Menu with a recipe

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have some fun plans for this evening, or have already celebrated! We went on a date Saturday night, so we'll be having dinner in tonight. It's always so busy on Valentine's night.

So, here is our menu for this week:

Monday - Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Asparagus and Rolls (a nice Valentine's day dinner)

Tuesday - Club Sandwiches and homemade fries

Wednesday - Chicken Enchiladas and chips and dip

Thursday - Bacon/Tomato Pasta, Caesar salad and garlic bread

Friday - Breakfast Burritos

Saturday - Shish Ka Bobs

Sunday - Chicken Quesadillas

I'm going to give you the recipe to the Herb Crusted Tenderloin. It's absolutely delicious, it seems so fancy and it's the easiest thing you'll make probably.

HERB CRUSTED PORK TENDERLOIN

Ingredients
1 (2-pound) boneless pork tenderloin, with fat left on (the ones that look like a log)
2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 teaspoons fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Place the pork loin on a rack in a roasting pan. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. With your fingers, massage the mixture onto the pork loin, covering all of the meat and fat.

Roast the pork for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees F and roast for an additional 30 minutes. Test for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F, remove the roast from the oven. Allow it to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. It will continue to cook while it rests.

The cooking times will vary, but it's best to use a thermometer to know when exactly it'll be done, then there's no guessing. Yum! I can't wait to eat it now! :)

(Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

This week's menu with a recipe

Here is the menu of what we've made so far this week and what is coming up in the next few days:

Saturday - Hamburgers, pasta salad
Sunday - Homemade Ravioli with homemade pasta sauce (I don't know why I didn't take any pictures
Monday - Pot Roast
Tuesday - Taylor's Tacos (with the leftovers from the pot roast)
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday - Bean Burritos
Friday - Baked Potatoes with chili
Saturday - BBQ Chicken Salad
Sunday - Navajo Tacos

With each menu, I will include a recipe from one of the meals. This week it will be Taylor's Tacos. It's called that, because our friend Taylor shared this recipe with us and it's great, because we can use leftover pot roast meat. (Thanks Taylor!)

TAYLOR'S TACOS

Since the roast is already cooked, you don't need to do much more than just heat it up on the stove and shred it. You can add a little bit of water every once in awhile, so it doesn't dry out. Then you just add these spices to the meat:

2 t. instant minced onions
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. instant minced garlic (I use fresh garlic, one clove)
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. dried oregano

I would say we end up with about 1 pound leftover roast, so you can of course double, or half the spices, depending on how much meat you have. (I actually buy a big roast, so that I will have leftovers to make this the following day.)

Then we fry corn tortillas on the stove. We use about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil (to liberally cover the bottom of the pan) until it's warm enough to heat up the tortillas and make them crispy.

Last but not least, we make some pico de gallo to top our tacos with. I use equal parts tomato, onion and cilantro. About 1 roma tomato, 1/4 cup of onions and 1/4 a cup of cilantro. A dash of salt and some lime juice.

Then of course, you can add sour cream, guacamole, cheese, etc. Whatever your little heart desires. ENJOY!

I will have pictures on other posts, I just started this and didn't think to take pictures :)