Jamaica Allspice Apple Honey Pork Tenderloin

Autumn is my favorite time of year. In celebration of it's impending arrival, and the fact that apple picking season has started, I made a Jamaican allspice apple honey pork tenderloin in the slow cooker for dinner. Not only is it yummy, it's easy to do and makes the house smell good all day. This recipe is one of my own creation while digging through the spice cabinet.

While this is the first time using the allspice, I've done other apple honey slow-cooked pork dishes before. Each one has been so tasty. Plus, there are plenty of leftovers for A's lunches for a few days. The apple I used is one that has been sitting in the fridge, needing to be used up. Fresh apples from our favorite orchard will be making an appearance in the next couple of weeks. We go at least once (usually more) each year to apple pick. I can't wait to start on all my yummy apple recipes for the season--even better, I'll get to share them with all of you! Now, on to tonight's delicious pork. (M2 and I ate ours covered in applesauce).

Jamaica Allspice Apple Honey Pork Tenderloin

by The Stay-at-Home Life

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

6075008

Ingredients

• Pork tenderloin, defrosted
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 stick butter/margarine
• 2 tbsp Jamaican allspice
• 1 large apple, sliced

Instructions

Cut slits in the top of the tenderloin, about half an inch apart. Cut most of the way through but not completely.

Melt margarine in the microwave.

Add honey and allspice to the melted margarine, stir until it's well blended and smooth.

Smear over the tenderloin. Separate the slits and pour in a generous amount of the mixture as you go.

Add some water to the slow cooker pot, put the tenderloin in. Cover with the apple slices. Pour any margarine spice mixture that dripped off the pork into the slow cooker.

Set the slow cooker to high, cook about 6 hours or until done. You could put it on a lower heat setting if you want it to cook longer.

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Covered with apple and ready to cook

What's for Dinner?

Since we've been on vacation much of August, I haven't had a weekly meal plan to share. Now that we're back, I do! Here's what I'll be whipping up in our kitchen this week. Expect future posts with recipes on some of these dishes!

Friday
Green salad with rotisserie chicken on top. M2 is having ziti.

Saturday
Slow cooked apple honey pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies

Sunday
Beef tacos with fat-free refried beans and corn/pepper mix

Monday
BBQ boneless skinless chicken breasts, homemade corn bread, baked potatoes and corn

Tuesday
Beef cubes and gravy over egg noodles with broccoli

Wednesday
Pork chops smothered in applesauce, white rice and green beans

Thursday
Leftovers from the week

My Favorite Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad, especially in warmer weather because it doesn't need an oven that'll make the house hotter, doesn't take much effort and it's nice and cold. It takes me about half an hour, after the chicken is cooked, to make a huge batch with enough to freeze.

Easy Chicken Salad

I forgot to include the apples in the pic.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup diced celery
1 apple, diced
2 cups mayo (more or less depending on your preference)
3/4 cup craisins
1/4 tsp pepper
Double recipe to have extra to freeze.

Directions

Cook chicken in slow cooker until it comes apart easily. Pull apart with a fork once it's done.

Chill chicken in the fridge until it's cool. I use the bowl I'm going to prepare the salad in.

Prepare other ingredients.

Combine chicken and all other ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until well-mixed.

Serve as-is, in a wrap, on bread, or in a bun. Add lettuce if desired. Enjoy!

Great in a sandwich or alone

My Favorite Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad, especially in warmer weather because it doesn't need an oven that'll make the house hotter, doesn't take much effort and it's nice and cold. It takes me about half an hour, after the chicken is cooked, to make a huge batch with enough to freeze.

Easy Chicken Salad

I forgot to include the apples in the pic.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup diced celery
1 apple, diced
2 cups mayo (more or less depending on your preference)
3/4 cup craisins
1/4 tsp pepper
Double recipe to have extra to freeze.

Directions

Cook chicken in slow cooker until it comes apart easily. Pull apart with a fork once it's done.

Chill chicken in the fridge until it's cool. I use the bowl I'm going to prepare the salad in.

Prepare other ingredients.

Combine chicken and all other ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until well-mixed.

Serve as-is, in a wrap, on bread, or in a bun. Add lettuce if desired. Enjoy!

Great in a sandwich or alone

Southwestern Taco Salad

Quick, easy relatively light dinners are an important staple of summer. When we were visiting A's dad a few weeks ago, he introduced us to taco salad. We liked it and decided to make it at home. The problem was, I didn't have the right type of beans and didn't feel like going back out to get them. There were also ears of corn in the fridge that needed to be used up. What's a stay-at-home-mom to do? Why, tweak the recipe and turn it into Southwestern taco salad, of course!

The finished dish.

Ingredients
Tortilla chips
French dressing
1 lb. ground beef (I used 93% lean)
1 can black beans, drained

Cooking up the yum.

2 ears of corn or 1 cup of frozen corn
Shredded cheddar cheese
Lettuce

Directions
1. Brown ground beef in medium skillet.
2. When ground beef is almost finished, add the can of beans (drained) and corn. Stir together well. Heat until all is cooked. If the corn is frozen, heat it to room temperature in the microwave before adding.
3. Arrange chips on plate. Pour meat mixture overtop. Add however much cheese and lettuce you'd like then drizzle French Dressing over it all.

