Quick and easy dinners are always wonderful, especially throughout the Spring season. There just seems to be less time available to spend in the kitchen with the beautiful weather blooming outside. If I can get a delicious and satisfying dinner on our table before my family heads off to a little league baseball game, I feel like a winner! This 30 minute flavorful One Pan Pork with Rice & Asparagus is a simple meal you won’t want to miss!

This 5 ingredient meal features creamy brown rice mixed with tender slices of garlic & herb marinated pork with the addition of crisp, fresh asparagus for a well rounded supper that will surely become a new Spring favorite!

I purchased a Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork Roasted Garlic & Herb Loin Filet on my last grocery trip to Walmart because it helps me create “Real Flavor Real Fast!”

Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork is 100% pork and is available in a variety of flavors across Tenderloins, Loin Filets and Roasts and can be prepared in a variety of ways including, grilled, roasted or sautéed.

For this recipe we are going to be slicing the filet in half and then slicing the halves again in to 1/2 inch pieces. In a large skillet with a lid, heat a little extra virgin olive oil and start cooking your pork over medium to high heat for 5 minutes.

After most of the pink is gone, add the chicken broth and the instant brown rice then stir well.

Cover the skillet and let it simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, wash and slice your fresh asparagus into 1 1/2 inch bite size pieces so they will be ready to go.

After simmering, add the asparagus, stir, cover and simmer for just 5 more minutes.

Turn off the heat, remove the lid, add a little freshly cracked black pepper and salt if desired along with fresh parsley for garnish and serve! This dish perfect by itself, but it can also be enjoyed with a fresh salad and bread too!

If you happen to have leftovers, adding a spoonful of this to a wrap makes a delicious on the go lunch the very next day! Yum!

A great family meal is only minutes away with the help of Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork, so make sure to grab your favorite flavor and variety to put on your menu this week!

Enjoy!

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One Pan Pork with Rice & Asparagus

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 - 2 1/2 lbs. Smithfield Roasted Garlic & Herb Loin Filet sliced in half then into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 1/2 cups instant brown rice dry
• 1 lb. fresh asparagus washed and cut into 1 1/2 inch bite sized pieces
• salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• fresh parsley for garnish if desired

Instructions

• In a large skillet with lid, heat your extra virgin love oil over medium heat and cook the pork for 5 minutes, until most of the pink is gone.
• Add the chicken broth and rice, and give everything a good stir. 
• Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add the fresh asparagus, stir, cover and cook just 5 more minutes.
• Remove from heat, uncover, add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
• Serve by itself or along with a salad and bread.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Got leftovers? Add a spoonful of this tasty One Pan Meal to your favorite wrap for a yummy on the go lunch the next day!

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Spring is in the air and I just love it! After a winter that could not make up it’s mind, I’m looking forward to a new season with delicious, fresh and light recipes. Because the nicer weather allows so many of us to start those outdoor projects around the house, planning meals can sometimes be an afterthought. Sandwiches always make a simple & easy option for a no hassle lunch or dinner. Celebrate the start of spring with these yummy Ham & Cucumber Sandwiches!

A tasty sandwich is never far from reach when you’ve got a few basic ingredients on hand. I always make sure I grab a loaf of Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White Bread, Hillshire Farm® Thin Sliced Honey Ham and Hellmann’s® Real Mayonnaise when I’m grocery shopping at Walmart.

Quality ingredients make all of the difference in a good sandwich. Farmhouse Hearty White bread is slow baked, hearty, and crafted from a simple small batch recipe. It’s wholesome and flavorful ingredients are made into delicious loaves of bread that always have that fresh from the oven taste. You can smell it’s deliciousness as soon as you open the double-wrapped bag. Yum!

Looking for a tasty lunch meat that contains no artificial flavors and no by-products? Look no further than Hillshire Farm® Thin Sliced Honey Ham lunchmeat. It’s perfect on a piece or 2 of Farmhouse Hearty White with Hellmann’s® Real Mayonnaise.

This simple recipe is Spring inspired by adding a few fresh seasonal veggies to your basic ham sandwich.

Crisp and thinly sliced cucumbers along with bright red radishes (if you don’t care for radishes, you may use carrots instead!) will surely dazzle your tastebuds with every bite. An easy to make cucumber mayo pulls all of these seasonal fresh flavors together too!

Get started by chopping up half of a small seedless cucumber, putting it a small glass bowl and sprinkling it with a little sea salt. Let it sit for 30 minutes or so, before draining any excess liquid and using a small chopper or blender to make it smooth.

Add 1 cup of Hellmann’s® Real Mayonnaise to the cucumber puree, stir well and store in a glass mason jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to make your sandwiches. This Cucumber Mayo can be made ahead of time for convenience and used throughout the week.

