Sausage Gravy

INGREDIENTS

1 lb bulk pork sausage

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half and half

salt

pepper

sage

DIRECTIONS

Crumble and cook sausage, sprinkle in some sage, cook until browned. Stir in flour until dissolved. Gradually stir in half and half. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot over biscuits, I used store bought.

Marinated Baked Pork Chops

I found this recipe on Allrecipes while looking for something to do with pork chops I had gotten on sale. They came out very good, and I always like to find a recipe where I have all the ingredients on hand.


INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 pork chops, trimmed
*a few dashes of hot sauce (I added this to the recipe)


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a small bowl, thoroughly blend soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup. *I found it easier to use a whisk to combine the items.
Place pork chops in a medium baking dish, and spread with 1/2 the sauce. *Before spreading 1/2 the sauce I sprinkled the pork chops with some salt and pepper.
Bake pork chops 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn, and spread with remaining sauce. Continue baking 30 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chops has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

I made this recipe with 4 pork chops and still used all the sauce. * = my changes and notes.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

This recipe was fantastic!!!! I do not think I will make pulled pork any other way. The recipe was found on allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

DIRECTIONS

Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

My notes: I used Target brand root beer (Shhhh, don't tell) and Sweet Baby Ray's Hot and Spicy BBQ Sauce. Also, I added in some salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Because of my work schedule the pork cooked for 11 hours...and it still came out great! When I got home I added in the BBQ sauce and let is cook for another 30 minutes.

Jason and I liked it so much we are hoping to serve it at a housewarming party IF we get the house!

Creamy Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

Half a box large shells

1/2 pound ground hamburger (I used 93% lean)

1/2 bulk ground sausage (I used half of a Jimmy Dean roll)

4 ounces cream cheese

6 ounces sour cream

shredded mozzarella cheese

chopped garlic

dried oregano

dried thyme

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Directions

Boil shells.

Brown hamburger and sausage, add in spices to your taste. Once meat is cooked drain fat and add in cream cheese, sour cream and mozzarella cheese. Mix until everything is incorporated. Fill cooked shells with mixture and place open side up in a baking dish. Sprinkle more mozzarella on top and bake until cheese is melted.

Other Successful Options: You could add mushrooms to the meat mixture, and you could also serve marinara sauce over the shells.