Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

I'm always looking for good recipes for pork loin. Not just because I love pork, but because pork loin is one of the most affordable cuts of meat. My store puts it on sale all the time so I usually pay $7-$8 for 4-5 pounds of it. Which means that not only am I saving money, but I have a piece of meat that we can eat on for more than one night. Which means less cooking! Typically I cut ours in half, freezing some for later and cooking the rest. Half of one usually feeds us for 2 full dinners and maybe some extra for Matt to take to work for lunch.

This is my go-to pork loin recipe. It meets all of my 5 star recipe criteria: easy, delicious, cheap, feeds us for more than one night, AND all of the ingredients are pantry staples in our house so no special trips to the store needed! Yay! So, enjoy y'all :)

Ingredients:
2 lb pork loin
2 tsp of sage
2 cloves of garlic
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup water

For the Glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup water

1. In a small bowl, mix together sage, garlic, salt, and pepper. (Measurements are approximate. Feel free to add more or less. I usually just dump it on until it looks right)
2. Place pork loin in crock pot and rub the sage mix all over it. Pour in 1/2 cup of water.
3. Put the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours.

About an hour before the meat is ready, make the glaze.
1 Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and whisk over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
2. Remove from heat and ladle out about 1/4-1/3 cup of the glaze into a bowl.
3. Use the separated bowl of glaze to baste onto the meat every 15 or so minutes until the meat done, leaving the rest of the glaze on the stove.

When meat is done, serve with glaze drizzled on top. So good. If I'm feeling ambitious, I typically serve with nice roasted veggies. If I'm in a hurry, I might just do biscuits and a can of corn ;)

BBQ Carmelized Onion Grilled Cheese

Cheese, bread, and butter make up a serious majority of my food love language. That being said, I have never been a big fan of grilled cheese. I also used to never like onions. I am learning to like them and discovered a while back that I am actually absolutely obsessed with caramelized onions. Enter in this BBQ Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese. I was doing the dangerous task of browsing Pinterest one day around 11am when the lunch time hunger starts hitting and saw this incredible picture. (Courtesy of Ring Finger Tan Line blog, mine get devoured before I can even think about a picture!)

And then I was really hungry. So I checked out the recipe and decided I had to re-create it with the ingredients I had on hand. IT WAS AMAZING. I wasn't sure about the BBQ sauce but seriously y'all...it works. This sandwich has changed my life. For those days when there isn't any yummy leftovers for lunch or evenings where I don't plan dinner, these are our go to meal. A recipe this delicious and easy that uses ingredients I always have on hand is a dream come true. The kids even love them too! So here ya go.

Ingredients (Serves 2)
4 slices of your choice of bread (We have used French, Challa, and regular old Sara Lee wheat bread. It's all good.)
2 slices of cheddar cheese
2 slices of pepper jack, muenster, or Swiss cheese. Or seriously...whatever you want!
1/2 of a small purple or sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp. BBQ sauce
Butter (2 tbsp.-ish)

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a frying pan and add onion, cook until nice and caramelized. I usually start on medium-high for a few minutes and turn down to medium low for 10-15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, slice bread and spread butter on each piece. Flip over and spread BBQ sauce on each piece. Put Cheddar on top slice and other kind of cheese on the bottom slice.
3. When the onions are done, put them on top of the cheese and top with top slice of bread and cheese. Put pan back on burner on medium heat.
4. Put sandwiches in pan and grill on each side until toasty brown.
5. Eat. Love. Pray and thank God for this amazing gift.