Apple Butter Pork Loin

Fall is here on the coast of North Carolina and we just got back from a wonderful, refreshing trip to the North Carolina mountains. Nothing like cool, crisp air with fall colors all around to get you into a Fall-ish mood. I tried this recipe tonight and I found it Fall-tastic! Homey, Warm, and perfect for a fall dinner with your family. I served it with Kale and boiled potatoes. YUMMY! It was easy but it did take 3 hours of cooking in the oven. But let me tell you, the 3 hours were worth it. It was falling apart when I took it out. I didn't even need to slice it. It was such a cozy dinner to eat on this chilly evening.

Apple Butter Pork Loin
2 lb pork loin
seasoning salt (to taste)
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter ( I used Peach Butter I made, Recipe below)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Season the pork loin with seasoning salt and place pork loin in a baking dish or roasting pan. Pour apple juice over pork loin. Cover dish with foil and bake for 1 hour. While pork is cooking, mix together apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, cloves.
Remove pork from oven. Spread apple butter mixture over pork. Cover and return to oven for 2 hours till fork tender.


 ~If you need a recipe for apple butter I posted it a while back in the Slow cooker section. Here is the link to it.
 Crock Pot Apple Butter/ Peach butter
 It was so easy and turned out delicious!

Pumpkin Torte

Have you ever had a recipe in your collection that you have never tried and it just sits there because you are not brave enough to attempt it? I have! This recipe has been in my collection since I was in college. Even though I would love to say that was "last year" I will be honest and say it was more then 5 years ago..... maybe even more but I can't be THAT honest with you! hahaha. But I have had this recipe for a while with out making it. Not because it sounded gross but I was a bit intimidated by it's beauty. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, you scan the magazines and recipe books and see those pretty cakes and their beauty makes it seem impossible to recreate. Well I guess this one has been one of those. I think cream and fluffiness is what made me not make this cake. I made it this last weekend for a party and now I regret not making it for so long. It was DELICIOUS! AND it was actually very easy to make! Even Keith has asked me with each bite "why have you not made this before?" It really is good!

I normally don't post recipes that are not from scratch and this one does use a cake mix. I'm sorry I don't have a tested recipe for just the cake mix. I am sure I can find one for you if you need it, just send me a message. But if you do have a vanilla cake mix on hand this is a wonderful recipe! Perfect for the Autumn Season... I have posted before that pumpkin is one of my favorite things to cook with and this one is going in the list of FAVORITES right their beside Pumpkin Rolls!

Pumpkin Torte
1 vanilla Cake mix( I used French Vanilla)
1 Can solid pack pumpkin divided
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice (divided)
1 package Cream Cheese softened
1 cup powder sugar
1 carton frozen whipped topping( I just whipped cream with a bit of sugar into a Cool whip consistancy)
Carmel Ice cream topping
Toasted pecans

Mix cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, eggs, oil and 1 tsp pumpkin spice together. Beat on low for 30 seconds and then on Medium for 2 minutes. Pour into 2 greased 9-in round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes then remove from pans. Cool completely. 

In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese till light and fluffy. Add powder sugar, remaining pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Mix well till smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

Cut each cake horizontally in two layers. Place one layer on plate. Layer 1/4 of the whipped topping and spread over the layer. Then repeat with remaining layers. Sprinkle toasted pecans and then drizzle Carmel sauce over top of cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Slow Cooker Peach Butter

What do you do with a whole case of peaches that are getting smooshy and soft? Make peach butter! I have always been intimidated by the phrase "butter". Apple Butter, Peach butter, Pumpkin butter. Which is kind of silly since real butter is really easy to make! Especially if, like me, you leave the heavy whipping cream to long in the mixer. There is a fine line between thick cream and butter and I seem to cross it.... A LOT! Probably because I try to do to many things at one time. But in the past I have always thought fruit butters are hard to make. I mean the Amish make them and sell them so in my mind that means it must be difficult. But today I am glad to prove my thought wrong!

The other day Keith came home with a crate full of peaches. Sadly we didn't realize that if you have them in a fridge and then take them out and leave them they get soft. What a waste, I thought.  But I decided to slice and freeze them for smoothies which my boys love, so I did. While scanning some recipes on Pintrest, where now days everything is getting you in the mood for Fall, I saw a few for Slow Cooker Apple butter. I am a sucker for Slow Cooker recipes so I read it. Then I read all the comments. People raved about how easy it was and how delicious it came out. One comment caught my eye. It asked "Can you use this recipe with Peaches?" There was no reply but it got me curious. I started to research peach butter recipes for the crock pot and HAPPY was I to see that there were several..... Hundred. But I went with the one with 5 stars. How can you go wrong with that? Thankfully this recipe was worth ever star it got. It was easy and DELICIOUS! I am now interested in making my own and trying all the butters! Pumpkin, Apple and whatever other kinds I can find! Seriously this was so delicious! So easy! I am not intimidated any more! So I am now going to share this amazing recipe so you can save money and make your own peach butter! When I try the other fruit butter recipes I will post those too.

Peach Butter
5 lbs Peaches (fresh, frozen or it said you could use canned)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp all spice (this was NOT in the original recipe but I like this flavor)

Peel the peaches( I didn't because my peaches were frozen and it still turn out nice) Core and chop them. Put them in a food processor or blender. Puree till smooth. Add to crock pot and add all ingredients. Mix well. Cook on low 6 hours or till it is thick and brown. I stirred it a few times during the time. I also cooked it about 2 hours more because it was kind of runny. Probably due to them being frozen. Let cool and place in the jars. If you want to seal them, process in a water bath for 15 minutes. With this recipe I got a little more then 2 pint jars. I sealed to and left the rest in my fridge for Breakfast.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It was delicious!

