A Little Faith and Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork #RealFlavorRealFast

*Disclaimer *Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork. The opinions and text are all mine.

This week has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, and I’m here to tell you- don’t lose faith. Ever. Also, some really good food helps during chaotic times!

 It all kicked off Monday with my brand-new laptop, which my amazing boyfriend bought me for Christmas, failing! The sudden flash of each comic Garfield in which he states how much he hates Mondays flashed through my head at this point. I was in the middle of backing the computer up, as other backups were not showing on my hard-drive right in the middle of it, Bam! Gone. Luckily it was covered still, but through several phone calls, and many of trips to a local store for repair good news turned bad, then good, then bad again. All the while I was locked out of accounts, all of them. This was not a good week to be locked out of accounts. With post deadlines to meet, court issues to be answered and resolved, bills had to be paid on time! Let’s just say I was scrambling back and forth for a little bit and while smartphones can do a lot- it wasn’t helping one bit this week.

Through a couple hours on the phone with tech support, and on the other line with computer repair, passwords were resolved but my data was lost. Updates about my laptop were good one day, bad the next, all the while harassing issues were being tossed at me. 

I was getting to a point where I was wondering why this all was happening to me. Why now, why wouldn’t certain issues just go away? Why must I continue to deal with it? It takes times like this to remember, these difficult times are here for a reason and it’s up to us to get through them with a positive outlook. We have that choice to make it good or bad, and so I took a deep breath and remembered things were ok. Yes, bad things happen, and it’s stressful and challenging, but I had a lot of good things going for me.  Once I remembered all that I am grateful for and thankful for- things started to fall into place.

I dealt with things as they came with a better outlook, and continued to get done what needed to be done each day, including this very post! Things really started to come together when I was planning & preparing dinner. One of our very favorite go to meals happens to revolve around Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork- bringing you real flavor, real fast! There are several different marinated flavors, and my Safeway happened to have three varieties in the meat section, and I got all three! Ha.

One variety that I picked up was the Smithfield Marinated Fresh Steakhouse Mushroom Pork Loin Filet, it was the first time I ever saw this one and really wanted to try it. The brand has never let me down, the meat is always so moist and full of flavor. They marinate it perfectly, so you don’t have to worry about seasonings at all which really helps on rushed days, or stressful ones in which there’s little time to think about dinner, let alone cook it with a lot of effort.
With some summer vegetables to keep it light, dinner would be done in 30 minutes! While shopping for the ingredients, many of the issues dealt with throughout the week were nearly entirely resolved if not completely. Things were perking up for me and a few minutes after I put dinner in the oven, I got a call My laptop was ready for pickup! I quickly packed the kids up, ran down to the computer repair store and got my laptop, rushed back home and the pork loin filet was done talk about perfect timing! All I had to do was sauté the summer vegetables and dinner was ready to eat. While the pork was resting and vegetables simmering, the kids set the table, and my last and final issue of the week had come to an end. So, with a little faith and a Smithfield Pork Loin Filet- things were truly looking up for us!

So moist and flavorful!

Recipe time! I kept this recipe very simple and light. With it being summer, we don’t eat very heavily so I picked summer vegetables that also cooked quickly. I already knew that the pre-marinated pork would cook well within 30 minutes so it was up to the vegetables to finish on time.

Smithfield Steakhouse Mushroom Pork Loin Filet with Roasted Heirloom Potatoes and Sautéed Vegetables.

Ingredients

1 Smithfield Marinated Fresh Steakhouse Mushroom Pork Loin Filet
1lb Small round potatoes
1lb mixed vegetables (About 4 cups once all cut) – I cut up 1 small zucchini, 1 small yellow squash, 2 small peppers, 1 small onion, and added two cups broccoli.
Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic minced finely
Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper to taste
*Parsley – optional

Directions
Preheat Oven to 375F

Sprinkle an 8×11 casserole dish with Olive Oil and place the Pork Loin Filet in the middle of the dish. Cut up the small round potatoes into quarters and place into the bowl, and add parsley if you like. We love it, so it was added.  Sprinkle lightly with olive oil and a dash of sea salt and pepper, mix it up so the seasonings coat the potatoes. Take potatoes and place around the pork loin. Add in two tablespoons water to the dish (helps steam the potatoes) Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145-150. The potatoes should be soft as well, take the pork out and let it rest before slicing.

**Since I was on my way back from the store while the pork cooked I didn’t get the chance to cook the vegetables until after the pork was done, so halfway through the pork cooking time, start sautéing your vegetables and they will be done at the same time. I also separated the broccoli from the other summer vegetables, you don’t have to do that.

Halfway through the pork cook time, Heat olive oil in a large skillet and sauté garlic for a minute or two before tossing in your vegetables, and cook until the vegetables are to your liking. It should not take longer than 10 minutes for it all to be done. Season with pepper to liking and serve immediately.

Using Smithfield Marinated fresh pork products, there’s no need to worry about seasonings, and even cooking times. You get real flavor, real fast and, honestly, a good meal for the family done in 30 minutes or less. You can add other vegetables right into the dish with the pork and do a one dish dinner, even a slow cooker if you want. No matter what, you can have dinner on your table in 30 minutes with Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork.
Do you have any great recipes that you want to share? Smithfield is having a “What Can You Do With 30?” Contest, challenging you and what you can do with Marinated Fresh Pork, to get dinner on the table in about 30 minutes. Head on over to www.SmithfieldRealFlavorRealFast.com and check it out. Submit your original recipe for a chance to win great prizes!