BBQ Pullled Pork Cornbread Muffins

I am always looking for easy filling things to make my family. I found this gem and adapted it to fill our needs. I used jalepeno in half of the muffins for an extra kick and left the other 6 not so spicy. The large pork shoulder I purchased on sale and divided it in half to make two meals.

Crock Pot BBQ Pork
1 2-3 lb. Pork roast
1/2 onion diced
salt and pepper
1/2 c water
Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce


Muffins
2 packages Jiffy Cornbread mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 c cheese of your choice (I used a taco cheese)
1/2 diced and seeded jalepeno(optional)

Cook the pork in the crock pot along with the onion and water. You can set this for 8 hours on low if you have the time. If you roast is bigger I recommend cutting it in half so it cooks through. Drain the water from the crockpot and seperate the pork with two forks into shreds. Add about 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. 

Pre-heat oven to 425. Mix the corn bread packages with 1 cup milk and two eggs. Mix in about 1/4 cup of the cheese and give a stir. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with liners or spray with Pam. Pour half of the cornbread mixture into the tins. Top with approx. 1-2 TBSP of the pulled pork.

Place a pinch of jalepeno in each muffin. (or not for the kids) Top with the remaining Jiffy cornbread mix. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The last five minutes sprinkle each muffin top with cheese and bake til melted.

Mahi Mahi With Pineapple Salsa and Puff Pastry Wrapped Salmon

We eat fish at least once a week. Mainly on Fridays but this is a great any day of the week recipe. My hubby is diabetic and we are always looking for new recipes. This one was in a diabetic magazine. I am typing it out from memory.

Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Salsa

Salsa
1 can pineapple chunks drained
1 TBSP lime juice
2 TBSP cilantro diced
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green or yellow bell pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Mahi Mahi
salt and pepper
butter (1/4 cup) or substitute cooking spray

You can make the salsa up to two days in advance. Mix all the ingredients and cover with plastic wrap. Pre-heat and oven to 425. Lay fish flat and spray with cooking spay or brush with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Fish is done when springy to the touch and flaky. Serve with the pineapple relish on top. We served ours with rice but this would also go great with cous cous.

Puff Pastry Wrapped Salmon with Dijon Mustard

6 pieces Salmon
1/4 c Dijon Mustard
1 egg
1/4 c water
2 sheets puff pastry (I used Peppridge Farms)

This is another very easy recipe! The results are very tasty! The puff pastry is flaky and perfectly steams the salmon. The Dijon mustard gives it a sweet tangy flavor. I also like to serve mustard on the side.

Pre-heat oven to 375. Defrost two sheets of puff pastry on the counter top. Cut each sheet into three squares each. Season each piece of fish with salt and pepper.  Place salmon in the middle of each square and top with a tsp of Dijon mustard. Wrap the puff pastry around the fish. Seal the seams with egg wash and poke holes in each packet  with a fork. Brush the egg wash over the entire packet.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Puff pastry will be a beautiful golden brown and the fish will be baked perfectly.

Sunday Breakfast Sausage/Pancake Donut Holes

I am so happy to be using my donut hole maker I got for Christmas! Let me rephrase that. The donut hole maker I was supposed to get for Christmas but was all sold out...so I didn't get it until about two weeks ago...(((breathe)))!

This morning I whipped up some yummy pancake and sausage donut holes. They took about 6 minutes to make and were very filling. Here is what I did.

Pancake and Sausage Donut Holes

Complete Pan Cake Mix
1 Box microwavable banquet sausages
1 donut whole maker
syrup

Follow the directions for making the pancake batter. Cut each sausage into fourths. My batter made 2 cups. Use a two TBSP measure for adding batter to the donut maker. Into the middle of each batter mold place a piece of sausage. Close maker and bake for 6 minutes. Check for doneness and serve with syrup.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

I am so busy with going to school and working that I hardly have time to blog much less make dinner. Yesterday before I left for work I through together this one. Sorry no pics!

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

1 lb Beef tips (they are marked beef for stir fry at my market)
1/2 onion diced
1 lb baby portabellos sliced
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
5-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c water
1/2 c sour cream
salt and pepper
flour about 2 TBSP
oil

Egg noodles for serving

Start by heating the oil in a pan. Dust the steak with flour and add to the heated pan. Brown meat on all sides.Season with salt and pepper.  Add to the crock pot with all ingredients except for the sour cream. Set on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. At the last minute add the sour cream and stir.

Serve over egg noodles.

Cauliflower Gratin

This recipe is similar to making mac and cheese. The ingredients are something you usually have around the house. You can jazz up this recipe by using Gruyere cheese and Panko bread crumbs on the top. This in itself makes a meal.

Cauliflower Gratin

1-2 heads of cauliflower stemmed and blanched
2 cups white cheese of you choice like Gruyere
2 TBSP flour
2 TBSP butter
1 1/2 cups milk *I use skim
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 to two squirts of yellow mustard
Panko bread crumbs for topping
dash of sea salt for topping also

For this recipe I like to leave the cauliflower in bigger pieces. The blanching cuts down on the cooking time. Blanche for about 10 minutes in boiling water.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter.

The sauce is much like making mac and cheese. First you need to make the butter nice and bubbly in a medium sized sauce pan. Begin to add the flour and begin whisking. Make sure not to burn the flour on the edges of the pan! Once a light brown color, add the milk. Keep stirring with the whisk. Once all the lumps of flour are incorporated begin adding the cheese a little at a time. Keep stirring!

Add the salt, pepper, and mustard. Remove from the heat when the mixture is just below boiling. Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower pieces in a baking dish. Cover with Panko bread crumbs and more cheese if you wish. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cauliflower are fork tender.