Maple Glazed Pork

Several months ago, I began using a menu planner.  This tiny little dry erase board has changed our lives!  At the beginning of each week, we plan our meal. I accumulate a list of items we need from the grocery store and buy only those things while I'm shopping. We've saved a lot of money and we always have "real meals" that are ready to go.  

After a few weeks of using the menu planner, I realized that I make the same 7-10 meals ALL-THE-TIME. It was so boring! We needed a little pizazz in our diet.  So, we each took a cookbook and got to work researching new recipes. I'm terrible at this because I like to know what things taste like before I take my time and make them. I mean--- what if I spend an hour and a half making a new recipe and it's awful? I don't like cooking that much.  I also only like cookbooks with pictures because I like to have a model to compare with my finished product.  So, my new recipe took a week to find.... I'll post it later. 

Brendon, however, is quite the adventurer when it comes to recipes. He can open up a (text-only) cookbook and find recipes that are phenomenal!  Here he is working on our first new recipe.... Maple Glazed Pork.  It's from The New Best Recipes Cookbook (Pg 465 if you're wondering). 

The recipe is an entire page long, but here's the shorthand version. 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Brown all sides of the pork roast in a skillet. 

3. Set the browned roast in a separate roasting pan.  

4. Back in the skillet, heat 1/3 Cup maple syrup for about 30 seconds. Add, 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, pinch of cloves and a pinch of cayenne pepper to the syrup. 

5. Pour the glaze over the pork roast and cook in the over for 35-45 minutes. Occasionally, turning the roast and re-coating with the glaze. 

It was really good and a successful recipe to begin our cooking challenge!