Take 2 pieces of Farmhouse Hearty White and spread each one with your desired amount of the homemade cucumber mayo.

Add a layer of thinly sliced cucumber to the bottom slice of bread for the sandwich, a serving size of Hillshire Farm® Thin Sliced Honey Ham, then a layer of thinly sliced radishes.

Place the other slice of bread onto the sandwich, slice in half and serve!

I like to have a sandwich night for dinner about once a week once the weather gets nicer. A colorful fruit salad or even a bowl of soup always pair along with it nicely.

If your family is short on time or you all just love a good sandwich, give this yummy recipe a try real soon! It may even become a new favorite!

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With a bitter chill in the air and plenty of snow on the ground, a nice pot of soup simmering on the stove top sure does sound good! Soups are great because you can use a lot of what you have on hand and usually there’s enough to serve a large family for dinner and maybe even lunch the next day. Nothing warms up my taste buds like this delicious Chicken Fajita Soup!

This soup is perfect for a snowy or dreary day! It’s a little heartier than most which is perfect if you have a house full of growing kiddos like mine. It’s full of color and flavor and will definitely brighten your day!

This soup recipe can be made even easier with the help of a rotisserie chicken if you don’t happen to have any shredded or chopped leftover chicken on hand in your refrigerator.

Start by warming a few Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat, then start to saute your chopped green peppers, orange peppers, onion and garlic.

After the vegetables have softened, add 8 cups of chicken or homemade vegetable broth and give everything a good stir. Add a can of fire roasted tomatoes and green chiles with juices, along with your seasonings. Cover and let the soup come to a boil.

After you’ve brought the soup to a boil, add your shredded or chopped chicken, the rinsed black beans, and 1 cup of uncooked brown rice. Stir everything, cover and reduce the soup to a simmer for 20 minutes.

When your timer goes off, add a handful of freshly chopped cilantro and serve hot!

This soup is wonderful with a simple side salad and a fresh loaf of bread from your grocery store’s bakery.

If you do happen to have leftover Chicken Fajita Soup (we never do!) you can always freeze it for later! Store the cooled soup in a freezer friendly container or a gallon sized plastic bag to lay flat on a shelf for convenient storage.

I hope you and your family can warm up with this yummy recipe soon! Enjoy!

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Chicken Fajita Soup

Delicious & Easy to Make Chicken Fajita Soup that will warm your family up on the coldest of days!

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz. can tomatoes and diced green chiles
• 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes with juice
• 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 3-4 cups chopped or diced cooked chicken breast
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed well
• 1 cup uncooked instant brown rice
• 1 handful freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions

• In a large stock pot, heat a little extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat and saute your chopped peppers, onions and garlic.
• After softened, add your tomatoes & chiles, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, the spices and seasonings and give everything a good stir.
• Cover the soup and bring it to a slow boil.
• Add the shredded chicken and the rinsed black beans. 
• Add the instant brown rice.
• Stir, cover and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 20 minutes to allow all of the flavors mingle together.
• Turn off the heat, add a handful of freshly chopped cilantro and serve!

Notes

To freeze, prepare as usual, let the soup cool to room temperature and then store in freezer friendly containers or a gallon sized plastic bag.

You can always add more chicken or vegetable broth to this soup if you are making it a day or 2 ahead of time, as the rice may soak up a lot of the liquid.

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These are evenings when I just love my slow cooker. They are the evenings that it’s dark by 5 pm, everyone is really hungry and dinner just happens. It happens because I did the simple prep work earlier in the day, before I had a headache and a billion after school things to handle with my kiddos. Can you relate? This Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Vegetables is a simple, well rounded meal that’s just wonderful on a busy weeknight!

Sometimes you may be able to find a nice roast like this marked down in the meat department at your grocery store. It’s nice to have a recipe on hand when you do. Otherwise you may buy it because it’s a good deal and then it sits in your refrigerator, expires and then it’s a waste. Don’t waste it!

I use this neat Slow Cooker that features a removable insert that is stove top safe. It’s perfect for searing meats or sautéing vegetables before slow cooking, without me having to dirty another pan. If you don’t have one, that’s ok too.

I start by heating a little oil in the bottom of the insert. I season the pork roast and when the oil and pan are nice and hot, I place it inside.

That sizzling sound, that nice crust on the meat locking in all of that flavor… totally worth the extra few minutes! I use tongs to easily move the roast and sear each side of it. Then everything gets added right to the slow cooker.

I add a bag of frozen fine green beans (you can also use fresh green beans), carrots, Cremini mushrooms, sliced onion, freshly minced garlic, a little chicken broth and a few bay leaves before covering and cooking on high for 5 to 6 hours.

