2009 December — A Southern Fairytale

Pork Tenderloin with Orange Chipotle Marinade and Grilled Veggies

8:14 AM ByRachelFiled UnderMain Dishes, Mouthwatering Monday, Side Dishes

pork tenderloin collage

Savor those ingredients in your mind for a moment.

Pork Tenderloin. YUM.

Orange Chipotle Marinade. YUM (it’s better than you can imagine)

Grilled Veggies. DROOL

That’s like a triple tonguegasm there y’all.

So here’s the dealio… I was given the opportunity (iTunes giftcard) to download and review the Kraft iFood assistant app for my iPhone. OH WAIT.. I already had it on my phone. I was also given a gift card to pay for groceries (um.. hello.. in this economy WHO is going to turn down free groceries?!)

So, I sat one day and played while waiting for Princess to get out of school. I found 4 recipes immediately that leapt out at me.. garlic breadsticks, oreo truffles, Creamy Corn and Zucchini Chipotle Bake AND the Grilled Orange Chipotle Pork and Brown Rice. I added them to my shopping list (which automatically added them to my recipe box) and off to the store we went.

The shopping list is handy as all get out, it organizes everything by department/aisle, finds your nearest grocery store AND on the kraft kitchens site, you can even add your own items to the shopping list that shows up on your iPhone, iTouch or Blackberry.. Oh YES.. you read that right. You can NOW get the iFood assistant on your iPhone, iTouch AND your Blackberry.

I am horrible at writing down shopping lists and remembering to take them with me. My iPhone.. well, I’m never without it.

I made the truffles for the kids’ teachers. Those were a massive hit with EVERYONE! (I’ll share that recipe later)

oreo truffles

For dinner Friday night, I made the Grilled Orange Chipotle Pork with Grilled Veggies and Brown Rice.

I didn’t even have it cooking yet and Nathan was sniffing around the kitchen and asking when dinner was going to be ready. It smelled SO good.

If you want their EXACT recipe.. go here

Otherwise…

Pork Tenderloin with Orange Chipotle Marinade and Grilled Veggies

2/3 C Basil Parmesan vinaigrette
1/2 C orange marmalade (no, really.. orange marmalade. caramelizes it nicely and the flavor.. NOM)
1/4 C chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped (this can be lessened or upped according to your personal preference)
1 pork tenderloin (mine was 2.5 lbs), butterflied
2 green peppers, cut in half, and then each half into six slices
2 red peppers, cut in half, and then each half into six slices
1 large, or 2 small, yellow onions, cut into quarters
3 C cooked brown rice (I HIGHLY suggest adding some marinade to the rice for flavor. Otherwise, it just subtracts and distracts from the awesomeness of this dish)

tenderloin ingredients

Mix the dressing, chipotle peppers and orange marmalade.

tenderloin marinade

Butterfly your tenderloin (lay out and slice in half lengthwise) place the butterflied tenderloin(s) into a large dish

butterflied tenderloins

Cover with all but about 1/4 C of the marinade. Make sure that you evenly coat the tenderloin, cover and marinate for at least One Hour.

butterflied tenderloins 2

About 10 minutes before you’re ready to cook remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator and toss the veggies with a bit of the marinade

tenderloin veggies

Turn your grill to medium heat and cook both the veggies and the tenderloin for about 13 minutes.. you’ll need to move the veggies around so they don’t burn.

tenderloin and veggies on the grill

Remove from the grill when the pork’s internal temp is 160. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.

Slice the pork, you can cut the veggies smaller if you’d like and serve. You can serve over brown rice, as suggested but make sure you add some marinade to the rice immediately after it’s cooked (during fluffing) otherwise, the rice is a distraction to the dish.

tenderloin final

This will show up again on our table. I’m going to play with the marinade for chicken and steaks, too. It has a wonderful flavor that truly surprised me.

So, this Mouthwatering Monday comes with a bonus Proper entries give you the chance to win a $25 iTunes giftcard (to purchase the .99 cent app) and a $50 Amex gift card for some groceries (I know, awesome.. right?)

Leave me a comment about the recipe (first and main entry)

This contest will end tuesday, December 15th at 10:00PM CST.

