Cranberry-Glazed Pork Roast

Just had this easy, delicious pork dish for supper the other night. Since my girls are not big fans of sauces/stuff-on-their-food, I just served the cranberry sauce on the side. I've found this to be a nice company meal, because you can prep it all, throw it in the oven, and then pretty much just let it be while it cooks. If things run long, no biggie, just turn down the oven & let it keep warm.

(It's another recipe from my mom's recipe box, btw.)

Cranberry-Glazed Pork Roast

2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. grated orange peel (if you've got oranges on hand, no biggie if you don't)
2 Tbl. orange juice
2 Tbl. dry sherry or more orange juice (or white wine)
1 can (16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce
3 lb. boneless pork loin roast
(Opt. - potatoes)

1. In small saucepan, stir together all ingredients except pork. Cook glaze, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thickened. Set aside.
2. Place roast in a shallow baking dish. (I often surround it with cut-up red potatoes & let them roast at the same time. Yum.) Roast at 325F for 30 minutes. Spoon 1/2 c. glaze over roast & continue roasting for 30-45 minutes more or until internal temperature is 155-160F. (Roughly - you can do it at 350F if you need to, just make sure it's done through, but don't cook it 'til it's dry!)
3. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with remaining sauce.

Links to 2 Favorite Kid Bento Blogs

Poor, neglected little Recipeeps! I had all sorts of good intentions re: posting every week. Well, it may be late, but here are the links to a couple of packing-kids-bento-lunches blogs I've especially enjoyed.

Over at Wendolonia, Wendy shares pics of lunches she creates for her 1st grader & those she sends with her toddler to daycare. Lots of great hints & tips, a few videos on how to use/stack some bento boxes, some of her life... I like the semi-weekly photo posts of that week's bentos for attainable inspiration. (Plus, I'm pretty sure I need to buy some food-safe markers now!)

The other site I've been following is Another Lunch. Last December, Melissa did a big "Twelve Days of Christmas" series, which is super-cute. In fact, a LOT of her bento lunches are really, really adorable, often with fancy picks or frosting eyes or other fun bento toys. She sometimes does thematic "Muffin Tin Mondays," where she uses a muffin tin instead of a plate for a fun at-home lunch for her kid(s). (I think she must get up earlier in the mornings than I do, though - some of her bentos are fairly fancy!)


Now, don't think that because these are kid-bento blogs that you couldn't use any of these ideas for yourself! I just found them looking for ideas for Pumpkin's lunches since she's now all-day as a first grader. I think all your coworkers would be jealous if you pulled out a frog-shaped sandwich with googly frosting eyes! :)