It was a Monday

Have you ever had one of those days?  I was so excited because on Saturday night last week I sat down and got all my meal planning done for this week.  Sunday I finalized my grocery list and Monday, Little One and I sat out for the grocery store.  I've found that Monday's are generally a good day to go around here - the shelves are restocked and there's typically not a ton of people.  Except for yesterday... when it all started... the grocery store was packed because I went around lunch.  Little One had gotten up from his 2 hour nap an hour early.  So with a fussy baby, I decided to head out since a car ride usually soothes him.  I found a good, up close parking space, took him inside to get a cart and begin the shopping.  I should have known when I almost got run over by a woman snapping up a cart before me.  HELLO woman, I have a child?!  I'm telling you, it was crazy in there.  They're redoing the store - I think this also compounded people's at-ti-tudes.

On my list, plain as day, it said "Pork tenderloin"  I was slated to cook these once and use them for 4 different meals this week.  I made it to the meat section, but since I'd never bought these at this particular grocery store I didn't know specifically where to look.  I found a package that read "Turkey tenderloins".  Thinking to myself "Wow, those are smaller than I remember them being."  I even turned it over to see that they were a little over a pound in weight.  IT NEVER DAWNED on me that I was looking at TURKEY instead of PORK.  Hello.  Wow.

I debated on whether to post about this misadventure, but I wanted to share my adventures in cooking with you.  Good or bad.

I was so frazzled when I realized that I bought turkey tenderloins that I didn't even take any before pictures, just after.  Feverishly, I googled everything I could find about cooking turkey tenderloins.  I knew nothing about them.  Everything I read said since they are so lean they tend to dry out easily if not cooked correctly.  This made me terrified about cooking them.  Bummer.  I decided on these two recipes: Recipe 1 and Recipe 2.  I decided since I was trying out this new cut of meat, I would try two different versions.  

Recipe 1:

I coated the bottom of the small baking dish with a tablespoon of olive oil and laid 2 of tenderloins down and rubbed the oil on them.  Then I cut up 3 small russet potatoes I needed to use up and placed them alongside the tenderloins.  I turned them over in the oil as well.  I poured 2/3 cup of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan. With the addition of salt, pepper, and a dash of garlic powder over the potatoes I put this dish in a 400 degree oven and set the timer for 40 minutes.

Recipe 2:

Ok, so I admit, I used this recipe loosely.  I diced 1/3 of a red onion, mixed together 2/3 cup of orange juice, 2/3 cup of frozen cranberries, a splash of apple cider vinegar {oops! the recipe called for just apple cider}, and poured it over the last tenderloin I had left.  I put it in the same 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

The verdict:

Recipe 1 was okay.  That's the one we ate last night.  I feel like it took FOREVER to make and didn't make a lot of food.  You know, when you have something else in mind, so it just wasn't going to be good?  I ended up adding another 10 minutes to the cooking time for each tenderloin because they weren't up to the recommended 165 degrees.  And then to let it rest for 10 minutes... that was a whole hour and I have very little leftover.  The potatoes were cooked unevenly.  I guess I was just super excited to fix two big pork tenderloins - cook once and use the leftovers for several meals.  Oh well!  Recipe 2 was a different story.  The meat has a good taste.  We're going to eat it tonight.  But the sauce was too tangy and had a funky taste because I used apple cider vinegar when I should have just used apple cider.  Whew.  I even tried to blend the sauce together and make a gravy.  Whew.  I had to just throw that away.  Haha!  Funky funky.  

Will I be making these again?  I would consider trying Recipe 1 again for Thanksgiving.  It would be easier to make these than a whole turkey.  I might also be willing to try these again if I used a crockpot instead.