Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Wow-this is so good. I can't believe I have never thought to combine ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. It is soooo good. Of course I have a few modifications so here goes. First, I couldn't find jalapeno jelly so I left it out and it was still really good with just the dry rub. Second, I had some leftover shredded coleslaw (the prewashed bagged kind) in the fridge and topped my sandwich with that. Yummy! I split a sandwich for the boys and gave each a half. Rion wolfed his down and Torii wanted seconds. I think this recipe will be going into heavy rotation. And yes, Kelly, it's from Cooking Light. :) Oh-also, Fred informed about two minutes before getting the grill ready that we are out of propane. (Which begs the questions, Why didn't he tell me that? and Why hasn't he gotten more? We haven't grilled in awhile). Grrrr. Anyway, I put the tenderloins in the oven following the directions on the package.
Ingredients
1/4 cup hot jalapeño jelly
1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
Cooking spray
1/4 cup light ranch dressing
1/4 cup sweet hickory smoke tomato-based barbecue sauce (such as Bull's-Eye)
8 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls
Preparation
Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
Combine jelly and water; set aside.
Combine paprika and next 6 ingredients (through pepper); rub evenly over pork. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cover and grill 15 minutes, turning pork occasionally. Brush pork with jelly mixture. Grill an additional 5 minutes or until thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink).
Place pork on a cutting surface. Lightly cover with foil; let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice pork. Combine ranch dressing and barbecue sauce. Serve pork and ranch mixture with buns.

Drawing by Fred Rion

Fred Rion drew this picture for me the other day. I've never seen him draw anything like this before. I could never get him to sit down and draw. He is learning so much in school. He saw a flag this weekend and told me to put my hand on my heart and say the allegiance. I asked him if he said the Pledge of Allegiance everyday and he said it for me. I didn't think they said it in school anymore. On Wednesday he has a field trip to the fire station. I'm hoping I can go with him. I hope I can bring Torii too because he would really like it.

We had a nice weekend. We ate at McDonalds twice this weekend. Fred wasn't home so that was my excuse for not cooking. We also had ice cream at Coldstone Creamery and checked out a new playground on Saturday. Other than that we just hung out at home.

I also spent all my birthday gift cards/money. It seems I never can hang on to it for long. I got a jean jacket I wanted with my gift card. Thanks Kelly! Mom and dad gave me money so I bought Curb Your Enthusiasm season one and a cd with that. Thanks mom and dad too! And thank you Laurie- I love the tote. I've already been using it.

Horray for Pies

(First Peach Kuchen, it turned out great but a little to thick)

This weekend we haven't done much of anything. We decided to rent an old movie again and we watched "A Street Car Named Desire." I thought the movie reminded me of a soap opera and it just dragged on and on. But, now I can say that I have seen it and tell other people not to rent it.

The cats have been going outside more and more. They practically beg to go outside and play. I forgot that the cats were outside while cleaning and I opened the patio door to go find Victoria and she was running back to the house from the sidewalk! I couldn't believe that she went that far! I'm proud of both cats actually getting some courage to explore but I guess I better be outside watching them from now on.

Also, when I came home from work and brian was leaving the house to get some grocery's, Victoria and I were having a blast playing with a pin-pon ball on the kitchen floor, next to the patio door. The patio door was closed and I happened to notice something in the corner of my eye walk by the door. There is Gingham, sitting with her head tilted and looking at me from outside. Her expression "Ummm, I think he forgot me and closed the door, are you going to let me back in?" Poor kitty, Brian let her out sometime ago or she likes to sneek out and she's so quick. So, he either forgot about her, or didn't know she was outside and just closed the door. I was laughing so hard.

Today we are going to a friends house for a BBQ and I made a pie to bring over. I just talked to Laurie the other day and she mentioned Apple Pie. Ooooh, that sounded good. I mentioned it to brian and he loooves Apple pie. So I had to make one. I made everything from scratch and I found a fresh apple pie filling that is really good. I figured if I'm making pies, I might as well try Kuchen. So I also made two Peach Kuchen's and they turned out great! So everyone will have to tell me their favorite type of Kuchen's and I will make some for Christmas to bring home. I really like peach and cheese Kuchen but let me know if there's any other's that everyone would like.

Apple Pie

Crust:

3 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Cups veg. shortening

1 tsp. salt

1 lrg. egg

1 T. vinegar

5 T. water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Mix egg, vinegar and water in a cup. Add to flour mixture. Mix together until forms a ball.

~This crust recipe makes alot. So take a little over half of the dough to roll out for the bottom then the rest I roll out for the top piece of the pie. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top. Cut a few small slits on the top piece for steam.

