Honey Butter Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is one of my favorite meats to work with. It always comes out juicy and tender, it absorbs flavor remarkably well making it great for rubs and marinades, and it's leaner than pork loin. Since it's on sale at the grocery store about once a month I usually buy at least three of them and keep them in the freezer until I find a good recipe to try.

Menu for 2/24/14-3/2/14

I'm sorry I had to put this off a day, but I spent all of last week thinking about nothing but the Mississippi Mud Pie and I just couldn't go to bed Sunday night without sharing it with you.

This week promises to be more easy-going. We don't have any elaborate, complicated meals planned. No holidays or birthdays come this week. We should be back to a semi-normal routine.

Mississippi Mud Pie

Mississippi mud pie... Also known as the second richest dessert I know how to make.

While this pie is complicated as a whole, the parts themselves are surprisingly simple. It starts with an easy chocolate cookie crust made of crushed oreos, followed by layers of delicate flourless chocolate cake, decadent dark chocolate pudding, and finally a mountain of fluffy whipped cream.

Menu for 2/17/14-2/23/14

It has been a great week! We got to visit Yaya and Nana without any weather difficulties, but we still got a snow day (well, Daddy got a snow day) on Thursday. Wednesday evening we had 6 inches of snow in the yard. Since we had Daddy home on Thursday morning we had some waffles to celebrate.

Chicken and Vegetable Stroganoff

My brother is a big fan of beef stroganoff, but personally I'm not all that fond of red meat. I like a good burger every now and then and I love chili, but I am perfectly happy making both with chicken or turkey instead of beef. Once in a blue moon I will crave a steak, but I like to go out for steak.

I'll admit that beef stroganoff has grown on me. Especially when I can control the ingredients. I can leave out the onions and go easy on the sour cream... and if I want to I can make it with chicken instead of beef!

Salsa Chicken Casserole

This is my second attempt at posting this recipe. The first time I made this meal it didn't work out quite right. I didn't use a big enough baking dish so it was overflowing with chicken broth. To keep it from dripping into the bottom of the oven I placed a baking sheet on the lower oven rack to catch any drips. This turned out to be a brilliant idea in terms of cleaning and a horrible idea in terms of cooking. The baking sheet blocked the heat from the baking dish resulting in an hour long baking time being extended to two hours and even then the rice was still crunchy in the middle of the dish.

Menu for 2/10/14-2/16/14

Well, they're calling for snow again this week. 80% chance of snow on Tuesday, meaning we may not be able to visit Nana until Thursday or Friday. It'll probably turn out to be a dusting of wet snow that turns to slush but doesn't melt. Then when the temperature drops at night it will freeze on the roads and make driving nearly impossible.

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

Oh, crock pot, how I love you! It's so nice to be able to do other things while you slow cook a meal for my family. Things like baking bread for my bestest friend. Even better, things like coloring and playing play-doh with my beautiful little girl.

Menu for 2/3/14-2/9/14

We took our first trip as a family this weekend. Sure, it was just a 6 hour car ride, a night in a hotel, and a 3 hour safety meeting for Aaron, but it was the first time in over 9 years that Aaron and I have been out of town together overnight. We've actually only stayed in a hotel 3 times since we met.

I was particularly proud of Bailey. She sat in the car just as calmly as I could have asked her to. She played with her magna doodle the whole trip, there and back. I had brought a couple of other toys because I had expected her to get bored, but she didn't even need them. In fact, she got very frustrated when I tried to trade her juice for the magna doodle.