The Best Kinds of Days

Every once in awhile I'm asked to cover a Saturday at work, and in return, I'm given a day off during the week. this was one of those weeks, and today I got to lay around in bed all day. Sure, I could have been doing something productive, but I started reading Angels & Demons yesterday and that's one of those books that you just can't put down once you start. This morning, I put a pork roast in the crockpot, and this evening, I finished my book just in time to start the rest of dinner fixins'. Now I'm nursing one glass of wine (just one...sigh...damn migraines), and typing this up before I go up and start my next book. What, you thought I'd take a break or something?

Crockpot Cranberry Pork Roast

Adapted from Beantown Baker

2.5 lb pork roast

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp cornstarch

6 oz fresh cranberries (I took mine straight from the freezer, did not seem to cause a problem)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lemon, thinly sliced

Mix ginger, mustard, salt, pepper, and cornstarch. Coat pork. Place in crockpot.

Put rest of ingredients in crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. It will be more tender if you cook it lower and slower.

I served it with Balsamic Glazed Carrots (you'll see recipe soon) and an adapted form of this gravy. I used cranberry juice instead of apple cider, and rosemary and thyme in the roux.

Crockpot Comfort

What a long, horrible day. I am a chronic migraine sufferer and have been since middle school. After they put me in the emergency room this year, I finally made an appointment with a great neurologist who specializes in migraines and he put me on some preventative medication that has helped tremendously. And I had to give up caffeine, which was devastating to this coffee addict! I've also been seeing a chiropractor once a week to help with the stress on my neck and shoulders--a lot of my migraines start with the tension in that area.

Still, a few times a month I still get migraines, I don't think you can ever truly be rid of them. Things like stress or weather are my main triggers. Today one hit me sooo hard. It was a miserable day. I couldn't concentrate, all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. Unfortunately, I had to keep working, I'm not one to call in sick.

Not only that, I knew I would have to do a blog post tonight, and I needed a recipe. Which meant I had to make something for dinner. So on my lunch break, I ran home, and threw this in the crockpot. Whoever invented that wonderful appliance deserves a throne. Seriously. Some days there is just nothing better than a crockpot.

I followed the directions on this one. It's nothing fancy, just comfy, warm soup. It's not spicy as is, but you could turn up the heat by adding jalepenos instead of red peppers, or using a spicier enchilada sauce than I did. I've also seen versions of this with nacho cheese condensed soup instead of cream of chicken, and it's wonderful like that.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

From realmomkitchen on Tasty Kitchen

1 can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted but I don't think it made a difference here)

1 10 oz package frozen corn

1/2 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cup milk (Ours was spoiled, ugh, but I had 3/4 pint of heavy cream so I used that instead)

2 whole chicken breasts

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

In Crockpot, combine all ingredients. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 on low.

Remove chicken and shred. Put back in soup.

Serve with cheese on top.

Also good with sour cream, cilantro, and tortilla chips.

Note: This makes a ton--I kept some in the fridge for the next few lunches, and then packed the rest in individual freezer containers. Who needs Stouffer's when you can make your own microwaveable meal?