Tasty Tuesday!

It's another cold day here in the Fort. Justin and I are both home from work today, so I decided to make my Autumn Harvest Pork Loin. With warm hints of cinnamon and brown sugar mixed with the delicious blend of apples and pork loin, it's sure to make your tummy toasty on any cold day. Justin LOVES how it smells when it's cooking. He has said "God, that smells good!" about 28 times today...lol! Oh, and for crock pot recipes, I absolutely LOVE the crock pot liners that are available in the freezer bag section at the store. They make for the EASIEST clean-up for ANY slow cooker recipe!

AUTUMN HARVEST PORK LOIN

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of cider or apple juice
1 1/2 - 2 lb pork loin
salt
pepper
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1 whole butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat cider in hot skillet. Sear pork loin on all sides in cider.
2. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper on all sides, place in slow cooker along with juices. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of cinnamon on top of pork loin.
3. Combine apples and squash. Sprinkle with brown sugar, the rest of the cinnamon, thyme, and sage. Stir. Place around pork loin.
4. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours
5. Remove pork from cooker. Let stand 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2 inch- thick slices.
6. Serve topped with apples and squash.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes and make a little gravy out of the juices from the pork loin. To do that, I get about a cup or so of hot liquid out of the crockpot while the pork loin is cooling, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour to thicken it up (depending on how thick you like your gravy), and serve it up on top of the potatoes :) Mmmmmmmm!