Month: March 2015
We have recently rediscovered this recipe from Cooking Light in our house – as in we have it at least once a week. When I went to find a link, I realized I had adapted it from the original recipe. I’m sure I tried it as written originally – Sugar-Crusted Pork Cabbage Wraps, but I’m going to put the recipe below for what we actually eat. It’s delicious and my entire family fights over the leftovers for the next few days (we actually double and triple the recipe).
Ingredients
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 (1 1/2-pound) pork tenderloin,
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil, divided
1 cup (1-inch) green onion pieces
8 teaspoons hoisin sauce
Preparation
1. Combine the first 5 ingredients, stirring well; rub spice mixture evenly over all sides of pork. Place pork in a zip-top plastic bag, and seal. Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Remove pork from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove pork from bag, and discard marinade. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion registers 120°. Remove pork from oven; let stand 10 minutes. Cut pork crosswise into 2-inch pieces, and shred with 2 forks. (My pork doesn’t shred – maybe it isn’t done enough? But I always cook it to the 120 degrees and then cut it into thin slices – similar to how Chinese stir fry meet is cut.)
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola and 1 tablespoon sesame oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add half of pork to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until browned and edges are crisp, stirring occasionally. Repeat procedure with remaining oils and pork.
We eat the pork over white rice sprinkled with the green onions (uncooked) and then drizzled with the Hoisin sauce. Yum!
It was a cranky pants kind of day.
(See Alex in the cranky pants here.)
One of my favorite parts of Daylight Savings Time is that Kaitlyn goes to bed when it is still light enough to sneak in and get great pictures of her.
(On a side note – I would never have done this with Alex. He was a light sleeper and once awake would cry for hours. We shut the door when we put him to bed and didn’t open it again till morning – EVER.)
Teague had some friends over this morning. The boys managed to get most toys we owned out and had a blast. Teague’s favorite activity might have been the obstacle course they made with our new stepping stones. The boys had to get from the red ottoman to the blue Bilibo without touching the carpet or being caught by the pink alligator (Kaitlyn).
I knew when I got up yesterday morning the house felt a little cold. I assumed Wade had been hot the previous night and adjusted the temperature. Nope. It turns out something is wrong with our heating (and cooling) system. Thankfully we have plenty of wood and two wonderful wood burning fire places. The temperatures are just dipping down low enough that if we have a roaring fire in the evenings up until bedtime and first thing in the morning then the house is warm during the day. Here’s hoping the necessary part comes in soon!
Due to Kaitlyn’s early bedtime (6 pm) and the general chaos in our house at that time, Kaitlyn almost never gets an evening bath. Tonight was an exception and Teague loved playing with her in the bath. He thought it was somewhat interesting that she had figured out how to drum on her drum.
He loved playing with her after he realized dumping water on her head caused giggles. (On a side note – Alex has never minded water in his eyes at any age. Teague has always hated water in his eyes.)
What I learned (and confirmed) in Kaitlyn’s bath tonight:
1.) She learned to drum on her drum.
2.) She loves to have water dumped on her head (hence the red eyes)
(see more bath pictures here)
Lately my Tuesday mornings have included Mom Fit – a class for Moms and Babies taught at my YMCA. It’s not necessarily a class I would normally take, but it’s been fun. The class is taught by a girl from my church and a lot of my friends take the class. The class is open to anyone with a baby – newborn to 12 months. My two problems with classes – 1.) I have my own workouts that take 3 days a week that I struggle to fit in each week and 2.) I have a very mobile and active 9 month old. We’ll see how much longer I can keep this up. I’ll also point out I don’t usually use a 16 pound weight (Kaitlyn) for most of my exercises.
After over a week away, we have gathered all of our kids and are headed home. We are blessed with wonderful travelers and everyone (except Dad) managed at least one nap in the car today.
We almost have Kaitlyn figured out on long trips. She is pretty content to ride until she is hungry, which can be fixed on the road. She had a particular fretful whimper that we kept thinking meant sleep was needed – but then she would never quite drift off to sleep. This happened on several occasions and when we eventually stopped we realized a dirty diaper was the culprit. Parents are so hard to train.
Wade and I got up this morning in Louisville and drove to Paducah. We both realized we had quite missed Kaitlyn and it was great to have some time with just her (and Gram).
Our first stop this morning was the Independent Stave Company – my favorite by far. This place makes Oak barrels for aging bourbon. We were running a little late and missed the intro to the tour so Wade got a single picture before we were told no pictures allowed. (But seriously – take this tour. Fascinating.)
Then we moved on to Maker’s Mark (with our new friends from the ISC tour). This distillery knows how to give a tour! By this point on the bourbon trail we are pretty familiar with the process of making bourbon but we enjoy comparing the facilities and hearing what makes each place a little different. (At this point I realized my camera battery was dead so Wade and his iPhone are responsible for all pictures.)






Our last stop on the Bourbon Trail was Willet, a very small distillery, but one of my favorites to visit.

It may have been that they have two very friendly cats (named after two of their Bourbon’s – Rowan and Noah) that live in the building or the fact that the family owned business truly has family members everywhere – even the gift shop.