~If you still have some left over dough from trimming the edges, roll it out and make a fancy top with cookie cutters. Or roll out the dough thin and flat and sprinkle alot of cinnamon and sugar on top and bake until golden brown (good snack).

Filling:

6 Cups sliced apples

1 cup sugar

2 T. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 T. butter/margarine (melted)

In a bowl, combine the entire mixture. Put apples in pie pan and pour mixture over apples. Cover with top crust. Trim and seal edges. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 mintues, then reduce heat to 350 degrees . Bake for about 45 minutes, until nicely brown and the juice has come up and bubbled.

~ You can also use 1/2 cup honey instead of the one cup sugar but I didn't try it yet.

Fun stuff

I found two fun things today. Not that I need anything to preoccupy me from what I really should be doing.

Fred isn't home today so I actually got to watch something other than college football on Saturday. I was looking through the guide and came across Spaceballs-the animated series. I flipped immediately to G4 which airs it. It is awesome! I recorded another episode but haven't watched it. Mel Brooks does the voices for President Skroob and Yogurt. I'm not sure if he's writing for the series as well, but it was funny.

One of my favorite websites is: http://www.us.imdb.com I check it almost daily for my guilty pleasure- celebrity gossip. Today I discovered they have video of some tv shows and movies, new and classics. The new The Office is on there if you missed it on Thursday, Laurie. There were also old episodes of Bewitched and Alfred Hitchcock. I tried an episode of Bewitched and it loaded up with no wait time. Awesome!

Happy Birthday GG!

If you haven't done so already, call GG! I know she would love it.

Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies

These brownies are soooooooo good. Thick and gooey. I got this recipe from Cooking Light. They have the best desserts. I copied and paste the recipe from their website and read the reviews and have to agree with one thing. I only had an 8X8 pan like most people so I would increase the baking time by 3-5 minutes. My brownies weren't quite done in the middle so I will do just that next time. And I will probably be making another batch this weekend. It's nice that these recipes come from Cooking Light, but they are so good that I keep making them and eating too many sweets. Oh well.

Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup toffee chips
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
Combine coffee granules and 1/4 cup hot water, stirring until the coffee granules dissolve.
Combine butter and semisweet chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH for 1 minute or until butter melts; stir until chocolate is smooth.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine coffee mixture, butter mixture, vanilla extract, and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add coffee mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with toffee chips. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Some old pictures with Abby- oooohhh.

I'm starting to clean and organize around the house and I found these cute pics of Laurie and one with Stacy and Laurie with Abby. I thought I would share them. I found some more pictures of tigger and when abby was a pup. So cute.

Our Weekend.

(Brian teaching Victoria the world, and where she will be shipped to next. He said Abu Dhabi was last time so lets see where next. He's so mean.)

Brian and I didn't do much this weekend. It was so nice to just stay home and relax. Right now we are watching the Packer-Cowboy's game. I can't beleive I'm sitting down and actually watching football. It's something to watch, I guess and brian is going for Dallas so I think I will cheer for the cheeseheads.

Brian and I were thinking of going to a movie this weekend but it's so expensive to go and we just decided to rent some old movie's. We rented "Some Like it Hot," with Marilyn Monroe and jack lemmon, "Citizen Kane," with Orson Welles, and "For Whom the Bell Tolls." We really liked to first two movies and I just might ask for them for christmas or just buy them. I really liked "Some Like it Hot." It was really funny. The last movie that we watched was "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and that movie is aweful. It's was really long and dragged out. I didn't even finish it, I went straight to bed and brian stayed up to watch the rest. But, we still went the cheaper way by renting three movies, because it was still cheaper than one ticket at the theater!

Today I was getting caught up on cleaning and getting some errands done. I'm finally feeling so much better and I can actually breath! I don't remember having a cold so bad before. I hope everyone else is getting better or not sick.

Yesturday I wanted to make Kneopla soup so I went to the grocery store and low and behold I happened to look in an odd isle and there was the Knorr Vegtable soup mix packets for spinach dip! And there was only a couple left so I took the rest of them to stock up. I was so excited. I came home and whipped it up really quick and then snacked on that until the soup was done. Yummm.

Well, not much else going on. Pretty boring here. Oh, brian and I will be home for a week over Christmas but not sure the exact date we will leave from here but I will of course let you know.

This and that

I wish I had some photos to post, but my digital is giving me problems. I can't get the flash to work right so you'll just have to wait until I get film developed.

This week has just flown by. Last Saturday we went to a birthday party at the Ramkota. Now Rion keeps telling me he wants his birthday there. They have a pretty nice waterslide there. At first the boys were afraid to go, but once they did there was no stopping them. We brought so much stuff with us and Fred told me I didn't need to bring the life jackets but I'm glad I did. Most of the kids there had them on so the boys weren't the only ones. It was just an added comfort when they were coming down the waterslide. Fred caught them at the end, but it was nice to have the life jackets too. Rion took one break from swimming and during that time shoved food down his throat nonstop. The little boy worked up an appetite!

