Cheeseburger Hot Pockets

My husband is gone a lot. I mean A LOT. He works 6 days a week and often gets held over and has to work overtime through dinner. On top of his "regular" job he also is in the Marine Corps and is often gone for that. This year alone he has already been at training 3 weeks and is currently doing 2 more. So my 3 Things and I are used to flying solo. For most of the day things are pretty easy and we just go with the flow... but I dread dinner time when the hubby is not at home. The big boys are always "starving" and it's usually the baby's fussiest time of the day (yes, he does get fussy). So I am always trying to come up with recipes that are easy and kid friendly that my boys will eat. Tonight, we hit the jackpot! We just got back from being up in the Pacific Northwest for the past week and the refrigerator was pretty bare. I had a can of biscuits, some cheese, and some ground turkey in the freezer... and Cheeseburger Hot Pockets is what I came up with!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp Minced Onion
• Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• 1 can Reduced Fat Flaky Grands Biscuits
• 8 slices cheese (I used Colby Jack)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 and spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. In a large saute pan add ground turkey, minced onion, and season with Lawry's Seasoning Salt. Brown turkey on medium heat until cooked through.

Split a biscuit in half and flatten out each half. Place meat mixture on bottom half, lay a slice of cheese on top of meat, and cover with top half of biscuit. Press down edges and use a fork to seal. Repeat with remaining biscuits, meat, and cheese. Pierce top of pocket with fork.

Bake for 10 minutes or until tops of pockets are golden.

Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Sauce

So between Thing 1's birthday, our Carlsbad/Legoland trip and then getting sick with a stomach bug, there hasn't been much cooking going on around here. Until today! Back before I "retired" from teaching to be a stay at home mom, one of my friends and coworkers shared the results from this recipe with my teammate and I at lunch one day. Let me tell you, it was delicious! We could not stop eating it and I just had to get the recipe from her. It came from the "Everyday Paleo" cookbook by Sarah Fragoso. I modified the recipe because my tenderloin was larger than the one called for in the recipe. No joke, this recipe is sooo good! And the pork doesn't get dried out at all. My kids just gobble it down too! So it is definitely a winner around here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 lb pork tenderloin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 lb dried cherries
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Directions:

Heat olive oil in skillet on medium low to medium heat. Cut tenderloin in half so it will cook faster and more evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Place tenderloins in skillet and brown on all sides. It should have a nice golden brown color. Add chicken stock, blasamic vinegar, cherries, and rosemary. Continue cooking in skillet for about 30-35 minutes turning the tenderloins periodically.

While the tenderloins are cooking, it is the perfect time to prep some of my Prosciutto, Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta to accompany the tenderloin.

Remove tenderloins and cover with foil. Continue cooking the sauce in the skillet until stirring continually until it has a syrup consistency (about 3 minutes). Discard rosemary. Slice tenderloin and pour cherry sauce over top. Serve and enjoy!!