Spicy Orange Honey Glazed Pork Loin (No Salt Added)

We are more and more excited about our loso adventure with every meal. We have two tasty loso recipes under our belt, and are feeling like this won't be too hard (or tedious) after all! 

We had bought a large pork loin from Costco (great place for nothing-added meats). I couldn't do our normal plum sauce - I wasn't ready to tackle that loso battle, plus we had no plums - so I looked for a recipe I had made years ago while we were staying with my in-laws. 

I don't remember it being anything too exotic or special - just some pork chops cooked in orange juice and brown sugar - but it was tasty and low sodium. I found two similar ones - one with a tasty looking rub and the other with an exciting glaze. Cam looked them over and enthusiastically said, "Let's do a combination of both!"

Apparently we are feeling a bit more adventurous.

I frankensteined the recipes into a sweet/spicy/tangy and tender pork loin roast and Cam tried his hand at no-salt-added mashed potatoes. Both were a smashing success. Adults and kids all ate (and liked!) both. 

Here is the recipe for your cooking pleasure (and so I can remember it!)

Spicy Orange Honey Glazed Pork Loin

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork loin roast (~4lbs)

Rub:

• 1t Mrs.Dash
• 1t powdered garlic
• 1/2t black pepper
• 1/4t white pepper
• 1/4t ground ginger

Glaze:

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2t molasses
• 1T ground cumin
• 1T chili powder
• 1T ground coriander
• 1 1/2t ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1T cornstarch

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a rack on a shallow roasting pan lined with foil.


2. Trim excess fat off roast. Combined rub ingredients and rub all over pork. Set roast, fat side up, on rack and roast in preheated oven for 60 minutes.


3. While the roast cooks, whisk together first nine glaze ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. In a small bowl or cup, mix cold water and cornstarch until smooth. Whisk into glaze mixture and bring glaze back to boil. Cook glaze, whisking, until desired thickness. Remove from heat and set aside.


4. Brush roast with glaze, and bake fifteen minutes longer. Brush with glaze again, and bake for fifteen minutes or until a thermometer reads 145 degrees.


5. Remove roast from oven and let rest ten minutes before slicing. Serve with glaze if desired.

Adapted from Taste of Home Orange-Glazed Pork Loin and Honey-Orange Glazed Pork Loin.

A Plethora of Pictures

I am sure you are all happy to see the title of this post. My posts have been very picture-less the last month.

This first picture is Dallas playing in a box again, but if you will notice the box is very small. He smooshed himself in it and proceeded to watch TV. I guess the box (and the way Dallas had to fold himself up to fit inside) was more comfortable than it looked.


This next picture is another marker mishap. Apparently he put it in his mouth and up his nose. What a lucky marker... (sorry about the booger shot).


Some night in the middle of December (before we moved) I went in Dallas' room after some WoW to make sure he was covered before I went to bed. This nightly ritual used to include putting Dallas back into his bed, but we hadn't had to do that since the summer really. I had to that night though. Dallas' closet had been cleared out and packed so there was ample space inside. Yes, our son came out of the closet...


These next two pictures I just took and not only show off the quirky personality of Dallas but also the amazing PJ's I made for him while in Canada with quite a bit of help from Cam's mom. The print was some little frogs and bubbles with green buttons. I was counting up to three and telling him to smile before I took this picture. The mouth shape and hands are from him saying and signing "go" when I reached three.


I did it all except for putting the shoulder in and some of the piecing together (Cam's mom was nice enough to do those scary parts for me). However she wouldn't agree to put in the buttons or button holes. The PJ's were all done (hemmed and everything) except for the buttons and I just KNEW I was going to ruin the pj's then and there. Surprisingly it all went fine and other than the button holes being a little too far in they are perfect really. I give all the credit to Cam's mom and beginners luck (sorry for the runny nose picture).


This next photo was also taken today. I found where the amazing ergo baby carrier had been buried in the garage (with all the stuff we moved) and since I had already received a quick tutorial from Jen a few days before I decided to see if I could replicate what she did. And I did. I put Chelane in and carried her around the house for a little bit really loving the way it felt. I took it off and stowed it back in the box it came in.

A few minutes later Dallas comes out with the carrier wrapped around him the same way he saw mommy doing it. I put Cam's old, pink stuffed monkey Chee-chee in the carrier and cinched it up to a Dallas-size and let him walk around the house a bit. The picture got taken a few minutes after I had done this and, as you can see, he is already getting tired of it and taking the ergo off.

Beds and Things

Well here is a picture of the top of Chelane's quilt, the colors are a bit more vivid in person. We went to Wal*mart and perused their $1 a yard shelf and since it only takes about 3/4 of a yard per pattern, this was a pretty cheap quilt. Plus I love the colors. I wasn't too sure about it at first, I was pulling out lots of bolts and laying them next to each other while Cam did some other shopping. I had been looking at the possible combinations for too long so I made Cam - I mean gave Cam the privilege of making the final decision. I am glad I did! He seems to pick good combinations.

We got Dallas a twin mattress a few weeks ago. It sits on the floor in his room and he adjusted with no problem. The first week/week-and-a-half he would get out of bed and fall asleep on the
floor and he even fell out of the bed a few times (luckily the mattress is on the floor so it is a 6" fall).


We would find him like this on the floor more often than not and move him gently back into his bed. After the first week/week-and-a-half though he is getting the hang of falling asleep in bed. It is still obvious that he isn't necessarily falling asleep right away every time (there will be clothes or toys moved around) but he is making it back to his bed when he decides he wants to sleep. I am happy he is able to make the decision more for himself now. And he seems to like it too.

Baby Arrangments

We moved around furniture today so there would be room in the master bedroom for the crib and baby dressers and all that. Dallas is still using the crib to this day, but we are planning on getting him a "big boy bed" sometime in the next month so he has time to transition before the baby comes.

I guess I haven't said already, "It's a girl!" There seemed to be no sign of baby boy parts in the ultrasound. We are planning on naming her Chelane (sha-lane), Cam loves the name and suggested it for Dallas before we knew the gender. I already bought a bunch of fabric and made the top of a baby quilt for her (it is reminiscent of Dallas' for those who have seen his - but with purple, green, and pink). I just need to put the border on, tie it and hem it up (of course I have to go buy the fabric to do that with still...).

I actually have had a bit of fun sewing last month. I was making that baby quilt and then I decided to make some wipes. They are two sided flannel, about 7"x 4" and fit in a regular wipes box just perfectly. Of course no Kassie project would be a Kassie project if I had finished it all at one time... I still haven't bought the essential oils and other things to use as the wipe "juice", so we are wetting down the wipes as we need them. This is something else that will have changed before the baby comes as well (I hope!).

I bet now you are wondering, "Wait, why is she making her own wipes?" Well Dallas is in cloth diapers now. It works great and isn't a huge change from disposables. Even Cam changes his cloth diapers (as long as it isn't pooey, lol but then he was the same way before...). I just use a prefold that you pin down and a synthetic cover. I haven't had a leak outside the cover yet (and the covers are so easy and quick to hand wash if there is a leak outside the prefold). I really feel like I am doing a bit to help the environment and I haven't had problems with Dallas having diaper rash at all since I switched. I am excited to see how they work with a newborn. We do still keep some disposables around, but those are reserved for day trips (if we take any) and babysitters (if we have any). The "sposies" are a brand called Tushies and are made with cotton and wood pulp innards rather than all the weird chemicals and non-biodegradable stuff most diapers have in them. They are a bit more bulky than other brands but again, I feel better using them (yeah I know, I am going granola over here).

I will get a pic of the quilt up here some (mostly so I can get compliments for it, lol).