Three Yummy Recipes for Today's Menu Selection!

My wife and I had the pleasure of having our youngest Granddaughter spend last night and today with us. She's a pretty active 2 year old, and for this old man, I'm glad I had already planned to use the slow cooker for tonight's meal.  A big BRAVO to all the moms out there who do so much. Your's is truly an underrated job, taking care of your family!

On today's menu were three delicious food items. The main course was a Honey Parmesan Pork Roast, slow cooked for seven hours in the Crock Pot. The side dish was a decidedly Decadent Baked Macaroni & Cheese. And desert was an Orange, Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake done in the bread maker. So let's get the recipes rolling!

Honey Parmesan Pork Roast

Ingredients:
1 Pork Roast (about 4lbs)
2 tsp Cavenders Greek Seasoning (I haven't tried any other brand, but I know this one ROCKS pork! And NO, I don't own stock in the company.)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Honey
3 Tbsp Teriyaki Sauce
2 Tbsp Dried Basil
2 Cloves Minced Garlic

Directions:
The night before, coat the pork roast liberally with the Cavendars.
About seven & a half hours before you want to serve, spray your crock pot with a non stick spray to help with cleanup.
Put in the pork roast.
Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl (This could also have been done the night before), and pour them gently on top of your roast.
Cover, set on LOW, and let it cook for seven hours.

Next, play with your grand-kids, or go about your busy day until the pork has been cooking for seven hours.

Then, CAREFULLY remove the pork roast from the crock pot to a serving platter. I say carefully because after cooking this long, the meat tends to try to fall apart. (You should see my Baby Back Ribs! Yum! But that's for another day.)
If there is a layer of grease on top of the drippings, you can skim that off. Then stir the drippings, and if needed, add a little cornstarch or flour to thicken it up a bit.
Let the roast sit on the serving platter about 30 minutes before slicing it up. (It will fall apart now.)
Spoon drippings over the roast, and it's ready to serve!

Next up...
Decadent Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
4 oz Elbow Macaroni
4 Strips of Bacon
1/2 Medium Onion Chopped (optional) (although I can't understand why some people don't eat cooked onions.)
4 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Can Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 cup Half & Half
Salt & Pepper to taste (My wife is allergic to pepper, so I don't cook with it, and I don't need the salt in my diet, so I rarely use it in cooking.)
8 Club Crackers
4 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese (for topping)

Directions:
Cook macaroni about 75% of the package directions (It will continue cooking in the oven.), and drain.
While that's boiling, cook bacon until crispy, and set aside.
If you're using the onion, cook it in the bacon grease until it's clear, and set aside with the bacon.
Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
Combine the next 4 ingredients (and salt & pepper) in a sauce pan, and heat on medium low, stirring occasionally until fully blended. Add bacon & onion.
Pour macaroni into an 8x8 Oven Safe dish.
Pour cheese sauce over macaroni. Stir to coat. And place it in the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes.
While that's in the oven, crush the Club Crackers & combine with the remaining 4 ounces of Shredded Cheddar  Cheese.
Once the macaroni has been baking for 20 minutes, remove it from the oven and pour the cracker & cheese mixture evenly over the top, and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Did I say that this was a DIET DISH? OK, just making sure. I wouldn't want to lie to you and tell you that it was.

Now, on to desert...
Orange, Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

To be honest with you, this didn't come out as Orangey (is that a word?) as I hoped for. So I'll tell you what I DID, but I'll also make some suggestions along the way.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Butter (softened)
1/2 cup Honey
1 egg
3/4 cup Fresh Squeeze Orange Juice
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Yeast
1/4 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

What I DIDN'T use, but should have, is some Orange Extract or a Tablespoon or two of Grated Orange Zest. That would have given it more orange flavor.

Directions:
Add ingredients in the order listed (or as suggested by YOUR bread machine instructions), EXCEPT for the Chocolate Chips, into your bread machine.
Set your machine for a 1 1/2 lb regular loaf with LIGHT crust.
When your machine signals you to add fruit, nuts or other ingredients, ADD the Chocolate Chips.

That's it. It cooks in about 3 hours. Be sure to time this to be ready before the rest of your meal is done, so it will have ample time to cool off before you cut into it.

That's all for this addition, so until next time.... Happy Baking!

Jerry