Bonus entry: How would the iFood assistant shopping list, recipe finder hel you?

Bonus entry: Tweetthis and leave the tweet URL in the comments

CONTEST OVER!

CONGRATULATIONS to Amazing Greis commenter #27

each entry must be in a separate comment
If you’re adding your Mouthwatering Monday Tonguegasmic Recipe.. Please sign the linky, leave a comment, visit others and link back here

Taggedchipotle, grilled veggies, marinade, oranges, pork recipes, pork tenderloin 48 Comments

An Icy Picture That Melts Hearts

12:04 AM ByRachelFiled UnderFamily, Monkey, Photography

first sleet

There are moments in life that you hope you are still enough to notice.

Moments that can pass you by in the blink of an eye, moments that if you are too busy looking towards tomorrow… you’ll miss.

This is one of those moments.

We were so busy cleaning out our garage, readying for our garage sale… not really paying attention to the rare occasion that was happening around us.

Sleet.

Frozen rain.

South Texas.

Frozen Rain in South Texas.

We dismissed it completely as a mild annoyance until Monkey stood on our doorstep in full regalia and said: “Daddy, pick me up and hold me up so that I can see the ice”

We stopped dead in our tracks and realized.

He is 3 years old and he’s never seen ice fall from the sky before.

I ran for the camera and my husband.. he gathered Monkey into his arms and into the ice they danced.

My two men.

26 Comments

I Still Believe

8:24 PM ByRachelFiled UnderEverything Else

yesvirginiasm

I still believe in Santa.

In the Magic, the beauty, the meaning, the giving, the feeling that surrounds this time of year.

Whether you believe and share the Magic of the Man; Santa, Father Christmas, Pierre Noel, or simply share and believe in the magic, the giving, the sharing, the generosity of the season…

It works for me.

I choose to share Santa with my children, to watch the wonder, the magic, the beauty of wishing and believing. I think all children should have magic in their lives, real or imagined.

I can remember as a child being fascinated with the Macy’s Day Parade and then later, as an adult, being charmed by the story of Virginia and her letter.

It is this paragraph, in particular that strikes a chord deep within my soul:

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

I fully believe in magic and fairytales (hello.. my blog name) and the beauty and power of people at their best.

So, when I was contacted by someone about the Believe campaign. I signed right up. I get nothing out of this. NO payment. NO compensation. NOTHING. If you’re looking at it FTC wise.

However, I get the joy, the pleasure, the satisfaction of knowing that I’ve shared with y’all something that I believe strongly in.

Magic, beauty and faith. The power of childhood innocence and the ability to believe in fairytales unconditionally, to believe that there is magic in our world.

December 11th is National Believe Day: (from their website)

National Believe Day: December 11th: “Yes, Virginia” Animated Special – On Friday, December 11th, Macy’s will celebrate the first National Believe Day to recognize and reward acts of kindness and generosity from coast to coast. Also that day, CBS will premiere a new original animated special called, “Yes, Virginia.” on Friday, December 11, at 8 p.m. ET.

My favorite part of this whole campaign.. Every single Macy’s in the country has a Santa Mailbox. For every single letter. EVERY SINGLE LETTER. that is placed in a Santa mailbox in a Macy’s store… they will donate $1 ONE DOLLAR to the Make A Wish Foundation, up to ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

I’m taking my kids and their letters to Macy’s.

Shoot.. I’m taking mine and Nate’s letters to Santa up to Macy’s.

I hope that you’ll join me. I hope that you’ll give a little magic this year.

Like I said.. I get nothing for doing this, for writing this post. But, you do. Macy’s has given me TWO $25 gift cards to Macy’s for my readers.

to be entered to win one.

Just tell me what you believe in and how you’ll share some magic with others this Christmas (or, if you don’t do Santa/Christmas.. tell me how you give back to others)

Each comment is an entry.

One entry for the original comment.

One bonus entry if you tweet this giveaway and leave the tweet URL in the comments.

An additional 5 bonus entries if you take your letters to Macy’s and take a picture of y’all putting them in there and post your picture and link to it (twitter, flickr, photobucket. email me.. whatever)

This runs from Dec 8th to Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 11PM CST.

######## contest over #############