Mmm..Comfort Food Season is Here!

I love fall. It is the perfect time of year to have the oven roasting away for a couple hours, filling the house with yummy smells (and making it just that much warmer in the house too!). I was really craving a roast of some kind and since I took out my frustration on my slowcooker this summer (see this post for the last slowcooker meal, shortly after making this I chucked it in the trash), I decided to use the oven. I found this recipe on my WW etools but didn't really measure anything, just based the seasonings off of it. I have made pork roast before but this was sooo much better! My husband loved it and requested we have it again in the next two weeks!



Herbed Pork Roast
(source: WW etools)

Garlic powder
Basil
Kosher salt
Pepper
2 lb pork roast
Italian Seasoning
2 tsp oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat skillet and once hot, spray with non stick spray. Mix about a palm full of each seasoning (and anything else you'd like to add in there). Rub the oil on the pork roast, then rub seasonings all over sides of roast. Brown sides of pork roast in skillet and either transfer to casserole dish (my skillet is oven safe, so I used that). Bake about 90 minutes until temperature registers 160 degrees.

We served this with roasted potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. I sprayed them with nonstick spray then I used some left over seasoning from the pork roast. We roasted them for about 30 minutes until tender.




POINTS for Roast: 5 per serving (serves 6)
POINTS for Veggies: 2 per serving

Chili Rubbed Pork Chops = Yum!

Last night's supper was delicious! The pork chops were very tender and juicy. We were looking for something different other than chicken and my husband suggested the other white meat. :) We usually bake them in a roasting flavor bag but again, I was looking for something different. I was looking online at my etools on WW's website. I found this recipe and it sounded interesting. It is a combination of sugar and spice! We will definitely be having these again! We served them with roasted potatoes, which the recipe follows.

Chili Rubbed Pork Chops
(Source: WW)

2 pork chops
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar **I added this**
1/2 tsp onion powder **I added this**
1/2 tsp garlic salt
cooking spray

Mix all seasonings together in a bowl. Rub the mixture on the pork chops and refridgerate in the fridge for at least 1 hour. ( I left mine in the fridge for about 2 hours) Spray the pan with cooking spray. Place pork chops in the skillet and cook on the first side for about 5 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 5-7 minutes. I then strayed from the cooking instructions by putting it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes because I had to keep it all warm for my husband (he was running late). They were so tender! I will definitely be putting it in the oven again next time we make it. I am not sure if that is why they were so tender, but I will do it again just to make sure!

Roasted Potatoes
(source: ME)

2 large baking potatoes, diced
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Pepper

I diced the potatoes into bite sized pieces. I lined my baking sheet with foil and sprayed the foil and potatoes with olive oil spray. I then sprinkled the potates with each of the following seasonings. I didn't measure but just made sure they were pretty evenly covered in seasonings. I mixed the taters all up to ensure they were all coated and baked in the oven for about 35 minutes. They were perfect and went well with the pork chops!

Total POINTS for 4 oz of meat and 1 cup of potatoes: 6.5 points

Sausage and Peppers - Mixed Reviews

I tried one of the WW recipes out of my new cookbook tonight for supper and it was eh. I loved it except the turkey sausage was way too spicy. I think it would be great if you mixed some of the sausage with maybe regular ground turkey. For a few extra points, adding some noodles and diced tomatoes would make this more filling. My husband just wasn't full from this because he could eat the sausage because our tongues were on fire. Here is the recipe though and some pics. It had great flavor and like I said lots of potential, I will make it again with some modifications!

Sausage and Peppers
(source: Weight Watchers Complete Cookbook)


1 lb turkey sausage, whole sliced or ground and formed into large chunks
1 each red, yellow and green peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano (I didn't measure, so I am sure I used more!)
Cooking spray

Heat cooking spray in skillet, add sausage and cook until done. Add peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and chicken broth. Stir and combine the peppers and sausage. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring around. Cover and cook for about 5 more minutes until peppers are tender but yet crisp.


I served this with baby potatoes. I didn't want to turn on the oven to roast them so I tried something a little different...


Sauted Potatoes

6-8 baby red potatoes
2 tsp olive oil
dried oregano
red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, diced
chopped parsley


Boil potatoes until not quite fork tender. Add 2 tsp to a skillet and add potatoes and garlic. Stir to cover potatoes in oil. Sprinkle oregano and pepper flakes over taters and saute for about 5-7 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Sprinkle with parsley.

A Different Kind of Roast - Pork!?

I have a confession...I have never had a pork roast before. NEVER! When selecting a roast to cook for this week, we decided to try a pork butt roast...not for just the name (it made us giggle) but it was on sale and we had never had a pork roast before. I was going to make it in the crock pot, as I usually do with my beef roasts but yesterday I just didn't have time to do that. Instead I used our oven. The plus side to this is that I didn't have to prepare it 6-8 hours in advance...the downside was that it made the house very hot. It turned out yummy though and it was super simple.

Trisha's Butt Roast

3-4 lb. pork butt roast
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
garlic salt
olive oil
1 lb baby red potatoes
1 lb carrots, cut into 2-3 in pieces

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat oil in pan. Apply salt and pepper generously to the outside of roast. Place in pan to sear on all sides. Drizzle olive oil in roasting dish and place roast on top. Roast for 1 1/2 hours and then add carrots and potatoes to pan. Drizzle veggies with a little more olive oil (not much, just a bit). Toss to coat in pan juices and oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the veggies. Roast for another hour or so until veggies are tender. Let roast stand 10 minutes before enjoying.


We had so much left over! We made BBQ Pork Sandwiches with the leftovers. I simmered the shredded leftovers with a bottle of BBQ sauce in a saucepan for about 1 1/2 hours. I could have used the crock pot for this too I suppose, but I didn't want to dig it out. We served it with a Italian pasta salad. I have even more left over for lunch tomorrow! I do not have a picture of the sandwiches because we were starving and impatient to eat! LOL!