It's getting hot in here!

Spicy-ness wise;)  Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Still here, still pregnant!  Tomorrow is my "due date" so fingers crossed for some Christmas magic!

This week I'm trying to use up a lot of foods we already have in the fridge/freezer/cabinets, but also making sure we get a lot of good, substantial, meals in, just in case I do go into labor - need that energy!  Tonight I tried a new recipe, found at cooks.com, for Cajun Shrimp Casserole!  It took quite a bit of time to make, but it was very simple, and perfect for this very cold New England day!  Well, according to everyone else it was cold...prego me thought the 30 degree temp was quite nice;)

You will need:

• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 lb raw shrimp, cleaned
• 1 can of cheddar cheese soup
• 2 cups cooked yellow rice
• Cajun seasoning - I used cajun seasoning and also a Goya seasoning packet, with some CRP
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Phew!  That's a lot of ingredients!

Heat a large pan with the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion, pepper, and celery, and saute until soft.  Add mushroom soup and diced tomatoes, simmering on low for 15 minutes.

Add shrimp and cheddar cheese soup, turning up the heat to medium, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring everything together.

Looks...interesting, right?  I thought so, anyways!  Trust me, the textures and tastes together are perfect!  Once those 15 minutes have elapsed, add the cooked rice and seasoning, stirring it into the rest of the mixture.

Pour into a 13x9 pan and bake 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes have elapsed, broil on high in your oven for another 4 minutes, so that the bread crumbs get a bit crispy on top.

I used a little too much bread crumbs, so definitely don't go overboard with those!  We enjoyed this warm comfort food, that really wasn't too spicy, with some nice clam chowder and rolls.  Definitely filled me up, and finally now, about 2 hours later, I'm craving more food:) 

I'll definitely be making this again, and adding cut up sausage!  Now, where's my ice cream...

Everyone cooks cranberry pork loin in their pj's right?

I should be fast asleep, but I promised I'd be here tonight...so, here I am:)  A little blogging before Scarlett and bed...after mucho scrapbooking and Wii :)  To see some of my scrapbooking pics, friend me on Facebook, or become a fan of CheyCanCook :)

I was so so excited to try the cranberry pork loin recipe tonight from this site I read every single day!  The recipes are phenomenal, and I love the writing style and photos.  Turned out to be the perfect night for it as it was STILL SNOWING!  It was perfect keep-warm comfort food:)

You will need:

• 1 lb - 1.5 lb pork loin, boneless - mine was 1 lb
• salt and pepper
• 1.5 tsp butter
• 1 garlic clove minced, or a tbsp of the minced kind you can buy in the produce section
• 1/3 tsp dried thyme (I used a bit more)
• 1 cup whole cranberry sauce (I used an entire 16 oz can)
• 3/4 cranberry juice - I used cran apple
• 1.5 tbsp ketchup
• 1.5 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• walnuts or any type nuts, if desired
  

I am getting better and better at not only memorizing recipes (yay!) but also adding when I think more needs to be added and taking away when I think something/amount needs to be taken away (double yay!).  I'm beginning to trust my cooking instincts a lot more, which I'm very proud of, since I used to always stick to a recipe by the book!

Preheat oven to 425.  Pat roast dry and then season with salt and pepper.  Score fat on top of loin in 1/2 inch intervals and place the pork, fat side up, if there is one, in a baking dish.  Roast for 20 minutes.

While this is baking, combine the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the cornstarch and 2 tbsp of cran juice.  Bring the combination to a low boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes. 

 

While this is simmering, mix the cornstarch and leftover over cran juice.

Slowly pour into the simmering sauce while stirring.

 

 

Continue to cook and stir until thickened - this entire process will take the 20 minutes it is taking the loin to start cooking.

Since I was adding walnuts, I added them to the pan with about 5 minutes to go.  Take the pork out of the oven after the 20 minutes, spoon this mixture on top of and around it and continue to roast 20-25 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads an internal temperature of 145.  **NOTE - I checked mine and it was at 160 degrees, so I promptly removed it.  I let it sit 15 minutes before cutting it and even though the temp was higher than it should have been, it was still tender enough, and juicy enough, to cut with a butter knife.  

 

 

I served the sauce over my pork only, while the husband spooned his over his mashed potatoes and said it was excellent.  The sauce is the perfect combo and sweet and savory - I'm thinking even a few drops of hickory bbq sauce may be in order for next time:) 

 

 

Thanks again to Mom's Cafe Home Cooking!  I love finding recipes to try on other blogs, because I know how much time goes into making a blog useful and interesting:)  I hope some of you are able to do the same with mine:)

Now tomorrow is a busy one - crazy day at work always after a long weekend, grocery shopping, a couple other errands, thank you cards, etc etc = the easy pizza is tomorrow night.  I'll be back Tuesday with another awesome recipe for winter :)  Have a great rest of your Sunday/Monday everyone! 

PS - does everyone love the Wii or what??