Challenge Update 1/21/2013

Well, we had a very fun and relaxing weekend! We went fishing (I caught a nice 4-5 lb catfish, he broke the line once I got him to the shore, and took off back to his water when D tired to catch him). I got to go out and sit in the duck blind for the first time! No ducks came, the only day this week they decided to go to another pond...thanks weather! However, it was fun to get to watch the world wake up around us, and I had great company with DJ there and our friend Jason! Hopefully next time we go I'll have something more exciting report about! The weather here in OK has been CRAZY!! It was beautiful and sunny and warm all weekend, and today we are back to bitter cold! (That's why they say here in OK, if you don't like the weather, just wait a couple hours!) This is going to be a very short and to the point post, and tomorrow, I'll share another recipe with ya'll!! Until then, here was my photo challenge this week!

Circle
Something yellow
An ordinary moment
Two things
Ready
Shadow
Delicious (Totally messed up the day on this one so I actually took the pic the day before)

This is a beautiful candle my sister gave me awhile back! It smells delicious (snicker-doodle)! I'm almost down to nothing, but I'm going to figure out something fun to do with it once I've burned it all! 

My something yellow was a half of a lemon I was squeezing into my glass of water! If you want to know how it can be important to drink lemon water check out this information on Water Benefits Health

This is my "ordinary moment" every morning! I get my coffee, sit down and catch up on the shows I missed the night before, and enjoy the moments of relaxation and quiet while D is still sleeping, and before I start thinking about what to make for our late lunch!! 

My two things, are two things that are always in our living room! D's ukulele and his guitar! Like I said in the last post, I always feel right at home with all this music around me! 

My "ready" photo, was a picture of my keys in the car ready to run to Wal-Mart to pick up some things we ran out of in the last couple of weeks! "Ready" to go!

My shadow photo was the shadow of some rails on a walk-way! All lined up so perfectly in the beautiful sunny skies this week! 

Here is my "mess up" day! I haven't shared this recipe with you yet (coming tomorrow), however I did snack on the leftover Saturday before we left for our outdoor weekend! My delicious pork tenderloin! Ya'll won't want to miss it!!

So to recap, here is what we have so far for January

Something New

Heart

The view from here

Movement

Mine

Street

Something beginning with "t"

paper

One o'clock

Water

Surprise

Circle

Something yellow

An ordinary moment

Two things

Ready

Shadow

Delicious

See you guys tomorrow for a delicious pork tenderloin recipe! Until then....

~Happy Eating~

Pork Tenderloin and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

I love that Fall is finally here! This means football parties (yummy dips and chili), and cooler weather (soups and hearty dishes)! I really needed to "rearrange" the freezer to see what all we had in there and came across my pork tenderloin which I had almost forgot about! So, I whipped up an easy pork tenderloin in the crock pot while I cleaned house and made a fun little dessert that I knew Dee Jay could take with him to work and snack on! Both were a hit and very easy! A caution to the "snackers" out there, I almost ate ALL the filling to the pretzel sandwiches which would have a disaster because they were ridiculously fantastic, so hurry and make the pretzel sandwiches so you won't be tempted! :) Now on to the good stuff....let's get cooking!

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It is very easy and so delicious so let's get started! You are going to start with 1 pork tenderloin (I had tenderloin "chops" so I used those). Put the pork in the bottom of your crock pot first. Then you are going to add one envelope of dry onion soup mix on top of the pork. Then add one cup of water, 3/4 cup of red wine, 3 TB minced garlic, and 3 TB of soy sauce. Mix this together and turn the pork to make sure both sides have been introduced to the sauce! Sprinkle in a little pepper and cover your crock pot and turn it on low for about four hours! See how easy that was? You can literally make this while running out of the house for errands, or pick up the kids from school, and come home to a delicious pork tenderloin for dinner!
NOTE: I had a few extra potatoes left that I needed to use before they went bad, so I sliced them in thin rounds and threw them in with pork! I would recommend this, you won't be sorry!

Now, on to the dessert! I am not a big fan when it comes to food in the sweet department, but I could have devoured the entire batch of these bad boys! For a little added bonus, these are just as easy (but more time consuming). I found this recipe on Two Tiny Kitchens which is a fun site with lots of great recipes! Now...let's get to making these! You are going to start by combining 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, 2 TB of softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar (you might need a little extra), 3/4 cup of brown sugar (you might need a little extra). Mix all these ingredients in a bowl (this is where I almost lost the whole recipe due to my lack of not being able to stop eating this sugar packed yuminess)! Now grab a bag of mini pretzels and spoon about 1/2-1 tsp of the mix inside the pretzels and squish together to make a sandwich. I rolled the peanut butter mix into a small ball and it made it much easier and the perfect "sandwich" was formed! Now put these on a pan and let them sit in your freezer for about 30 minutes. Next you are going to need some Baker's dipping chocolate!

Pop this in the microwave and follow the directions on the package to melt the chocolate! Now you're going to dip the pretzel sandwich into the chocolate and place them back on the cookie sheet and stick them back in the freezer until you are ready to serve! Something we noticed is that they will melt (not so much the chocolate but just overall) pretty quickly, so try to keep them on a chilled plate when serving or you could have very messy hands and fingers when it's all over!

Both of these recipes turned out wonderful, and the pretzel dessert was a hit with the guys Dee Jay works with! I sent him to work with an extra bag of them just so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the whole tray before he got home!






Hope everyone is having a fabulous start to your Fall season! I can't wait to share Fall recipes and hear what you all are cooking up in your own kitchens! Until then...

~Happy Eating~