Slow Cooked Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Once again, I've been keeping myself busy.  This time, I spent the weekend painting our upstairs guest bathroom, which meant that I didn't have a lot of time to cook.  For me, this is just one reason I think that crock pot meals are the absolute best!  I love that all you have to do is toss the ingredients into the pot and then walk away to do other things, but you'll still always end up with a great meal!



I was excited too, to finally use my crock pot again; mostly because I just discovered these easy clean up liners. 

How did I never know that such a product existed until now?  The liners definitely would have saved me a lot of time and energy scraping the sides of my pot to get it clean.  They really did make cleaning up a snap.  I highly recommend picking up a pack or two for yourself!



Now, back to the recipe.  This pork tenderloin is so easy to prepare and comes out both sweet and delicious.  By the time the pork's finished cooking, the meat's so tender that it literally just falls apart with your fork; meaning no knife is needed to eat it.



Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

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Ingredients:

2 lb. pork tenderloin

1 tsp. rosemary

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

½ cup water

½ cup light brown sugar (could use splenda brown sugar)

1 TBSP. cornstarch

¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar

½ cup water

2 TBSP. reduced sodium soy sauce

Directions:

In a small dish, mix together the seasonings to form a rub; rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Prepare the slow cooker by placing in the liner, or spraying the sides with a non-stick cooking spray.  Add in ½ cup of water.

Rub the spices over the pork tenderloin, and place it in the slow cooker with the ½ cup of water.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-5. (I cooked mine for a little over 4 hours and it was perfect)

About an hour before the tenderloin is done cooking, prepare the glaze.

In a small sauce pan set over a medium heat, combine the sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water, and soy sauce.  Let heat up until the ingredients are well combined and the sauce begins to thicken.  DO NOT let it boil; reduce the heat if needed.

Once the sauce thickens, brush it over the tenderloin 2-3 times during the last hour of cooking.

When the tenderloin is done, place it on a baking sheet, spread on a little more glaze and place it in the oven, set to broil.  This will help give the glaze that caramelized texture.  Keep an eye on the tenderloin during this process; it may take 3-5 minutes.  When it’s done, place the pork on a serving tray and pour over the remainder of the glaze.

Source: Laura's Sweet Spot

I almost forgot that I have one more thing to add to today's post......So I decided today that I'm going to drive down to Disney World to visit my sister Shannon for a few days before she gets back on her cruise ship.  Before I go though, I wanted to share with you all the workout calendar I created for February.  I'm sorry that January's calendar never made it up, but feel free to join me this upcoming month!

30-Day Paleo Challenge: Day 1

I hope that you don't mind, but I'm going to stray away from food for just a few minutes and talk about something else.  I know that I haven't posted in awhile, even though I swore I'd get better about it, but lately it's been one injury after another.  The latest one actually had me on crutches for about a week.  In fact, I literally just stopped using them today, but am unfortunately still in some pain.  Being injured is incredibly frustrating, especially to me, because I know that I'm addicted to exercise, and honestly, these injuries have kept me from wanting to do much else. 

However, after a lot of procrastinating, I've finally decided that something needs to change!  I'm tired of not feeling like my normal, perky self (I've put back on quite a bit of weight, and have definitely been eating unhealthy) and I'm sick of coming up with excuse after excuse as to why I've been being unhealthy......"I'll just have one bite," "I'll start eating healthy again tomorrow," "I'll go out for a run later," etc.  Therefore, I'm officially declaring that I'm ready for a change, and I know that it has to happen internally, before it can happen externally. 

"Just because you don't see results after a day, or even a week, don't give up.  You may not see changes, but every smart choice you make is affecting you in ways you'd never imagined." - I couldn't say it better myself.

So, with that being said, I'll let you know that I've completed diets in the past, and found one that actually worked for me and that I could stick to.  While I was following that diet, I lost a total of 45 pounds and managed to keep it off for quite a few years.  Even today, I can say that I've not gained all the weight back; which means that I'm not looking for an extreme diet, but rather a healthy lifestyle to live by.  This is why, very recently, I came to the decision that I would start to eat Paleo.  Before settling though, I wanted to gather more information about what exactly this meant. 

Therefore, I decided to ask a good friend of mine, because I remembered her saying that she recently took part in a 30-day Paleo challenge at her gym.  When I questioned her about it, she happily informed me that during those 30 days, she lost a total of 15 pounds and is currently feeling great!  After being inspired and listening to what she had to say, I decided that this was definitely the way to go!  It sounded very much like what I'd hope to accomplish.  Needless to say, I immediately hopped on Amazon and ordered the book, The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet. 

Now I just had to wait.......but while I waited, I began looking up paleo recipes.  This way I could get an idea of exactly what I was in for.

To my surprise, the book arrived yesterday! (after only two days!)  I was so excited that I immediately opened it and started glancing through, and reading some of the different sections.  I also set up and created a weekly meal plan to follow, because I knew I'd want to start eating Paleo as soon as possible.  I must be a little crazy though, because today marks my 1st day going paleo, and next week starts my spring break.  Oh well, what is life without challenges and obstacles.  I also know that if I can stay strong over spring break, then nothing can stop me!

So here's how DAY 1 went.......Honestly, the food I prepared was delicious, and definitely filling.  However, I can't lie......I did have strong cravings for sweets and chips; pretty much all things that are considered bad and definitely not Paleo.  I didn't cave though and even though it was an especially difficult day.  (I had to make a 1/2-sheet cake for a birthday party, my second job).  Jeff was such a good sport, and gladly volunteered to be my taste tester.  Thanks hun!

Menu for DAY 1:

Breakfast: 3 slices Canadian bacon
                 3 scrambled eggs (2 whites, 1 whole) + 1/4 tsp. black pepper
Lunch: Chicken fajita salad
Snack: 2 oz. chicken, 1/2 avocado
Dinner: Crock Pot Pork Loin with Veggies

Crock Pot Pork Loin with Veggies
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Ingredients:

3 lb. lean pork loin
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 + cups sliced zucchini
4 cups chopped cauliflower florets
1 Tbsp. basil
1 Tbsp. Oregano
Dash of pepper

Directions:

Place all the ingredients into a crock pot, cover, and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Serve warm and enjoy!  This recipe will definitely make enough for leftovers to be used later on during the week.

Source: Adapted from The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet