Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing

Happy Monday, y'all! The summer weather has definitely hit Texas. To celebrate the heat, one of my best friends and I went for a walk after work. LMR is currently fostering an adorable little Pomeranian, so we got a dose of cuteness to counteract the heat. I returned home to do a P90X workout, and then whipped up a hefty salad to stave off my hunger. My salad ingredients consisted of red leaf lettuce, carrots, celery, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and pine nuts. And here's the dressing I whisked together to add some extra flavor...

Dijon Mustard Dressing

2 Tbls Dijon mustard

1 1/2 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl, then drizzle over your salad.

I added some chopped prosciutto to make myself feel fancy while I lounged around in my sweats. What a wonderful Monday night!

Easy Roast Pork Loin

I know, I know... It's been a week. I have no excuse. Just my own laziness and tiredness. On Tuesday I got into bed at 7 p.m. and fell asleep by 7:30. Sadly my 9 o'clock "It's time to go to sleep alarm" woke me up. No, the irony of that has not been missed by me. Anyways, it was a wildly busy weekend, and I was worn out by the time my wildly busy week started. Staying at work until 8:30 p.m. on Monday didn't help. On the bright side, I made it to yoga last night and got to chill out a bit.

Anyways... Onward to the food!

Because I've been simultaneously busy and lazy, I wanted something easy to make. And what better than a simple pork roast?

Easy Roast Pork Loin

3 lb pork loin roast, tied

2 Tbls Dijon mustard

2 Tbls apple cider vinegar

1 Tbls olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Heat 1 Tbls olive oil on the stove over medium heat.

2. Season pork with salt and pepper.

3. Brown the pork on all sides (~2 minutes each). Remove the pork from the pan.

4. Whisk together the Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, and pork drippings. Brush over the pork, coating thoroughly.

5. If you weren't already using a oven-safe pan, transfer to a baking dish. Then put the whole thing into the oven. Cook for roughly 20 minutes per pound or until internal temperature is 145 F. I cooked mine for about an hour.

6. Remove from oven, transfer to plate, and cover with tinfoil. Let rest for 10 minutes. Go ahead, put your feet up to relax. Then enjoy your dinner.

For a side, you can toss a sweet potato in the oven 20 minutes into the cooking cycle, allowing 40 minutes to cook your sweet potato. Then slice up and serve with the pork. It makes a sweet and tangy combination.

Chemo - Part 4 - Day 3

Sometimes the cladribine causes a burning sensation in your veins, in particular at the IV site. And what does the doc give you for this? Pepcid. Yes, as in the heartburn medication. I guess the Pepcid "coats" the veins. Rather interesting, if you ask me. And in case you were wondering, things are still going well for us. This is what I made after coming home from the doctor's office yesterday.

Pork Loin in a Mustard-White Wine Sauce

3 lb pork loin (or 3 1-lb loins)
2 Tbls olive oil
1 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay)
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Rinse the pork, then remove the silver skin (the shiny silvery looking part of the pork), and season that bad boy with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet (preferably one that can go into the oven). Once the oil is shimmery, add the pork. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, 8-10 minutes total, to brown the pork.

While the pork is cooking, whisk together the mustard and wine. When the pork has been browned on all sides, add the mustard-wine mixture to deglaze the pan. Stir a bit and make sure that the pork has been coated. Transfer the whole skillet to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

If you don't have an oven-ready skillet, just transfer the pork and sauce to a baking dish before putting into the oven. The baking dish may take a few more minutes to cook because it wasn't already hot when you put it in the oven.

Once cooked through, transfer to a plate and cover with tinfoil, letting the pork sit for 10 minute. Slice and serve with the sauce.