Lemon Myrtle & Chilli Pork Stir Fry

Tonight's meal was a super cheap one. The big bag of stir fry vegetables had been marked down to 50 cents, and they were already chopped for me! And the pork was leftover from last night, as was the extra capsicum I put in. What made this simple stir fry special was the dry marinade powder I used, Outback Spirit Lemon Myrtle & Chilli. I only used a little, because we aren't too fond of spicy food in this house, but I've kept the rest, because I think it might be nice to coat some haloumi cubes in, before frying and serving with drinks.

Traffic Light Pork Kebobs

I caught a lucky break today with mark downs and clearance items. I got enough pork for two meals for the price of half what one would normally cost, plus a heap of discounted 'packaged' things, that I wouldn't normally buy, like pre-chopped stir fry vegetables, and a tricolour pack of capsicums. We haven't had kebobs in what feels like forever, so Miss Three and I put these together. Red, Orange and Green Capsicum chunks, alternating with onion and diced pork, and then basted with sweet and sour sauce (discounted to 99 cents! Another bargain)

Master Five informed me they weren't really traffic lights though, because it had other colours because of the pork and onion. Next time he's getting sauteed capsicum strips dumped on his bed of rice. Although I'm sure then I'll get complaints about their shape!

Miss Three thought they were tasty. So did Master Five actually, as long as I didn't call them that "wrong" name.

Don't forget to think (and cook!) pink for the Virtual Night In, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

Pork, Mushroom & Baby Spinach Risotto

Aborio rice, and beef stock, cooked in the microwave.
Mushrooms and pork, sauteed in a frying pan, with baby spinach added at the end so it just wilts and goes bright green.
Combine the two at the end of cooking.
God, I'm a cheat's cook if there ever was one!

DP had noodles

Don't forget to think (and cook!) pink for the Virtual Night In, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

Slow Cooker Pork Casserole with Soy Roasted Potatoes

I knew posting all those recipes yesterday was a good idea. Those Roasted Baby Potatoes with Soy, Butter and Parsley sunk deep, deep into my brain. So when I went shopping last night, I thought ooh, I see discounted sliced mushrooms, and baby spinach, and baby potatoes... I know what I can do with all that. And I did know. I did all this.

Don't you love having a black slow cooker that is impossible to photograph well?

Slow Cooker Pork Casserole
500g pork, diced
1 onion, chunky diced
3 carrots, sliced
1 stick celery, diced
375g mushrooms, sliced
100g baby spinach
175g pk Masterfoods Farmhouse Chicken Casserole base

Throw everything into your slow cooker except for the spinach. Stir thoroughly to coat in the sauce. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, remove the lid. Stir everything around, then evenly pile on the spinach leaves. Leave the top off until cooking is finished, then serve.

Roast Potatoes... *drool*

These weren't exactly as seen on For the love of cooking, as I had no parsley, so I used just a smidgin of tarragon. I don't recommend the tarragon, and I think I might use just a bit less oil and/or butter next time. They were a little oily for me, but that may have just been because I was out of olive oil, and had to use canola. They were still very tasty though.

Pork, Mushroom & Spinach Pasta Carbonara

Not really a recipe tonight. I just fried up some mushrooms with some pork strips, added a jar of carbonara sauce once browned, and topped with baby spinach. Once the pasta was cooked I stirred the lot together. Not much to say when you cheat with the sauce.
...Look! A distraction!

Mojo Pork Wraps

Mojo Pork Wraps

I saw this on the 'What's for dinner?' thread on the forums at taste.com.au and though it would be nice to try. I couldn't be bothered with mashed spuds at the moment, what with wrestling Master Newborn to feed enough to put on weight instead of lose it, and waiting for real estate agents to let us know if we have a house to move into, plus I had tortillas left in the cupboard from the tortilla satay stack I never got around to making. So I thought with a bit of lettuce, some fried onion, and maybe a bit of tomato, this could make a nice light change. Probably more suited to summer than the middle of winter, but you know... *points* Look, 4 1/2 day old baby... I'm not feeling like cooking much!

Shown before folding - check out that gorgeous orange colour on the outside!

Here is the recipe as copied from the forum.

MOJO PORK
1 kg pork loin chops or chicken breasts
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
50ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
50ml freshly squeezed lime juice
50ml olive oil
8 – 10 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Combine the juices, oil, garlic and oregano in a blender or processor. Pulse the mixture until finely chopped, then season with salt & pepper.
Place meat into a large snap lock bag and pour over the marinade. Seal the bag and place into the fridge and marinate for at least 8 – 12 hours, preferably overnight.
Before cooking, remove the meat from the bag and pat dry with kitchen paper. Discard the marinade.
Pan fry the meat until there is no pink left in the middle. Delicious served with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables of choice.

I used 5 loin chops, and everything else as stated, only I was lazy and couldn't be bothered getting the food processor out, so I chopped it by hand for that "rustic" feel.

I found the oregano and lime to be too strong for myself and DP, though the kids both liked it. I only marinated for a few hours, but that was well and truly long enough. Next time, if I were to try this again I'd use honey in place of the olive oil, or perhaps pineapple juice instead of lime.