Southwest Pork Loin Filet Sandwiches

When looking for new dinner ideas I am always searching for meals that are ready in 30 minutes or less. After a long day, the last thing I want to do is spend all evening in the kitchen preparing a meal. I'd rather be spending quality time with my family, or relaxing and reading a book - not on my feet, turning my kitchen into a disaster area to be cleaned up after dinner. I recently discovered Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork at Safeway, which is a delicious time-saver and perfect for any night of the week. Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork comes in a variety of flavors and cuts, plus they can be grilled, roasted or sautéed - so versatile and absolutely delicious!

For an incredibly easy dinner, cook up a Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork, slice it and serve with a couple easy side dishes. Since the pork takes 30 minutes to cook, you'll have plenty of time to whip up some delicious accompaniments. Some of my favorites are steamed veggies, bagged salads, buttered pasta, boiled root vegetables, rice or canned baked beans - all can be prepared by the time the meat is ready to be sliced and served. So easy and practically effortless, not to mention the minimal mess to be cleaned up afterwards. We're talking Real Flavor, Real Fast.

Or, if you want to put in just a little bit more effort - Smithfield has a large seletion of mouth-watering recipes {still 30 minutes or less} to check out on their site. With the variety of flavors and cuts the marinated pork is available in, the dinner options are endless! They have flavors like Applewood Smoked Bacon Pork Filet, Steakhouse Mushroom Pork Loin Filet, Slow Roasted Golden Rotisserie Flavor Pork Tenderloin, and Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Filet.

Everyone in our family is a sandwich lover, so I decided to make easy and flavorful Southwest Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches as a simple weeknight dinner. While the Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin was roasting in the oven I prepared a homemade pico de gallo and guacamole - but those ingredients can be purchased pre-made, saving even more of your time. I found all the ingredients for these sandwiches at Safeway while picking up the Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork - including the soft Kaiser Rolls, from their bakery department.

Southwest Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
makes 6 sandwiches
PRINTABLE RECIPE
Ingredients
1 Smithfield Marinated Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Filet
6 Kaiser Rolls
1 cup guacamole
1 cup pico de gallo salsa
6 deli slices pepper jack cheese
Directions
1. Heat oven to 425. Place Smithfield Marinated Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Filet on foil-lined baking sheet; roast for 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. {This is the perfect time to prepare the guacamole and pico de gallo if you are making them from scratch!}
2. Slice pork into thin slices. Divide into 6 portions.
3. Prepare each sandwich in the following order; Kaiser Roll bottom, guacamole, pork slices, pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo, Kaiser Roll top. {To make cheese extra melty, place under broiler before adding the pico de gallo.}
4. Enjoy!!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Smithfield®. The opinions and text are all mine.

A Memorable Mother's Day Dinner with Snake River Farms

With Mother's Day right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about that special holiday dinner! Across the country this year, families will be honoring their mothers with exquisite dinners and shared memories. I have found the perfect Mother's Day dinner solution - Snake River Farms Mother's Day Gifts. They've put together a variety of mouthwatering meat packages that include Kurobuta pork, American Kobe or Northwest beef. This is totally the way to show mom how extraordinary she is, all at the ease of home! We're talking a homemade meal that includes the same remarkable meats that are coveted by award-winning chefs and served at high-end restaurants such as The French Laundry, Per Se, CUT and Craft Steak - just to name a few. These aren't inexpensive meats, they are considered the best beef and pork that you can buy! Don't worry about shipping, I've got a free shipping code for you at the end of the this post - but first I want to share why I think Snake River Farms is perfect for Mother's Day dinner...

Breakfast Meatballs

These Breakfast Meatballs are a meat-lover's breakfast dream!

I am not an indecisive person, but I sure do hate having to choose between breakfast sausage, bacon and ham when going out to breakfast. Decisions, decisions! It's like asking me which of my kids I love the most - although I may play around from time to time on the answer, the truth is that I have no favorites and I love them all the same. {yes, i just compared my love of pork products to the love i have for my own children. don't judge.} So, what to do when you want to enjoy breakfast sausage, bacon and ham all at the same time? I guess the easy answer is that you eat them all... but let's make these Breakfast Meatballs instead! These amazing {i said it} meatballs will wow the crowd and are perfect for any breakfast, brunch or brinner that you have planned. Serve with a side of country gravy for dipping {drenching} and you're set!

