, arugula and a yum-yum type sauce. (LOL, I say all that but actually H eats his burger ketchup and THAT’S IT!).
Cocktails on the porch swing at 5 while feeding the chipmunks and listening to soft piano jazz mingle with the sounds of the woods (pretty much every day). DH will grill chicken and asparagus and then we’d head over to the creamery to enjoy ice cream by the lake.
Here is a recipe for tortellini gazpacho that I like to make during summer months, when the weather is hot. (Although gazpacho is often referred to as a “cold” soup, I think that really means “room temperature” as opposed to chilled – at least, that’s how I consume it!)
TORTELLINI GAZPACHO
(Serves: 6)
Ingredients:
28 oz. can tomatoes: crushed or pureed
4½ - 5 oz. uncooked cheese tortellini
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1+3/4 cup (= 14 oz.) water
3 Tbsp. canola oil
1½ tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 sm. yellow/white onion: diced
2 cloves garlic: minced (approx. 1-2 tsp.)
½ med. green bell pepper: finely chopped
3 sm. (pickling) cucumbers: peeled, seeded, finely chopped (approx. 1 cup)
grated Cheddar cheese (for serving)
Directions:
(1) Cook the tortellini; drain and set aside.
(2) In a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, vinegar, oil, water, chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir thoroughly to combine.
(3) Add the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and cucumbers; stir gently but thoroughly to combine.
(4) Fold in the tortellini, and stir gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight, in order to let the flavors come together.
(5) Before serving, let the gazpacho come to room temperature. (This is very important!)
(6) Serve in individual bowls, with the shredded Cheddar cheese sprinkled over the top.
I cooked some of the blackberries with sugar, lemon zest and cornstarch. Let it cool and baked it in the pie crust. It was okay not amazing. I think I should have used less cornstarch as my berries didn’t release a lot of liquid. The pie filling is pretty firm.
I love orzo as the pasta in a pasta salad as for me, the pasta is the side kick, not the star (the add ins are!) You could add some leftover chicken to that as well.
the new place still has a kitchen!