Poppy-seed Chicken

You ever have those days where you are so busy doing something you don't realize dinner time has approached and you haven't done anything that was planned, so then you deviate from that plan and throw something together and it turns out to be a EPIC FAIL?  Husband doesn't really like it, Kids gag and whine about eating it, and you honestly didn't like it either, so then you just skip right to the ice cream? Ever have those days? yeah well today was one of those and we did just jump to the ice cream.

Well instead of giving a recipe that ended in disaster, I will give you one that I made a few nights ago that was a BIG hit! My husband actually asked why I have never made this before? And honestly I don't really know why I haven't but it will now go into the list of "favorites" and what I like about it is it is super easy and uses very few ingredients!

Poppy-Seed Chicken
4-5 chicken breast
1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 roll(about 2 cups) of Ritz Crackers or Saltine crumbled
1 TBSP Poppy Seeds
1 stick margarine( I used 1/2 a stick)

Place chicken in a casserole dish or pan. Mix Soup and yogurt together, pour over chicken. Crush crackers and mix in seeds and then spread over soup mixture. Melt butter and pour over top the crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes till chicken is done.  This is good served with rice to soak up all the yummy sauce.

Creamy Tomato Parmesan Pasta with Chicken

This is one of my Go To recipes when I need a quick lunch or dinner for my family and friends. It is not fancy but it is tasty!

Creamy Tomato Parmesan Pasta with Chicken

1 box Farfalle Pasta( I have used Rotini and Penne pasta for this too)
2 TBSP Olive oil(divided)
1 lb ground chicken (I normally DO NOT HAVE ground chicken so I just use chicken breast, cook it  and chop it)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 TBSP dried Oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 TBSP tomato paste
1 1/2 cup half & half (I use evaporate milk if I don't have this)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
1 cup fresh or 1 can rinsed and drained diced tomatoes
Fresh Spinach

Cook pasta according to box
Heat 1 TBSP olive oil over medium high heat in a skillet. Add ground chicken, salt, oregano, pepper. Cook till chicken is browned. Move to a plate and set aside.
In same skillet add 1 TBSP olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and salt. Saute 2 minutes. Add tomato paste, stir, and then add half and half slowly. Stir really well. Turn heat to low. Add Parmesan cheese and stir till melted and smooth. In a bowl add pasta, chicken, tomatoes, and spinach. Pour sauce over and stir. The heat will cook the spinach. Serve.   

Chili Corn

At the moment we are in the Land of CORN! The farms around our house grow 3 different crops throughout the year. Wheat, Soybeans and Corn. At the moment the corn is drying on the stalks and about ready to be harvested.  Sweet corn has already been harvested and honestly I have never tasted corn as sweet as the stuff grown here in Hyde county. We don't really need a new way to eat it because right off the cob is the best. My son Isaiah eats it raw right off the cob and before we moved here he HATED corn. That should tell you how delicious it really is! Here is a recipe I love to make with corn if you don't like it on the cob, or you need a yummy side dish to take to a potluck. It is delicious!

~Chili Corn~
-Get your grill going.
-Shuck you corn, I did 6 corn on the cobs and the butter was JUST enough so if you do more you will need to use more butter.
-Melt about half  a stick of butter and add in 1TBSP chilli powder
 -Brush on the chilli butter on to Cob and sprinkle with Kosher salt and place on the grill.
-Roast each side of the corn. When done take off the grill. Cut off the Cob into a bowl
Add:
 -half an onion diced
 -one diced red bell pepper
 -juice of one lime
-fresh cilantro
-Cayenne pepper (Optional but I would add a little to give a little more spice)

Mix well and enjoy. It really is delicious!

Pagoda's Honey Walnut Shrimp(or Chicken)

Well, I must say it is about time I started blogging yummy recipes again. We have made a giant move from Galena Alaska to Lake Mattamuskeet, North Carolina. Our house is some what set up and I have my computer back up and running. We are out in the country and loving it, so I figure it is a good thing to start off our new adventure with a BANG! And man is this recipe a bang!!! If you have ever been to Pagoda's in North Pole, Alaska you will know what this is! This is the appetizer EVERYONE orders! I even order it for my main meal. It is AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! If the capitalization does not give you a hint this stuff is awesome! Unless you are allergic to shrimp, like Keith, then I would suggest you NOT eat this.... BUT WAIT! I made this recipe with chicken and it was just as amazing as the shrimp! And what is even more awesome is the simpleness to this recipe. So I will not keep you from the deliciousness anymore and will get right to the recipe

Honey Walnut Shrimp(or Chicken)
1 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnut halves
3 TBSP Mayonaise
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tsp sweetened condensed milk
1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined(or I used about 4 chicken breasts cut in 1 inch cubes)
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 large egg beaten
1/2 - 1 cup corn starch

Heat 1/2 cup water in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Add sugar and stir constantly, until golden and thickened. Add Walnuts and sir to combine. Transfer to parchment paper lined plate. Let cool and break apart.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.

 In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey and condensed milk. set aside

Season shrimp with salt and pepper to taste

Working one at a time dip shrimp in egg, then dredge in the cornstarch, pressing to coat.
Working in batches, add shrimp to the skillet 8-10 at a time. Fry until golden brown and crispy. About 2 mintues on each side. Transfer to paper towel lined plate.

In a Large bowl combine Shrimp and honey mixture, Serve immediately topped with walnuts. And if you want to be just like Pagodas add some fresh steamed broccoli to the plate.  I like to eat this with rice as well.

Being in North Carolina, Pagoda's is a LONG ways away but thankfully I can make this dish and enjoy some of their delicious food!