Applewood Smoked Bacon Pork Tacos! #RealFlavorRealFast

Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork. The opinions and text are all mine.#RealFlavorRealFast @SmithfieldFoods

Does anyone else think summer has gone by way too fast this year? It’s hard to believe that in just under a week school starts in our area! It seems like summer just begun though, how can this be happening already? Time really does fly when you are having fun. Our summer has been great and we’ve gotten a lot done. We have been able to enjoy some nice slow lazy days, some fun activities on other days, and tackled some serious errands on others! All in all as fast as this summer has gone by we’ve got a lot accomplished and I can’t complain one bit.  Now with just a little more to go until the school bells ring, we’re trying to fit in some end of the summer fun as best we can and time doesn’t always seem to be on our side- or so we think.

I’m one to always try and focus on the positive sides of things, even when things don’t seem to be fitting together in the moment. Sometimes it takes letting go of worry, so instead of worrying about not having enough time to enjoy things you want, you should enjoy the present moment and not about the time at all. That’s when the real fun begins and believe it or not things fall right into place the way they were meant too.

I think as a parent one of the biggest things I tend to worry about in a day is dinner- not what we’re going to eat or if the kids would like it but if it will be done on time- or even if I have enough time to make it. During summer without a set schedule as things usually are during the school year it happens more often than not. Time just gets away from me and it leaves me scrambling for dinner at times. Maybe we got caught up hiking and took longer trails than originally planned, or perhaps a trip to the fair had gone well over what we expected. Either way, it’s come down to a few days in which dinner must be made in 30 minutes or less before it gets way too late for us to eat. Over the years I’ve come up with a few tricks to combat any day in which there’s little time to be messing around in the kitchen yet still getting a good meal to the table.  Smithfield Marinated pork can be found in the Fresh Meat section and is available in a variety of cuts and flavors.

It all starts with Meal Planning.

• Plan a weeks or two weeks worth of meals. Make sure you have meals that don’t take much preparation time, and others that can be done with no rush at all. You want a good variety. I also always plan for leftovers to be used (some weeks I never have any leftovers) but you can plan to use leftovers. Say you planned to roast a chicken one night, well the following night if you had little time you could plan to make chicken and bean quesadillas. Little to no prep time, and you’re using up the previous nights food.
• Make sure you have at least two planned meals (your protein) defrosted. If you planned a beef, or chicken meal, have them defrosted at the same time. You want to be able to choose from one or another. Don’t take out more than two at a time otherwise your protein can go bad.
• If you have more than one meal during the week that uses the same ingredient, try to prepare it all at once- say chopped/diced peppers/onions. You can get that all done in one night and store the rest. If a meal calls for cooked rice twice in one week just make one batch. This will cut down on any preparations further on in the week.

These are just a few tricks I’ve learned throughout the years but they have really helped when getting dinner to the table, so hopefully you can use a few yourself! Another go-to trick that never fails is – Tacos! Short on time, tacos always come to the rescue.

This week I was not just short on time but the kids were kinda restless for something new. Luckily I picked up two Smithfield® Marinated  Applewood Smoked Bacon Pork Loin Filets on my last shopping trip to Lucky. It is so nice to have on hand for a quick and delicious dinner any night of the week! I have always loved the Smithfield brand and absolutely have enjoyed their marinated fresh pork line. You get real flavor, real fast every time, and that means a good meal for the family. The Smithfield Marinated Applewood Smoked Bacon Pork Loin Filet has such a nice smoky flavor all around and it became the perfect match up for tacos! I seared it in a cast iron skillet before finishing it off in the oven and the flavor was perfect, and I was able to feed the family in 30 minutes or less! That’s a win-win for us!

Applewood Smoked Bacon Pork Tacos!

Ingredients

1 Smithfield Marinated  Applewood Smoked Bacon Pork Loin Filet
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups Pico de gallo  ( 2-3 tomatoes diced, 1 small onion diced, 2 sprigs fresh cilantro dash of pepper, salt, one clove of garlic minced. Combine and squeeze one small lime over top)
2 cups broccoli slaw (you can chop/dice broccoli really small in place of the slaw)
2 cups shredded lettuce
Small flour tortillas

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F
Pour two tablespoons olive oil into a skillet over medium high heat. Wait until oil is heated and brown the pork loin on each side until nice and brown. Place the loin into a shallow dish and place into the oven to cook for about 25 minutes.

 While the pork is cooking it’s time to make the pico de gallo. Pork loin is done when the internal temperature 145-150. Let it sit as you plate the taco toppings (you can add your own!)

Cut the pork into strips and begin to assemble your tacos any which way you would like and enjoy!
This is a really easy, quick meal for any summer activity, whether you just came home from the beach or plan on a BBQ, you can easily cook the pork loin right on the grill! No matter what, you can have dinner in 30 minutes full of flavor and ready to enjoy!

Did you know that Smithfield is doing a challenge to see what you can do with Marinated Fresh Pork? It’s called ” What Can You Do with 30?” and challenges you to come up with a 30 minute or less recipe .You can submit your original recipe for a chance to win some great prizes! You can find out more right here, www.SmithfieldRealFlavorRealFast.com