Hawaiian-Pizza Meatballs

A couple weeks ago I made Triple Bacon Meatballs that were inspired by Papa Murphy's Bacon Bacon Bacon Pizza. They turned out freakin' amazing!! I was so smitten with the idea of a pizza-inspired meatball that I decided to make another. This time I opted for a more classic and family favorite - the Hawaiian Pizza.

After rounding up the ingredients I was almost tempted to make a pizza. Almost.

Meat Lovers Dinner Spread with Save Mart's {Pick 5 for $25} Promotion #FreshFinds

To celebrate my family's love of meat, as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias® and Save Mart, I made a Meat Lovers Dinner Spread using meat from my local Save Mart Supermarket. #FreshFinds #cbias

This past weekend I made a few Meat Lover's dreams come true! I prepared a Meat Lovers Dinner Spread where every dish had meat in it. It was fun to create, cook and serve - not to mention that it was DELICIOUS to eat. My inspiration was Save Mart Supermarket's current Pick 5 for $25 promotion, they have an awesome selection of meat for $5 each if you purchase 5 of the qualifying products. 

Check out my picks!

I bought a couple Boneless New York Steaks, a Salmon Fillet, Large Prawns and Ground Beef. Those choices weren't even half of the selection. There was also chicken products, ground turkey, tilapia fillets, lamb chops, country style ribs, albacore tuna steaks and so much more! I posted pics from my shopping trip on Google+ if you want to see all the goodies I found. :)

What I loved was how everything that was included in the promotion had a big round sticker on it - it made it so much easier to make my selections. It can be so annoying to look for an item that you know is on sale, but there is no signage. No worries at Save Mart!! I even found items that were not in the store advertisement such as frozen Tyson chicken products like chicken nuggets and popcorn chicken!

Without any firther ado, let me share with you how I made our Meat Lovers Dinner Spread!

The first dish I prepped was an Asian Salad with Grilled Salmon. This was so easy! Just marinate the salmon in teriyaki sauce, grill (skin side down) then chop, cool and mix with a bagged salad that has Asian flavors to it. I used Taylor Farms Asian Salad that I found in Save Mart's produce section.

This tasted amazing and is definitely going to be served again! The flavors just meshed perfectly together.

Next was the Lemon-Pepper with Dill Prawn Skewers. This dish is also super easy - just a little time consuming. I shelled the prawns and thread them onto bbq skewers. I used the method that we use for baiting a hook with shrimp, just start at the tail and go through the body. Then they sat in a marinade I found at Save Mart, Weber Just Add Juice Lemon Pepper, with fresh dill added. These bad boys only need a few minutes on the grill to cook - you know they are done when they turn pink!

These were a HUGE hit and I can't wait to make them with different marinades. They are so easy to eat and the kids found them very intriguing.

Then the Rodeo Cheeseburger Stuffed Potatoes! I browned up half a pound of ground beef and half a pound of beef bacon (the bacon was not part of the Pick 5 for $25 promotion, is was just something that I couldn't live without!) and added fried onion. I filled up cooked potato shells and topped with cheese and bbq sauce, then baked at 350 until melted.

These were delicious and such a fun spin on stuffed potato skins!

And last, but certainly not least, was our Mini New York Steaks with Blue Cheesy Mushroom Topper. Oh my!! I call them mini because we cut the steaks in half. To season the meat all I used was Garlic Salt with Parsley and Ground Black Pepper, then let it sit in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes before cooking.

The Mushroom Topper was made while the steaks were grilling - its fast and fresh! If you like mushrooms and you like blue cheese - you will definitely want to keep this recipe in mind next time you will be grilling up some steaks!

Blue Cheesy Mushroom Topper for Steak
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
8oz Mushrooms
½ tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
½ tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled
Directions
1. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until mushrooms are soft.
3. Add garlic and chives. Cook for a couple more minutes until garlic starts to turn golden.
4. Remove from heat and stir in blue cheese crumbles. Cover and let sit a couple minutes.
5. Top steaks and serve immediately.

