***Crock Pot Alert*** Pork Pernil

Puerto Rican slow cooked pork. I was sold in those few words when I saw in on Pinterest but once I saw how easy this recipe was, I knew I'd be in love for life!  The original recipe calls from pork shoulder but I used a tenderloin and it worked out amazing and probably has less fat that way. We ate ours as soft taco fillings, but you can also serve it in the traditional way, with rice and beans!

2-3 lbs pork tenderloin
4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed or roughly chopped
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 oranges juiced, about 1/2 cup if you want to just use OJ, but that will make it sweeter
2 limes juiced, about 1/2
1/4 cup beer, optional
Cooking spray

The night before....
1. Make 4 shallow slashes into the pork tenderloin. Don't cut all the way through, just about half-way and stuff full of garlic.
2. Combine juices and spices in a bowl and whisk together.
3. If your Crock-Pot bowl comes out, light spray with cooking spray. Place pork garlic side up on the bottom. Pour juice mixture over pork. If your Crock-Pot bowl does not come out, place tenderloin in a large Ziploc bag and pour in juice mixture, seal.
4. Allow to marinade over-night in the fridge, turning once if you have time before bed.

The day of...
1. Place pork and juice in the Crock-Pot and cook on Low for 6-8 hours, add beer if your slow cooker tends to dry out the juices and burn things (mine does.)
2. Shred pork in pot and stir with juices. Let cook another 15-30 minutes.
3. Yep, you're done.

Definitely not one of my best photos, but you get the idea of how it should look!

Homemade Body Scrub

As winter turns to spring, most of us are in need of a good scrub to get rid of dead dry skin cells. For years I've been making my own exfoliater because I'm allergic to all the harsh fragrances and chemicals found in more store-bought body scrubs. Here's how I make it....

2 Cups Epsom salts You can use sugar for a finer grain scrub, but note that the oil dissolves the sugar faster and your batch won't last as long. 
3/4 Cup light olive oil or safflower or grape seed oil, in a pinch you could even use vegetable oil (if you don't want to smell like a salad, skip the olive oil and look for something else)
5-6 drops essential oil, like grapefruit or lavender (you can find this at most health-food stores)
5-6 drops water based food coloring *optional*

In a large bowl stir together salt and oil until salt is moistened but not an oily mess. Add essential oil and food color. Stir together and store in an air-tight container.  This amount is good for about 2-3 weeks of scrubbing.

Use in the shower or add a few handfuls to your bath water.  Try not to let water get in the container as it will slowly dissolve the salt.  

Caution: Your shower will be slippery.....

Beer Brownies

What do you do that day after St. Patrick's Day with all that leftover Guinness? You make brownies of course!!!! (I know that right now you're shouting at your computer about the blasphemy that is leftover Guinness, but for those of us who were quietly enjoying the day at home, there's bound to be 1 or 2 bottles that didn't get consumed....)

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and traced it back to what I think is the original post, a blogger named Patent & the Pantry. It's a really cute blog and her brownie recipe was killer so I'm thinking the rest of her stuff is great too. I'll be trolling her site regularly for inspiration.

A word of caution about reducing Guinness on the stove top....It foams up and over flows really fast if you let it come to a boil and yes it does catch on FIRE if you have an open-flame gas range....so don't try to rush it by turning the heat up...


1 Cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa-powder (the unsweetened baking kind)
1/4 tsp salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened, cut into chunks
1 Cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups of milk-chocolate chips
4 large eggs, room temp or close to it
1 Cup sugar
2 bottles of Guinness beer
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 Cup white chocolate chips (I didn't have any so I used semi-sweet and it was still awesome)
Powder sugar for dusting

1. Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9X13 baking pan with parchment paper for easy brownie removal, or just spray lightly with cooking spray

2. Take out your eggs and butter, set on the counter where they won't roll away.

3.  Pour beer into a small pan and set to a simmer over medium-low heat. Allow to cook until reduced by half, about 25 minutes.  You'll want about 1 1/4 cup of beer-syrup. Remove from heat and let cool. *cooking down the beer is key to the flavor and fudgey consistency of these brownies. Don't skip this step*

4. While beer is cooking, whisk together flour, cocoa-powder and salt in a large bowl until well combined.

5.  In a microwave safe bowl, combine butter, semi-sweet and milk-chocolate chips. Microwave for at 30 second intervals until melted and you can stir together for a nice smooth consistency. Set aside to cool lightly.

