Slow Cooked Pork Tenderloin with Rice

I'm baaaaack! WOW, so I see my blog page on face book and it says: You Haven't Posted in 246 Days and I just couldn't believe it.  I don't know how it got to be that so much time passed so quickly, but long story short, it's been crazy times with just a lot going on. A new house, a new puppy, new job, it's been quite a ride. But I think we're at the point now where we can now resume normal operations.

Well although it seemed to have taken half the year for winter to head out, that doesn't mean it's time to put away that awesome slow cooker (aka easiest dinner ever that makes the house smell like you've been slaving away, but really haven't even had to step into the kitchen since you put the dish on 6 hours ago) anytime soon.

So this dish is SOOO easy, you really won't know what to do with all the extra time you have, and you can use a different cut of pork if you didn't want to use tenderloin. If you had a bunch of chops, or even a pork shoulder or heck even a cut of beef you wanted to use, it would work.  And because I've been away for so long, I'm doing what we in our house call a doubler. It's a 2 for 1 deal. 

Alright! Let's do this. 

Ingredients:

1 2-3 pound boneless pork tenderloin
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tblsp soy sauce
1/2 tblsp honey
1/2 tblsp molasses
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic

Step 1: Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray, and place pork into the insert of your slow cooker.

 Step 2:  In a separate bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients. Pour over pork and cook pork on low for about 4-6 hours (depends on the strength of your slow cooker). That's literally it...combine, and wait. How could it be any easier? Ok. The slow cooker is officially my favorite kitchen tool.

Step 3: Once pork is cooked, remove from slow cooker with tongs into a serving dish. Break apart lightly with two forks and then ladle about ¼ – ½ cup of gravy over pork tenderloin.

 Step 3a: If you have extra time, and aren't dying to eat like we were, you can reduce the gravy in a saucepan, and it will become thicker and more gravy-like. We did this the following day with the leftovers and it was really fantastic. I also added about a tsp of cayenne and it was simply fantastic.

Slow Cooker Onion and Mushroom Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1 cup broth
1 onion
1 tblsp butter
5-7 mushrooms
salt and pepper

Step 1: Slice onions and mushrooms
Step 2:  Spray slow cooker and add all ingredients to slow cooker and mix to combine

Step 3:  Cook on low for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until rice has fluffed up

 Step 4: Serve pork with rice and a veg of your choice, and enjoy!