Happy Halloween! Pineapple Pork Tenderloin with Avacado Topping

My plan for our meals today was to make everything as healthy as possible because I knew we'd be eating a ton of candy for the next few days. I decided to do a really simply pork tenderloin with fresh pineapple served over rice with an avacado salsa. We all enjoyed it, it was the perfect pre-trick or treating dinner. The photos of the dinner really didn't turn out so instead I'm posting Woody and Buzz, they're much better to look at! Happy Halloween!

Ingredients

• pork tenderloin, cut in bite size pieces
• juice of half an orange
• juice of half a lime
• fresh pineapple, chopped (reserve any juices)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons oil

Avacado topping ingredients

• 2 avacadoes, peeled and diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 lime juiced
• salt to taste

Combine orange juice, lime juice, salt and pepper in a sealable bag. Add pork, refrigerate 1-2 hours. Take out of fridge 15-30 minutes before cooking. Heat oil in skillet add pork, once golden add pineapple and any juices. Cook until done and heated through.
Topping - combine chopped avacado, tomato, onion and cilantro. Season with some salt and lime juice to taste.

Assembly: I served the pork and pineapple on top of brown rice and topped the pork with the avacado. It was delicious. We will be having this again and next time I will take better photos! Enjoy.

Tortilla Chicken Soup

It was a cool day today and I wanted to do something that would warm us up but also that Ryan could take to lunch during the week. I decided to do a Tortilla Soup. I added chicken but it could easily be made without meat (vegetable broth could be used instead of chicken as well). I also used flour tortilla's but corn could easily be used, we just prefer the taste of flour ones. I served it with some dinner buns and it was an easy delicious meal.

Ingredients

• 2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can chili tomatoes (we don't have Rotel in my area otherwise I would have used that)
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 7 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock could be used as well)
• 1 cup water
• chili powder to taste
• cumin to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• flour tortillas, cut into strips
• avacadoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
• cilantro, chopped
• tomato, diced
• red onion, finely diced
• 2-3 radishes, sliced thin
• sour cream

Heat oil in large stock pot. Add onions, cook until soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add carrots, peppers and celery. Cook 5 minutes, add garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add chicken stock, water, tomatoes, beans and spices. Stir in chicken. Season with chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper (season to your liking). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.

While soup is simmering, heat oven to 350 degrees, arrange tortilla strips on baking sheet and bake until golden. 5-10 minutes.

Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream, diced avacado, tomato, radish slices, cilantro and tortilla strips.

Philly Cheesesteak A. Family Style

We had a fun filled day at the pumpkin patch today going through corn mazes, hayrides and of course picking out a pumpkin. We couldn't decide what we wanted to do for dinner so after a quick stop at the grocery store we decide on Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. I don't think what we make actually qualifies as a Philly Cheesesteak but it was tasty and that's all that matters. I served it with a really simply Asian style coleslaw.

Ingredients

• steak (amount depends on how many you are feeding, I used 2 strip steaks for 2 adults and 2 small kids)
• salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
• 1 sweet onion, sliced thin
• 1 green pepper, sliced thin
• 6 large button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Cheese, (we used a combination of swiss cheese and marble cheddar)
• Submarine sandwich buns
• oil and butter for frying

Season steak with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook until desired doneness.

Heat oil and butter in frying pan, once hot add onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic. Fry until soft.

Heat broiler. Toast buns lightly. When slightly golden pull out of oven, top buns with steak, onion and pepper mixture, and cheese. Put back under broiler (I put everything on a cookie sheet so it wouldn't make a mess in the oven) and heat through until cheese is bubbly. Serve and enjoy.

A great meal after a day at the pumpkin patch!

Carrot Cake

I got this recipe from a girl I worked with at RE/MAX. We were both working at the front desk at that time and I was having Ryan's sister and her family over for dinner and needed a fall dessert. She gave me this carrot cake recipe and it's been a family favourite ever since. Thanks Deidre!
*Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the cake as it was eaten before I could take some! Next time I make the cake I will update the post with some photos.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups of carrot, shredded
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients. Beat in carrots, eggs and vanilla. Pour into greased and floured 13X9 pan. Bake 30-45 minutes.

You can't have carrot cake without cream cheese frosting! Here is the frosting recipe:

• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup of butter, softened
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cake.

Guacamole Burger

In our house guacamole does not last long. It is pounced on the moment it hits the table. We enjoy it so much my brother and I had a "guac off" once to see made the better guacamole. I decided to make burgers tonight with a guacamole topping. It was served with black beans and pan fried potatoes and yams. It was a great dinner.

Burger Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/4 -1/2 cup panko
• 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• salt and pepper

Combine burger ingredients, form into patties and refrigerate 15 minutes or longer before cooking.

Guacamole Ingredients

• 2 avacados, peeled and pitted
• 1 tomato, small dice
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• fresh cilantro, chopped (we like a lot of cilantro so I don't measure it)
• 1/2-1 lime, juiced
• salt

Mash avacadoes to desired consistency (we like our guacamole to be on the chunky side). Add remaining ingredients, combine.

Dinner was enjoyed by all!

Auntie Diane's Oven BBQ Pork Chops

This recipe comes from my Auntie Diane. It is another favourite of ours. The boys love this dinner as do Ryan and myself. The sauce makes quite a bit and tastes great over rice.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 5-6 pork chops
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in large frying pan. Brown pork chops. Remove from frying pan and place in a baking dish. Add onions to frying pan, cook until soft. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Pour sauce over pork chops and bake 45-60 minutes.

Spicy Coleslaw

Normally when I make coleslaw I make my own dressing (I still cheat and use the bagged shredded cabbage and carrot mix most of the time though) however, for this recipe I used a bottle of Jalapeno Ranch dressing and it tasted great. Make sure to let the coleslaw sit for a couple hours to ensure the flavours all come together.

Ingredients

• Coleslaw
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• Jalapeno Ranch dressing to taste

Combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours before serving.