Super Simple Sunday

Sometimes on Sundays I get really ambitious with food. I pull out all the stops and go for the extra labor intensive, takes all day kind of recipe that makes people kind of scratch their heads and say “why in the world would you take all the time to do that when you can buy it premade at the store?” Sometimes on Sundays I like to go crazy.

And then other times….I don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being in the kitchen but sometimes my couch and blankie are more appealing than making a huge mess in the kitchen and then cleaning it up. Especially when I have a bit of a cold. Today was one of those Sundays. I still wanted a yummy, home cooked, weekend meal for us tonight, but I didn’t really feel like working real hard at it.

Enter one of my absolute favorite easy-peasy stand by recipes. I’m surprised I’ve blogged this long without this making it in here as I make it pretty frequently! Throw it in the crockpot, turn it on and forget about it.

About ten after 5 or so I asked Eric if he was getting hungry yet. He said he could eat anytime. I went into the kitchen, microwaved up a couple of those Minute rice already cooked brown rice cups (LOVE those things….they are just cooked brown rice, nothing added. It’s perfect rice in 60 seconds, I am addicted to those things!) sauteed up some delish fresh peapods (for me. Eric munched on raw carrots instead) thickened up a bit of the cooking liquid in crockpot to make a quick gravy and called it a day. Total time: about 10 minutes. I yelled to Eric my standard dinner’s ready call: “Let’s Eat!” and I think he was genuinely surprised we were sitting down already. He thought he had more time to tinker around. Ha. I love nights like this!

AMAZING SLOW COOKER PORK TENDERLOIN (Recipe adapted from: allrecipes.com)

1 (1 to 2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup red wine
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.

Cooks Notes:

To thicken the cooking liquid, pour into a saucepan and bring to boil. Mix 2 teaspoons of corn starch to 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Add to boiling liquid. Stir and simmer until slightly thickened.
If you are adverse to the onion soup mix, you could probably achieve a similar flavor with dried minced onion and salt to taste. 🙂