For more information on Save Mart, you can also find them on facebook, twitter and pinterest! If you love cooking outdoors - make sure to check out the Explore The Grill promotion that Save Mart has running with Pepsi right now. Every day there is a Green Egg grill being given away - go check it out!!

Meatball Monday: Pizza Meatballs

I can’t believe it’s already been a week since posting the Green Chicken Enchilada Meatballs! Time is flying by a bit too fast since bringing the twins home. They just turned 8 weeks this past Friday and it seriously feels like we just brought them home…

But anyhow, let’s get to these Pizza Meatballs!

I LOVE pizza. It always sounds good to me and I’ll eat it warm or cold. Lucky for me, my husband and kids share my love of the ol’ pizza pie! We have it at least once a week if not more – homemade of course. (I nearly have my crust recipe perfected and will be sharing it soon!)

So, when I was brainstorming what meatballs I could cook for this week I started thinking about what foods I really LOVE – and of course pizza came to mind. It was a no brainer – I had to cook some Pizza Meatballs! These lovelies are packed with pepperoni, green bell pepper, onion, olive, cheese and mushrooms - all held together with ground pork. Delicious!

Serve them with some marinara sauce to complete the flavor. An afterthought (darn 20/20 hindsight…) was to sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes to the top of the Pizza Meatballs before serving. 

Happy Monday – hope you all have an awesome week!! :)

Pizza Meatballs
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
½ tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup green bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup onion, chopped
1lb ground pork
10 slices pepperoni (small size), diced
1 tablespoon olives, chopped
½ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
¼ cup mushrooms, chopped
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions and green bell peppers until soft – about 7 minutes. Remove heat and set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients
3. Roll into 1.5” balls
4. If using meatball bbq rack – cook for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat, flipping every 5 minutes. If cooking in oven – bake for 20-25 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.
5. Serve with marinara sauce and enjoy!

Cranberry, Apple and Sausage Mini-Pizzas with Hummus

Through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I was recently offered the opportunity to try out a Sabra product of my choice. I am already a HUGE fan of Sabra Hummus, so I could have just got the container of hummus and went home to devour it with my husband. Instead, I decided to create a recipe using it - still leaving enough hummus to enjoy with some pita chips later. ;)

I got the idea for the pizza from a wonderful Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing that I made for Thanksgiving a few years ago. The flavors worked great together and I vowed to make it again and again. I am not going to lie – I never made the stuffing again, just thought about it as the holidays came and went each year. 

The idea for using Hummus on a pizza came from my trip to the 2011 Foodbuzz Blogger Festival. At the Welcome Reception there was an array of items made with Sabra Hummus. One of my favorites was the Jalapeño Hummus Mini-Pizzas. They were so, so, so good. I had never fathomed of putting hummus on a pizza, but it was pure genius. So I vowed to make my own little hummus pizzas one day… and I did. ;)

Cranberry, Apple and Sausage Mini-Pizzas with Hummus
Ingredients
3 whole wheat English muffins
¼ cup Sabra Roasted Garlic Hummus
2 Granny Smith apple wedges, sliced
½ cup cheese, I used a blend of Mozzarella and Provolone
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
¼ cup maple sausage, cooked and crumbled

Directions
1. Preheat oven to BROIL
2. Slice each English muffin in half and place on baking pan face up. BROIL until golden brown, about 4 minutes
3. Let cool for 5 minutes
4. Heat oven to 425
5. Spread hummus evenly over each english muffin and top with ingredients in this order; apple, cheese, dried cranberries and maple sausage
6. BAKE for 10 minutes or until cheese is turning golden brown
7. Let cool for a few minutes and then enjoy!

Meatball Monday: Pork Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Garlic

“Anyone can cook.” -Chef Gusteau

I love, love, love kids animated movies. This love started a few years ago, just about when my first son was born. I had never seen Cars and my husband couldn’t believe it, so we went to the video store and rented it. The hubby turned up the stereo so the baby could hear too (I was 8 months pregnant), and the movie started… halfway through I had already decided that I HAD to have this movie. So cute, fun and full of lessons – overnight I had become a spokesperson for Pixar, telling everyone to watch this movie. Haha

My son has gone through his favorites, first it was Finding Nemo, then Cars, then Cars Toons and now it is Ratatouille. My favorite too. :) A rat cooking in the kitchen would have never sounded cute to me, but Remy the rat has my heart. The restaurant in the movie is Gusteau’s, a French restaurant in Paris.  Chef Gusteau’s motto was, “Anyone can cook.” While at first Remy does not agree with Gusteau, he comes to realize what Gusteau meant – “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” Beautiful message and so true.

Don’t worry, I did not ruin the movie or spoil the ending. I promise. :)

I know this has nothing to do with meatballs, I have just seen the movie 3 times this weekend – so it’s been on my brain. :) Happy Monday y’all!

Pork Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Garlic

Ingredients

·         3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, minced – I use the ones in a jar packed with olive oil

·         1 tablespoon garlic, minced

·         1 teaspoon parsley

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         ¼ teaspoon pepper

·         1 lb ground pork

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400, grease baking sheet

2. Combine all ingredients, form 1” balls and place on baking sheet

3. Bake for 20 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown

Pork Meatball Banh Mi Inspired Sandwich

About 8 years ago I lived 2 blocks away from this little deli that made the most AMAZING smoked tri-tip sandwiches. The first time that I ordered the tri-tip sandwich I requested cheese and the man working the counter said, “Oh no, no cheese on this sandwich. It will ruin it. Try it one time without cheese and if you don’t like it you can get cheese next time.” Reluctantly I said ok. See, I LOVE cheese – I mean really, really love it. I can’t remember a time I said, “No cheese please” when ordering food, yet I can remember requesting extra cheese on more than a few occasions. Ok, so back to the tri-tip sandwich… the guy was right, it was amazing without cheese, cheese probably would have ruined it. Since that day I have probably consumed close to fifty of those sandwiches – not one with cheese.

To my dismay, not every sandwich is better with cheese, some are better without it. Which brings us to the Banh Mi Inspired Meatball Sandwich…

I found this sandwich recipe while on my quest for the perfect pork meatball recipe. It is a common sandwich in Vietnam called a Banh Mi. Banh Mi is a sandwich served on baguette-style bread filled with meat, pickled carrots, daikon (white radish), jalapenos, cilantro and mayonnaise. My version is Banh Mi Inspired because my grocer was out of baguette bread, I substituted with Bolillos. This sandwich is packed with wonderful flavor and a kick of heat – it includes a carrot & radish slaw, hot chili mayonnaise, jalapenos and no cheese. Sorry cheese, I will get ya on the next sandwich. :) This recipe also calls for Vietnamese Pork Meatballs, which I just posted the recipe for on Monday. Enjoy!

Hot Chili Mayonnaise

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (I used Sriracha)
2 green onions, finely chopped

Directions
1. Mix all together
2. Let marinade in refrigerator for at least a couple hours

Carrot & Radish Slaw

Ingredients
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated radish (I used regular red radishes since I could not find daikon)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
 ¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients
2. Let marinade in refrigerator for at least an hour, mixing 2-3 times. Drain

Pork Meatball Banh Mi Inspired Sandwich

Ingredients
Bolillos (These are Mexican rolls that I have found in the bakery of several grocery stores)
Hot Chili Mayonnaise
1 jalapeno, sliced
5 Vietnamese Pork Meatballs
Carrot & Radish Slaw

Directions
1. Slice Bolillo in half horizontally and scoop out the bread in each half leaving about a ½” inch shell
2. Slather each half with Hot Chili Mayonnaise
3. Place sliced Jalapenos in bottom half of the Bolillo shell (I put them in a single layer, but if you like it spicier – add more!)
4. Place the Vietnamese Pork Meatballs into the bottom half of sandwich, on top of Jalapenos
5. Add about 3 tablespoons of Carrot & Radish Slaw on top of meatballs
6. Top with top half of Bolillo
7. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from epicurious

Meatball Monday: Vietnamese Pork Meatballs

We really love meatballs; I love that they are so versatile and my hubby loves that they are, well – meat. I was never really a big fan of them before I met my hubby – and then he bought a big ol’ bag of them from Sam’s Club. I cooked them in different sauces, used them in a few recipes and of course used them in good ol’ spaghetti. But then I was bored with them – and didn’t want anymore. End of the meatball story.

Fast forward a couple years and I decided to make some meatballs from fresh. ( I like saying “from fresh” more so than “from scratch” - since from scratch means from nothing, I really have not made much “from scratch”. From fresh means I have used fresh ingredients, not previously frozen or canned.) Whoa, sorry about that rant – I shall digress… The meatballs were simple, but wonderful. I could not believe that I had never made any before, I felt like I had been ripping myself off! Not only was I super impressed with them, my 2 year old loved them – which is why I ended up buying the meatball basket for the bbq. I love bbq’ing and my toddler loves meatballs, so buying the basket was totally justified… It took the meatballs to the next level and now I am on my quest to find/create the best meatball recipes out there!

Every Monday we will feature a different meatball recipe, meats ranging from beef to fish and ingredients being limitless. I hope everyone enjoys!

This week we will start with Vietnamese Meatballs, and what a great way to start! I made these for a Banh Mi Sandwich that I found at Epicurious.com. The meatballs call for two ingredients that are not common in everyone’s kitchen, fish oil and sriracha. To be honest I had neither, but now that I have both I will be trying recipes that call for them. The fish oil is just what it's name says and it smells just as you could imagine fish oil smelling. The sriracha is spicy, spicy - so just adjust recipe to how hot you like your food. Combined they make wonderful ingredients for this meatball. Enjoy!

Vietnamese Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha or other hot chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease cookie sheet
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Form 1 inch meatballs and place on cookie sheet, bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
4. Enjoy!

Grilled Pesto-Tomato Pork Steaks

A Hungry Harp Original

Directions:

Season pork steaks with grill seasoning. I used
Weber Kick’n Chicken Seasoning

Brown pork steaks in olive oil over medium-high heat for a couple minutes on each side

Top with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes

Grill Pesto side up until pork steaks are done, about 25 minutes. Enjoy!

We had these with garlic mashies (aka mashed potatoes), it was a hit – even with the toddler. Score!

So Delicious Breakfast Sandwiches

It may gross you out, it may not... but I love McDonald's Sausage McMuffin with Egg. My favorite is when the last bite is of crispy muffin, greasy sausage and melted cheese. I am kinda curious what the calorie count is on one of those bad boys, but I don't eat them often enough for it to even matter... and I don't dare look. 

Although the classic McDonald's breakfast sandwich was my inspiration, my version is healthy healthier if only for the fact that fresh ingredients were used. The Garlic Compound Butter was given to me by my mother-in-law, when I make it myself I will post the recipe. For the sausage I used Maple Sausage that was in my most recent meat pack from OV Meat Shoppe, when it was cooking I could smell the maple - so freakin' delicious!!

Ingredients
• 6 English Muffins
• 1 pound ground sausage (Iused Maple Sausage)
• 6 bacon strips
• 6 eggs
• Cheese
• Garlic Compound Butter

Directions
1. Shape sausage into 6 patties
2. On med-high heat cook bacon and sausage how you like it. I made my bacon a little crispy and my sausage was browned on both sides. When done, set aside
3. Beat eggs. Make omelettes small enough so that when they are cut in half they will satisfy two sandwiches
4. Toast English Muffins in oven under broil, I used a pizza pan to fit all the halves in at once
5. After muffins are toasted, spread garlic butter on all halves
6. To make sandwiches stack ingredients in this order: sausage, egg, cheese, bacon... or however you want
7. Return to oven just long enough for cheese to melt
8. Enjoy :)

In My Opinion: I can't believe I never made these before. I would be perfectly fine with never getting another Sausage McMuffin with Egg ever again. SO GOOD!! The garlic butter adds an awesome kick. We will definitely have these again, probably with different ingredients to experiment with. I have some Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins that I really want to find something fun to do with, wish me luck!!