I like to serve this over tender brown rice, which you can even make the night before if you want to save even more time in the kitchen. It’s delicious and simple & I hope your family will enjoy this recipe on a busy weeknight too!

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There’s nothing like a great sandwich. Fresh bread, your favorite thinly sliced lunch meat and crunchy vegetables. Yum! You can enjoy a delicious sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner and the best part is how easy and simple it is to prepare. The next time you’re craving a tasty sandwich or are running short on time and want a yummy meal, try these summer-inspired Italian Ham & Veggie Sandwiches! This custom-made to your family’s taste buds recipe has already become a big hit at our house!

With all 4 of my kiddos back to school this month, I made it a point to stock up on all of our “Sandwich Must Haves” on my last grocery shopping trip to Walmart.

My first stop- the bread aisle where I picked up a few loaves of Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse® Oatmeal Bread. You can’t have a sandwich without bread! Some other great varieties are Hearty Farmhouse® White, NEW Pepperidge Farm® Harvest Blends Sprouted and Pepperidge Farm® Rye & Pumpernickel deep flavorful varieties. Their breads are soft, thick and hearty and they are always fresh.

As a matter of fact, each loaf is slow baked and crafted from a small batch recipe made with wholesome flavorful ingredients and that unmistakable fresh from the oven taste. It’s even double wrapped to ensure freshness.  As soon as you open the convenient perforated wrap, it smells like a bakery right in your own kitchen! Yum!

After picking up a package of Hillshire Farm® Thin Sliced Honey Ham lunch meat in a 9 oz.  Resealable Tub (Psss… Hillshire Farm® lunch meat is slow roasted for hours and that’s why it tastes so much better than all other lunch meats) along with the NEW super convenient Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise® in a 20 oz. squeeze bottle, I was all set.

The other ingredients for this sandwich are right in my pantry and can be freshly picked from my summer garden!

Start preparing your sandwich by getting out 2 pieces of Farmhouse® Oatmeal bread for each sandwich. We like to make 4 at a time.

In a small bowl, combine a little of your family’s favorite Italian dressing with Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise® and mix it up until it’s nice and creamy and spread it onto each piece.

I like to have all of the veggies out because everyone wants something different. Add a piece of fresh lettuce, then a nice large slice of ripe and juicy tomato. If you or your family doesn’t like tomatoes (we all have at least 1 picky eater), you can add colorful pepper slices instead.

*Tip: Want you kiddos to eat more veggies? Let them choose which ones they want to add to their sandwich themselves!

Then add a serving size of delicious Hillshire Farm® Thin Sliced Honey Ham. I love that after the ham is carved, it’s doubled sealed for absolute freshness too!

If you have zucchini on hand and prefer it over lettuce, slice it really thin and add it on top of the ham for a delicious crunch. This sandwich is great because you can use what you have on hand as well as the veggies you prefer.

Gently press the other piece of bread on top, wrap with paper and slice it in half. You’ve now got yourself one delicious sandwich that you made at home, by yourself, and with only 6 ingredients! I think you’ll agree that this is definitely better than any sandwich you’ve ever purchased too! Enjoy!

Check Out More Mouth-Watering Recipes from Pepperidge Farm® Today! 

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I’m always looking for new casserole or bake type dinners to serve my family. A little meat, a little veggie and whatever else goes good together and you’ve usually got a yummy meal that everyone can enjoy, any night of the week. These types of meals are always simple and comforting. I made this Cheesy Chicken & Tri Colored Rotini Bake this week and we just loved it!

I usually stock up on Colored Rotini for my family’s favorite Italian Tuna Pasta Salad. As I was doing a little Spring Cleaning this week through my pantry, I noticed that I had a few packages of this pasta on my top shelf. Sure, pasta doesn’t really go bad, but I thought it would be nice to use this in something a little different.

I cooked the pasta until al dente and then set it aside. Then I sauteed a little onion and garlic in a little olive oil in my skillet until softened. Then I slowly added my chicken broth.

I added the chopped, squeezed dry spinach along with the ricotta cheese and gave everything a good stir over medium heat.

Oh, it smelled so good!

I then added the cooked rotini pasta and the chopped chicken breast (from my make ahead Perfectly Roasted Chicken Breast or a rotisserie chicken), then tossed everything together well.

I poured the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish, topped with more cheese and baked in the oven to melt the cheese and heat everything through well for 20 minutes. Yum!

This tasty and simple bake is wonderful served with a fresh salad or a loaf of garlic bread for a nice family meal, even on busy weeknights.

You can even prepare this meal ahead of time and freeze it before baking. It’s always nice to have a whole meal… a homemade meal, ready to go in your freezer for those nights when you just don’t feel like cooking.

I hope your family puts this recipe on your menu soon & enjoys it as much as we do!

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