I am feeling much better, but still have a wicked cough. Cordelia and Torii have it as well. It's funny that the kid that goes to school doesn't have it. The cough started for Cordelia on Sunday night. She had a hard time sleeping and I laid on the recliner with her until we both fell asleep. Then my back started to hurt so I put her in the crib, but she woke up. So I took her to bed with me and she slept there. She coughed a lot that night and I didn't get much sleep. I was so tired the next day that I went to sleep at 8:30 that night. And I slept until the alarm went off the next morning.

I've been working on some onesies for Kelly. I like what I've come up with so far. Well, one was Laurie's idea. I think they will turn out really cute.

This weekend is going to be busy. But fun. On Saturday we are going to the pumpkin patch. Then that evening Fred and I are going to a dinner and movie. On Sunday we are having a fundraiser brunch for MOPS. We each are going to make a soup for it so I will have to get up early to do that Sunday. Although I am making an easy crockpot soup. Which now that I think about it, I better go grocery shopping tomorrow. We were also going to go to GG's and pick apples, but between being sick and busy we just haven't gotten to it. She did bring some over yesterday, but she said she had a lot more.

Funny Show!

I started to watch the CBS show The Big Bang Theory. It's pretty funny. It reminds me of spending an evening around brian's friends. Ha ha. The show is about a bunch of geeks going to college and they all room together in an apartment and a girl they know lives acorss the hall from them. Everytime she trys to talk to them, they need to explain everything in scientific form and go into a long detail and sometimes they argue about what's correct and what's not. There's one character, Sheldon, who reminds me of Brian. :-) He's the one in the group that explains everything or just about everything in more detail. Brian and I were watching the other day and I was laughing so hard because Brian kept saying, "He's got that right," or "He's totally right on that."
So ya, when Brian wants to start explaining anything in detail, I just say "Ok, Sheldon."
I think it's pretty funny and you should check it out sometime. :-) Here's a website for it and on the site it says new episodes start Monday Sept. 22nd. Oh also, the girl in the show is played by the blonde from the show "8 Simple Rules," with john Ritter.
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_bang_theory/bio/

Becoming educated, playing in boxes, and working

Hi everyone! I finally have a moment to sit down and type up a little update. I've been pretty busy working the past week plus school, so I've found little time to do much recreationally. Work is good. I got complimented by a few people at work yesterday for being a really good floor director, which made me feel good. One person was the assistant general manager for WGVU too :)

School is flowing nice. I have a good mix of things to learn. Anthropological Theory, Perspectives on Globalization. Audio I, and Scriptwriting. Fun! haha. The readings for my Anthro. classes do get a little overwhelming though. Not only is there a lot of it, some of the readings are extremely dense and sometimes difficult to understand. Oh well, I'm enjoying what I'm learning, which is a good thing. I also have really great professors this semester. If everything goes according to plan, and I stay motivated expect a happy sister in December :D

Eric and I are doing good. He got a new laptop the other day, which was delivered to my apartment because he's in between housing, so he had fun playing with his new toy, and I had fun playing with the boxes :P Can't remember the last time I played in a box HA! We are also on the look out for a tandem bicycle... It's going to be awesome when we find one :P

I'm not looking forward to Wednesday. Sarah Pallin is going to be speaking at the community college in Grand Rapids, which is 3 or 4 blocks from where I live. I expect utter madness. I might stay on campus in Allendale a little bit longer that day. Last week Wednesday there was a movie being filmed 3 blocks from my house, but I didn't find out until two days later. Kind of disappointed, but oh well. The movie is named, The Steam Experiment and stars Val Kilmer.

Not too much else going on... I hope to call everyone soon now that I have a little extra free time. Take care :)

This picture was practically taken in real time... This was taken today as I typed out this entry (thanks Eric). And by real time I mean eastern time. One hour ahead for you central timers and two ahead for you mountaineers :P I'm sitting on the third floor of the library with campus behind me. I like this spot :)

Mark it on your calender.

Ha ha, it's probably just me as the crazy ice cream lover but I have it marked on my calender. Sept. 25th, from 5pm-8pm, Cold Stone Creamery is giving away 3 oz. mix of ice cream for Make a Wish Foundation. I mean, who am I to pass up free ice cream??

http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/promotions.html

I found this ad in our Sunday's paper with the coupons. So here's the website if anyone is interested. Mom? :-)

Home Sick # 2

So, whatever stacy and mom had, I think they sent it through the phone! I feel aweful. It all started on Friday while I was at work and my boss wouldn't let me go home. So on Saturday I was suppose to work 7am-3pm and I called my boss at the Super 8 around 6am and told her that I'm not coming in today. She said she can't cover for me and I needed to find someone or come in. I called her back and said someone will come in for half the day and then it's up to her to cover the rest because I'm not leaving the house. She wasn't happy. But I don't care.
Today I called the Super 8 and said I can't make it in again. I'm feeling a little better but still weak and very tired. On friday and saturday, I think I had morning sickness with a cold and everytime I would cough hard (which was often) I felt like throwing up. But, like I said, my boss didn't care when I was working friday. I'm so glad to get away from this job, she's just to much to deal with. What's funny is that my last official day at the Super 8 is on Monday and I don't know if I will be in then either. We'll see.
Anyhow, Brian is taking care of me and last night he made a nice spicy chilli that soothed my throat and it tasted so good! Brian wants me to try to get outside today to get some fresh air for baby and me and we might go to the zoo to relax with a picnic. That is if I can get up and get myself moving. What stinks is that my doctor isn't available to ask her what cold medicine I can take now, so I think I will see the doctor tommarow.
I start my new job on Tuesday and I hope I feel a lot better by then. How is everyone else feeling now? I hope everyone is feeling better because being sick is not fun at all.

S.O.S!

I have mom's wonderful Spinach recipe that she uses with the Knorr season packet. Only problem is that I can't find it anymore! Aaaahhh. If anyone can find these packets, I would love some sent. Brian loves this dip and we both craved it awhile back and I told him that I can't make it anymore until I find another recipe because the packet I use has the recipe on the back. Poor guy was upset and I haven't found another recipe I like. I looked at just about every grocery store around here and it's no where to be found. If anyone can find it, I will send money. Ha ha.

Oh also, Mom I have to bug you again. Can you send the Kneophla soup recipe? I should have the recipe put onto a plaque because I think this is the 2nd time I lost it and brian and I love it so much. Crazy.

Home sick

I didn't go to work again today because I'm sick. I actually feel a lot better, but I'm a little achy from all the coughing. Another day home from work can't hurt.

We had our rummage sale this weekend and it went alright. Any money that I have now that I didn't have before is a good thing. It seems like I sold a lot of kids clothes, but I still have a lot left.

Today I finished another onesie order to go to Australia. She order 12 onesies! I didn't realize it when I first checked the order then I checked my Paypal account and thought something must have gone wrong. I guess I better order some more blank onesies today.

Kelly-I forgot to tell you we got the puzzle note. Fred Rion really liked putting it together. He's learning a lot in school. He knew the first line said "Hello all".

It's nice to be home and do nothing. Although I'll probably do some Etsy stuff today and some things around the house.

Monday night football

We are starting a Monday Night Football tradition of sorts. I saw this from a reader's tip in a magazine and thought it was a great idea. On Monday nights we (and I really mean me) are planning our dinners around the home team of that night's game. They usually show food from the area during games and we always say that sure looks good. So this might end those mouth watering moments. I've been trying to figure out some of the upcoming games and it's been fun looking for new recipes based on a city. Tonight there are actually two games for opening weekend, but we are going just with the Minn/Green Bay game. Since it's in Green Bay we are having Brats (Johnsonville Stadium Brats) and Deep Fried Cheese Curds. I wish I could really make it authentic and wash it down with a Miller Lite, but I still have a few weeks before that can happen. Next week is Dallas I believe so we are having Tex-Mex, but I haven't decided exactly what.

Deep Fried Cheese Curds

2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb cheese curds
oil for frying

Mix milk, flour, baking powder and salt. Coat the cheese curds. Deep fry in the oil until golden, taking care to only fry a few at a time.

Pina Colada Cheesecake bars

These were soooo good. I of course had some slight modifications. I was half way through the recipe when I realized I didn't have egg substitute so I used two eggs. I also used regular sugar instead of turbinado sugar. I don't have a food processor so I used my blender and it worked great. You could actually make a couple of batches since you'll still have leftovers from a lot of the ingredients. I hate using only part of a block of cream cheese because I never seem to use the rest so I'll have to make another batch.

Ingredients
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons coconut flour or all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon water
Cooking spray
Filling:
1 cup 2% low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
3/4 cup egg substitute
Remaining ingredients:
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare crust, combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Add butter, oil, and 1 tablespoon water; toss well. Press mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare filling, combine cottage cheese and the next 7 ingredients (through salt) in a food processor, and process until smooth. Add egg substitute, and process until blended. Spread cheese mixture over cooled crust. Bake at 350° for 33 minutes or until set. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until thoroughly chilled. Top with pineapple and coconut. Cut into 16 bars.