6. In a mixer, cream together eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high setting.

7. Slowly pour chocolate mixture into egg/sugar fluff. Mix on medium speed until well combined.

8. Add flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Don't over mix it! There's more mixing to come, don't panic.

9. Switch to a whisk attachment and slowly pour in beer syrup and vanilla.  Whisk until it's all mixed in good. It's going to take a few minutes and the batter will be very runny when you're done.

10.  Pour into prepared pan and give a good jiggle to shake the bubbles out. Sprinkle white chocolate chips evenly over batter.

11. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

12. Let cool and cut into squares. Sprinkle with powder sugar if desired. 

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon

Broccoli was on sale last week at the grocery store so I bought a bunch of it. Then I had to start figuring out what to do with it all.  Of course there's the general steaming and tossing with olive oil and salt, serving it raw with dip. Last night I decided to try roasting it and it turned out fantastic!!!!!!!! This makes a light side dish that can stand on it's own.

2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped down to bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice.

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees

2. In a large bowl combine broccoli, olive oil and garlic.

3. Spread broccoli in a single layer on a baking sheet.  

4. Bake for 10 minutes then stir broccoli.  Check to make sure broccoli isn't getting too dark. Bake for 5 minutes more if needed.

5. Plate broccoli and drizzle with lemon juice for a bright citrus finish. 

Jessica's Penne and Vodka Sauce

In January I went to visit my sister-in-law in Seattle and she made us the most delicious dinner: Penne with Italian Turkey Sausage and Vodka Sauce. I've had Vodka sauce before and never really liked it that much but this was fantastic! I asked her to share it with me so I could make it at home.  Jessica has said that if you can't find ground Italian turkey sausage, try turkey breakfast sausage patties if you don't want to squeeze the meat out of the links.

I made mine with spaghetti because that's what we had on hand and served with a side of roasted garlic broccoli (recipe to follow.)

*Recipe makes a lot of sauce, about 8 servings so plan on left overs.

1 pound penne pasta
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want it a little spicy)
1 (28) oz can of crushed tomatoes
3/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons vodka
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream *I can't eat dairy, so I replaced this with plain soy coffee cream*
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Cook pasta until al dente.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and stir to crumble. Stir occasionally until browned.
3. Remove cooked sausage and set aside.  Add olive oil and heat.
4. Add garlic and red pepper flakes to pan, stirring until garlic begins to brown.
5. Add tomatoes and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Toss in vodka, cream, parsley and sausage.  Stir and serve over hot pasta.

Bourbon-Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

Let's be honest, this recipe had me at bourbon...and the fact that salmon is good for you.  This dinner pulls together quickly, 20 minutes if you're making old fashioned rice as a side, so it's perfect for a weeknight. The original recipe says to marinate the fish for 1-2 hours, but I didn't and it was still awesome. It will probably be even better if you actually do it. I just tossed it in the bowl while I got everything else ready.

I served it with steamed broccoli tossed with a squeeze of lemon and dash of olive oil and brown rice (yeah, we're getting healthy here...) 

Serves 4

3 tablespoons bourbon (I used Crown Royal because we're fancy, nah, it's what we had....)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce (get the low-sodium stuff, it's better for you)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tablespoon lime juice

3 garlic gloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

4 (6 oz-ish) salmon filets, skins removed

Cooking spray

Green onions thinly sliced, enough to sprinkle on each piece of fish

1 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Combine ingredients pepper in a bowl. Give it a good whisk to get everything together.

2. Pour over salmon filet and allow to marinate in the fridge for up to 2 hours. *** I didn't do this step and it was fine***

3. Spray an even coat of cooking spray in a large non-stick skillet.  Heat over a medium-high flame. 

4. Add fish and marinade to pan. Cook about 4 minutes on each side until it's a nice shade of light pink and the fish would flake it you took a fork to it (don't do that, it will ruin the presentation)

5. Give each piece it's own plate and drizzle the remaining glaze over each one. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds!