Baked Potatoes with Apples

Ease:  4/5     Kid-friendliness: 4/5     Taste: 3.5/5     Time: 3.5/5

This dish makes a great side and would be a great accompaniment to pork roast or pork tenderloin. Since both my kids like sweet potatoes, this is an easy option. To save on prep time, you could use a bag and a half of McCain's frozen sweet potatoes.

What you'll need:

• 1 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 Tbsp apple juice
• 575 - 700g (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 lbs) sweet potatoes, thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease a baking dish. Scatter the onion and apples, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the apple juice. 

Lay the sweet potato slices over the onion and apples. Cover with foil or a lid. Bake for ~20-25 minutes (until sweet potatoes are soft). Uncover and dot with butter or margarine. Continue baking uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are lightly browned. 

Pork & Apple Pita's

Ease: 4/5     Taste: 3/5     Kids: 2/5     Time: 4/5


I love meat/fruit combinations!

Inspired by my "Mac Mishap", I thought this quick and fresh sounding recipe fit the bill. I enjoyed them, but they were difficult for my daughter to eat. Small hands just do not possess the finesse necessary to eat a pita (rolling it up works better!)

My husband isn't a fan of a strong dill flavour (or any strong flavour for that matter), but if you are, you can double the sauce recipe.

The recipe also called for alfalfa sprouts, but since I couldn't find any (yes, I only went to one store but with two kids, would you go to a second?), I used a packaged "broccoli slaw" that I found. It gave a similar crunch and texture, and was probably more nutrient packed than sprouts anyway. Broccoli slaw is my new favourite salad topper!

What you'll need:

• 1 pound boneless pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/4 inch slices 
• 3 Tbsp nonfat plain yogurt
• 1/2 tsp dill seeds
• 1/2 medium cucumber, chopped
• 1 apple, cut into thin slices
• 2 large lettuce leaves (I had green leaf that needed to be used up)
• alfalfa sprouts (or broccoli slaw!)
• red onion (optional)
• whole wheat pitas, cut crosswise

Trim the pork of visible fat. Cut the meat crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices. Then cut each slice into 1 inch strips. Let the pork finish thawing if you cut it slightly frozen.

In a small bowl, mix together the cucumber, yogurt and dill. Chill until pork is ready.

Lightly spray a medium-sized nonstick skillet and preheat over medium-high heat. Place the pork in the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until completely cooked.

Line each pita half with yogurt sauce, apple slices and lettuce. Fill with pork strips, broccoli slaw and top with onion if desired (no raw onion lovers in this household).

I got about 5 stuffed pitas out of this recipe.

Recipe inspired by Karen Bellerson's Pork & Apple Pita recipe in Low Fat, No Fat Cooking