Pork Loin

I got a head start on tonight's meal by putting a pork loin in the crockpot. To ease my leg, which still hurts if I stand for too long, I chopped veggies while sitting at the breakfast counter with the girls. Here's hoping this turns out well!

1 3 lb. pork loin
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 white onion, cut into thin strips
9 oz. apricot jam
1 package onion soup mix
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 water
2 Tbsp honey

Place peppers and onions in the bottom of the crock pot.
Put pork loin on top of veggies.
Mix jam, soup mix, wine, water and honey together.
Pour over meat and veggies.
Cook in crockpot on low for 8-10 hours.

Depending on how I'm feeling this afternoon, we'll have this with roasted green beans and brown rice - or just the green beans...



As the above photo indicates, I felt well enough to pull together an entire meal. I was very thankful... one meal down, thousands to go.

Jalapeno Pimento Cheese

Thanks to surgery on my leg and the kindness of friends and neighbors, I haven't cooked a meal in a month. We're finally back to providing our own meals, which is (at this point) a treat. While I'm not up to full speed, we have a freezer stocked with left-overs from friends, so tonight we'll have a quiche from one friend accompanied by soup from another. But before we got to dinner, I had to make something I've been craving: jalapeno pimento cheese. I first discovered this treat at Mitchell Deli, but it didn't take long for me to make my own. (After all, it's a near certainty that Mitchell's version has mayo in it and I am a confirmed mayo-phobe.)

I paid no attention at all to measurements while throwing this together, but here are my best guesses for how to make your very own tasty, spicy cheese spread:

1/2 to 2/3 cup plain yogurt
4 oz. jar pimentos, drained and chopped
5-10 pickled jalapeno slices, chopped finely
1 1/2 to 2 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix well all ingredients well. For a special treat, I topped my first sandwich with a Wickle. Yummy!