Bacon Pineapple Bites

So, what can I say? It's been a while! I have been cooking, but I've been really busy! Most of the stuff we've had lately has been repeats. Sorry I've been absent. I got a new job teaching 3rd grade and that consumes most of my time! I do get home in time to cook dinner thankfully. Charlie has also been begging for healthy food lately too. I find healthy food boring. One day I will have an exciting healthy recipe to share! In the mean time, we have these....

I hosted Book Club a couple weeks ago and made this yummy appetizer and black and white brownies (YUM). You make these the same way you make the sausage ones, but instead use pineapple! They reminded me of Hawaiian pizza. I would definitely make these again.


Bacon Pineapple Bites


1 fresh pineapple, cored and cut into chunks
1 lb. bacon
1 C brown sugar


Cut the bacon slices in half so they are shorter. Dredge in the sugar and wrap around the pineapple. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes and serve. So easy, so yummy!

Sweet and Sour Pork Kebabs

Finally a recipe from my new healthy cookbook that we love! Too bad it has to be grilled and that limits how often we will have it. :) This recipe was easy, delicious, and worth the few calories that were in it!

Here's the nutrition breakdown:

"Calories, fat, and cholesterol were reduced by..."
Reducing the amount of oil in the marinade
Using a leaner cut of pork, and less of it
Add bell peppers to compensate for less meat

Calories before...550
after...201

Fat (g) before...26
after...5

Sweet and Sour Pork Kebabs
Source: More Healthy Homestyle Cooking

Marinade and Pork
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T dark sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 32 1'' chunks

Sauce
1/4 C ketchup
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T sugar
2 tsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 tsp. dark sesame oil

Kebabs
2 bell peppers (red or green), cut into 32 1'' pieces
1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks

In a large bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, garlic, red pepper, and salt. Stir in the pork. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours.

In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Soak 8 10" bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes (to prevent burning). Thread a bell pepper, followed by a pineapple chunk and a pork chunk onto a skewer. Repeat 4 times on each skewer.

Grill over medium-hot coals. Turn the kebabs 3-4 times while cooking. Drizzle the marinade over the kebabs one minute before finished. Serve immediately.

Bacon Wrapped Sausages

If you haven't discovered these yet, you are missing out!!! My picture is terrible and for that I'm sorry! It's really a shame considering my awesome photographer sister was at my house when we had these. She could have taken an amazing picture! This are delicious and SO easy to make! People have different methods of getting the brown sugar on. I like my method, although it is a little time consuming. You can also use toothpicks to secure them, but I don't think it's necessary.

Bacon Wrapped Sausages

1 package of Lil' Smokies

1 package of bacon

Brown Sugar (no idea how much)

Cut the bacon strips in half to make them shorter. Roll the sausage in the brown sugar and dredge the bacon in it too. Wrap the bacon around the sausage and place either on a baking sheet, in a baking dish, or on a double broiler. Whatever you use, it helps to line it with foil first for easy clean up! Bake for about an hour and 350.

Easy, right?

Breakfast Bread

This recipe is a tradition from my childhood. My mom made this every Christmas morning. In fact, I think that was the only time she made it and it made us love it all the more because we knew we were only getting once a year! I made it for the first time this year for mine and Charlie's first Christmas. It was delicious and Charlie loved it! My mom usually made 2 loaves, so if you've got more than 3 people and this is the only thing you're serving, I would make more! I froze the leftover bread in individual servings and defrosted them the night before Charlie went to work. Then I popped it in the microwave to heat, wrapped it in tinfoil and sent it with Charlie to eat in the car. Homemade Hot Pocket! He loved it!



Breakfast Bread
Source: Mom


1 frozen loaf of bread dough
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 lb. ground sausage, cooked
1 C cheddar cheese, shredded


Defrost and rise the bread dough according to the package directions. You'll want to do this the night before. With your fingers, push out the dough so that it covers a baking sheet. Top with the sausage leaving an edge around the bread. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. The next part I got Charlie to help me with...Pull up the sides and ends of the dough to make a loaf. While you're holding together the loaf, pour the eggs inside. Seal together. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350. Yum!

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

Finally, another healthy recipe that we like! YAY!!! These were so easy and delicious!

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops
Source: Delish

4 (1/2-inch thick) pork loin chops
1 tsp garlic powder
4 Tbsp shredded/grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place Parmesan cheese on a plate. Season the pork chops generously with black pepper & some salt. Sprinkle garlic powder evenly over pork chops. Coat the chops with the cheese, patting to adhere.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops to skillet and do not move them. Allow pork chops to cook until golden brown & crisp, about 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer pork chops to oven and bake for 5-8 minutes in preheated oven. You want them cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Apple Butter Pork Loin

Charlie's back on his we need to eat healthy thing. This is hard for me! I spent forever last week looking for healthy recipes that I thought sounded good and only came up with a few! I'm not sure that this recipe is actually healthy. The site claimed it was, but who knows. Either way it was yummy! We bought a huge jar of apple butter on our Honeymoon at the Mast General Store. If you ever go to Boone you should go to Mast. It really is a cool store! Our apartment smelled delicious between the apple and cinnamon. I'm so ready for fall!

Apple Butter Pork Loin

Source: All Recipes

1 Pork Loin (mine was 3 lbs)

seasoning salt

2 C apple juice

1/2 C apple butter

1/4 C brown sugar

2 T water

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350°. Season the pork loin with seasoning salt. Place in a 9x13 baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork and cover.

Bake for 1 hour. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon and cloves. After one hour, remove from oven and spread the mixture over the top.

Continue to bake until pork is done (165°). You need to cook 1/2 hour per pound of meat.

BBQ Pork Spare Ribs

There's nothing like home-cooked comfort food! These were so yummy and just fell apart in our mouths. Sorry there's no pictures. It was church night so we ate quick. I didn't even think about taking a picture until our plates were almost clean!

BBQ Pork Spare Ribs
Source: Gather Round Our Table

1 package country style boneless pork ribs
1/2 c Ketchup
1/4 c vinegar
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c butter
2 tsp salt
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder

Place ribs in a baking pan. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl and pour over ribs. Bake at 300° for 2-3 hours.

Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Mustard Sauce

In his first bite Charlie wondered what the taste of this meal reminded him of. I said, "It must be the dill." I didn't really know what I was talking about. Then he realized....a McDonald's Quarter Pounder. I took a bite and it reminded me of a Chick-fil-A sandwich. Finally, it clicked...DILL...like the pickle (get it...dill pickles)! I know, I'm not the brightest! :) So if you like pickles, or either one of the items mentioned above you will like this! This is an Atkins recipe, so if you make it according to the recipe it's healthy!


Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Creamy Mustard Sauce
Source: Atkins

2 T unsalted butter
1 whole pork tenderloin (about 1 lb), sliced into medallions
1 tsp chopped garlic (I used about 4 or 5 cloves)
3/4 c reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 c sour cream
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T fresh dill, minced (I used dried)
salt and white pepper (I used black)

Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until browned. Remove pork from skillet and cover to keep warm.

Add garlic to skillet and saute until aroma is released, about 30 seconds. Add chicken broth. Simmer liquid about 3 minutes until reduced slightly. Remove skillet from heat and whisk in sour cream, mustard, and dill. Season with salt and pepper.

Return pork to skillet along with any juices. Cook pork over medium heat with sauce for about 3 minutes.

***When using dried herbs from the pantry I think you're supposed to half the measurement when the recipe calls for fresh. I didn't do this. Maybe you should and the flavor won't be so powerful!

Makes 2 servings
Carbs per serving 3.5
Fiber 0.5
Protein 50.5
Fat 27
Calories 465