Springtime Feast with Kroger

Weh Di Go Aan Friends?!  Long time no hear from me I'm sure.  Life has been busy and I know it's no excuse for posts being two months apart but I'm working on being better.  

Anyway, the most important reason this blog is to rave about my Springtime Feast on Kroger through my work as a BzzAgent.  Through BzzAgent, Kroger gave my family coupons to enjoy a Roast Pork dinner including sides and dessert completely on them.  I'll be honest we're not much of a pork eating family and I didn't have a clue as to where to start but I had tons of options.

First stop, however, was to head out to my neighborhood Kroger to pick up the fixings.  We picked up all Kroger brand products which included:  a Pork Loin, mashed potatoes, croissants, cake mix and frosting.  All of the items were pretty easy to locate in the store.  We were surprised by the small amount of pork loin.  I guess since we do not purchase pork that often, this may be normal but knowing my fellas and the amount they eat, if I had to purchase it on my own I would have picked up two which could get pricey. 

First up was making the pork. I decided to make a Parmesan-crusted Pork Loin.  It really didn't include too many ingredients which is a plus for someone on a limited budget.  Here's what you need:

1 pork loin (seasoned according to taste)

1/2 c mayonnaise

1 package of McCormick® Classic Chicken Parmesan Seasoning Mix

1 package of Kroger shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

My first step was to season the pork loin. I use my staples of salt, black pepper, thyme, paprika, and Goya® Adobo.  I also added Chief® Condiments Green Seasoning marinade. You can season to your own taste using as much or as few spices as you care to. My only suggestion is that you be sure to poke holes with a knife in the pork so the the seasoning can go all the way through.  My biggest pet peeve is to eat something where the seasoning is only on the top.  Let it marinate all the way through the pork so you can achieve the fullest flavor possible.  I allow that to sit for approximately 30 minutes.  During this time be sure to pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F. 

I then transfer the pork loins to my baking dish.  I decided to line the dish with aluminum foil first because I didn't want it to burn on the bottom. 

 Next I combined the mayonnaise and half package of the shredded Parmesan cheese and mix together. I also added salt, pepper and adobo to this mix as well but that is certainly not necessary.

Then I applied the mixture to the seasoned pork on both sides.

Next, I applied the chicken Parmesan seasoning mix to both sides. If you would prefer, you could use breadcrumbs instead. 

Finally, I sprinkled the remaining shredded cheese and grated Parmesan cheese on top of the pork.  

I then placed it in the oven for approximately 55 minutes or until well done. I even used a meat thermometer to be sure. Can't risk having under cooked pork.  

The result was an awesome dish that the guys LOVED!  The pork was moist all the way through.  I felt pretty good about it given my first time.

The mashed potatoes were the pretty easy to fix since I just cooked it in the microwave according to instructions.  I didn't add anything else to this but I'm sure you could add salt and pepper.  I didn't think it needed anything at all.  

I also didn't have difficulty making the croissants by just following the instructions. 

I must admit that I made a mistake.  I decided to make a 7 up cake and used the recipe from The Country Cook which you can find here http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/01/7up-cake.html which incorporated the cake mix.  By doing this, however, I did not get to use the chocolate frosting I received on my dessert.  We did, however, have a couple of spoon fulls on the side and it was delish!! I'm being absolutely honest, you really can't taste the difference between the Kroger brand and Betty Crocker®.

All in all our Springtime Kroger Feast went off without a hitch.  The food was great!  We usually purchase Kroger brand products when we can because the price is friendly to our budget. The only exception would have been the pork which was approximately $12 per package.  Since I normally don't purchase pork I don't know if this is reasonable or not.   All in all I enjoyed everything and it is always great to know that no matter what I purchase the Kroger brand will be great!  There is no need to purchase a specific brand product.

Disclaimer:  All of the Kroger brand products, pork loin, cake mix, mashed potatoes, croissants and frosting were purchased using coupons from Kroger for free items in return for conducting this review.  The McCormick seasoning package was purchased with my own money and was not necessary for this review.  BzzAgent provided me with the Kroger coupons.  This review was in no way influenced by the receipt of free products.  #imabzzagent