Another take on Cauliflower Fried Rice...

Last night I made another version of "Fried Rice" and as usual it was delicious!  I used yellow onion because I was out of green onion and added some Five Spice.  I love Five Spice, so I think it added a great flavor, I think I will keep both ways in my recipe book depending on the dish it is being served with and/or my mood.  Give it a try, I would start with about 1/4 tsp of the Five Spice, taste it, and go from there.

My camera and my computer are at odds this week and will not let me upload the photos I have.  So if I can't figure it out soon and get them to play nice together I will just post the recipes without the pictures, it's just not as much fun when you can't see the finished product.

Dinner tonight was an old favorite...

since zucchini is in season we had Beef Stronganoff. Mmmmmm...yummy this is one of our very favorite dinners!  Most of you will need to halve the recipe though,  not only is it delicious, it's quite inexpensive to make.  And it tasted especially good tonight since it is so cold and stormy!

Yikes!

Starting to feel a bit stressed about my upcoming CrossFit Cert!  Just started reading the material and think I should have picked it up a long time ago!  I have a crazy busy schedule right now, but somehow I am going to have to find the time to pick it up and read it.  Not just that but a quiet time when I can comprehend what I am reading.  Living in a busy household of 9 that can be a challenge in and of itself!  Praying I am able to do well on this, would hate to waste the time, money and suffer the disappointment.  Thankfully my husband has to take the written test too, so hopefully he can find time to help me study.  All that to say, I won't have much time on here for a while until I am done with all that.  At least until after the 21st of April, so please be patient with me. Meredith will be really busy too, taking up the slack in the business we will create by being gone, so she may not have time to post either. 

I did do grocery shopping today, we have to eat after all right?!  It is an all day process for me, starting at about 10:30 and ending around 2:30 today.  Then it takes about 20 minutes to unload it all, with help from my little ones of course.  Then comes finding places for it all and putting it away, that takes 1-2 hours generally (interrupted of course, because all the kids are home from school by then and needing attention).  So...I am hoping that if my schedule works out....tomorrow I may be able to post my Weekly Bargains post for you all.  I didn't have time to shop around at the Natural Foods nor Co-Op today so won't really be able to pass on any savings tips on them this week.  If any of you know of any great bargains they are offering this week please post them for others.  Thank you for your patience.

A New Web Site I Really Like....

be sure to check this out:  http://paleogirls.com/

Fig and Date Stuffed Pork Roast with Apples

Sorry for such a bad picture, the color is way off and doesn't do it justice!  I taste really good!

1/2 cup pecans
1 cup dates chopped
1/2 cup dried black mission figs
1 tsp Saigon cinnamon


2 baking apples, sliced
Chicken stock


Large Pork Sirloin Tip Roast (about 3 pounds)


Place pecans, dates, figs and cinnamon in a food processor with the blade and pulse until it is a smooth paste like texture, or until it all clings to itself and forms a ball.  Put that aside, rinse and pat dry your roast, place it on a cutting board and slice around it thinly if you want to roll it up (it's very hard for me to explain this technique so I would suggest just butterflying it for ease).  Or as I mentioned you may just butterfly it in half through the middle.  Either way taste delicious, the rolled effect just makes for a nicer presentation.  I did mine both ways.  Then take your fruit paste and flatten it, placing it on your roast (depending on the size of roast you may have a bit extra).  Then salt and pepper your roast before rolling it up. then place it in your roasting pan or glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with a bit of ground sage, smoked paprika, and more salt and pepper. Place the apple slices around it and pour broth to just barely cover the apples.  Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Decrease heat to 325 degrees, uncover and bake for about 45-1 hour depending on the size of your roast and the temperature of your oven.  You may test it with a meat thermometer if you would like to be sure it is done.  Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes, slice and serve with the apples from the pan, and of course some vegetable side dish(es) of your choice.

Ready to go into the oven.