If you don't like the dressing (like me), you can leave it off. A's dad's version uses kidney beans and no corn. It's just as tasty.

So tasty. Even M2 loves it.

This is what M2 was doing while Mama put this post together.

Southwestern Taco Salad

Quick, easy relatively light dinners are an important staple of summer. When we were visiting A's dad a few weeks ago, he introduced us to taco salad. We liked it and decided to make it at home. The problem was, I didn't have the right type of beans and didn't feel like going back out to get them. There were also ears of corn in the fridge that needed to be used up. What's a stay-at-home-mom to do? Why, tweak the recipe and turn it into Southwestern taco salad, of course!

The finished dish.

Ingredients
Tortilla chips
French dressing
1 lb. ground beef (I used 93% lean)
1 can black beans, drained

Cooking up the yum.

2 ears of corn or 1 cup of frozen corn
Shredded cheddar cheese
Lettuce

Directions
1. Brown ground beef in medium skillet.
2. When ground beef is almost finished, add the can of beans (drained) and corn. Stir together well. Heat until all is cooked. If the corn is frozen, heat it to room temperature in the microwave before adding.
3. Arrange chips on plate. Pour meat mixture overtop. Add however much cheese and lettuce you'd like then drizzle French Dressing over it all.

If you don't like the dressing (like me), you can leave it off. A's dad's version uses kidney beans and no corn. It's just as tasty.

So tasty. Even M2 loves it.

This is what M2 was doing while Mama put this post together.

BBQ Pulled Pork

This recipe is a great one for any time as it is so tasty and easy. It's one of the favorites in our house and is great for leftovers. When I made it we froze some so A has an easy-to-grab lunch if nothing else is made. I've been making this for years with different variations. This version is the best. Even better, it's so easy to make in the slow cooker and your house will smell delicious all day.

Ingredients

I used a combination of sauces to add
different flavors. My favorite is Hunt's.

One pork roast or pork loin. The size depends on how much leftovers (or people you're feeding) that you want. I used about 3.5 lbs.

Enough Dr. Pepper (I used SodaStream Dr. Pete) to cover pork in slow cooker

1.5 bottles barbecue sauce (more if you make more pork; you want enough to saturate the pork)

Directions

1. Defrost pork and put into slow cooker
2. Make deep cuts across pork every inch
3. Cover the pork with Dr. Pepper
4. Cook on low overnight (about 12 hours) so the soda will break down the pork, add flavor and make it extra moist
5. Test pork to see if it comes apart easily. If it does, drain pork and pull apart with forks in the pot. If it doesn't, slow cook longer
6. Add barbecue sauce, enough to thoroughly cover and saturate the pork. Add water to barbecue sauce bottles to
   get out remains of sauce, pour in with pork.
   This also helps keep the pork from burning
7. Set slow cooker to medium for an additional 8-12 hours
8. Put finished pulled pork on buns, bread or eat as-is

Dr. Pepper covered pork

Pulled and ready for sauce

BBQ Pulled Pork

This recipe is a great one for any time as it is so tasty and easy. It's one of the favorites in our house and is great for leftovers. When I made it we froze some so A has an easy-to-grab lunch if nothing else is made. I've been making this for years with different variations. This version is the best. Even better, it's so easy to make in the slow cooker and your house will smell delicious all day.

Ingredients

I used a combination of sauces to add
different flavors. My favorite is Hunt's.

One pork roast or pork loin. The size depends on how much leftovers (or people you're feeding) that you want. I used about 3.5 lbs.

Enough Dr. Pepper (I used SodaStream Dr. Pete) to cover pork in slow cooker

1.5 bottles barbecue sauce (more if you make more pork; you want enough to saturate the pork)

Directions

1. Defrost pork and put into slow cooker
2. Make deep cuts across pork every inch
3. Cover the pork with Dr. Pepper
4. Cook on low overnight (about 12 hours) so the soda will break down the pork, add flavor and make it extra moist
5. Test pork to see if it comes apart easily. If it does, drain pork and pull apart with forks in the pot. If it doesn't, slow cook longer
6. Add barbecue sauce, enough to thoroughly cover and saturate the pork. Add water to barbecue sauce bottles to
   get out remains of sauce, pour in with pork.
   This also helps keep the pork from burning
7. Set slow cooker to medium for an additional 8-12 hours
8. Put finished pulled pork on buns, bread or eat as-is

Dr. Pepper covered pork

Pulled and ready for sauce

Simple, Quick Memorial Day Menu

For Memorial Day, I'm taking things easy and going for a simple, quick menu rather than my usual holiday fare. Not that I get too fancy with the summer holidays to begin with, but this one is going to be even more simple than usual. We're not even having the prerequisite macaroni salad! An easy menu allows for more relaxing and less stressing to get all the food prepared. I count that a win for sure.

How simple are we talking?

1. Bubba burgers (on sale half price this week at Martin's) with cheese, lettuce, buns, pickles, ketchup and mustard
2. Fresh Corn-on-the-cob, cut in half (M2's first time having it, also on sale this week)
3. French fries, frozen not fresh (a bulk bag so we'll make a bit then save the rest for other meals)
4. Yellow cupcakes with Reddi Whip on top to make them lighter

I might attempt corn bread from scratch, if I have all the ingredients and the mood strikes me tomorrow.