Apricot Glazed Pork Kebabs

Although these are best on the BBQ (sorry to those Northerners  whom we love dearly and do not have the BBQ out all year long), the meat chunks could be pan fried (wok style if you have one) and finished in the oven. Here is an easy recipe that can be made in just 15 min. (allow 30 min. for marinating first).

Need: *see note about skewer sticks below


1 jar (8-10 oz.) of organic apricot preserves or jam
2 Tbsp Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) or soy sauce for those who can eat wheat
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs. pork tenderloins, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper


*While preparing above ingredients, soak bamboo skewer sticks (for kebabs) in water. This avoids the stick burning on the BBQ. I find that the sticks fit best in an oblong baking dish.

Simple, whole ingredients yielding a slightly sweet and tasty end result

I prefer to marinate everything in glass, it is best for flavor and for health (as opposed to plastic baggies or containers)

Thread meat onto skewers carefully

Heat preserves on stove in small sauce pan until warmed through. Stir in Tamari (or soy sauce), lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside about 1/3 cup of sauce. Dump remainder of sauce into small glass container or bowl with pork to marinate at room temp. for about 30 min. Thread pork evenly onto skewers. Grill for about 4 minutes on each side while basting with the set aside apricot marinade, until desired cook temp. is achieved for your pork. If you cannot grill, heat large, heavy pan on stove to medium. Add your favorite healthy oil, brown pork (not on skewers) and baste again before finishing in an oven at 375 degrees F. for about 5 min, or until meat is cooked to your liking.

A delicious, light centerpiece to your meal

"Green Finished" Beef (what is it exactly?)

Healthy, happy cows, "outstanding" in their field

"Green Finished" Beef is a trademark name from Beyond Organic, a company who believes that we are what the animals ate (if you eat meat or dairy products). Green Finished means that the cow was born, raised, and finished entirely on legumes, pasture grasses, and/or alfalfa (when it's winter) with absolutely no grain in the diet (corn, etc.) Beyond Organic owns its own several thousand acre ranch in southern Missouri where its special A2 type cattle grazes on organic pastures, just as happy cows should. These cows are never administered antibiotics or hormones. They are treated and cared for with compassion and handled according to biblical standards and kosher ideals.  The ground meat has a clean, delicious flavor and is very tender. Beyond Organic is a brand new company and only offers its Green Finished Beef in the forms of ground beef and all beef hot dogs right now.

Where does your beef come from?

Gorgeous Beef!

Marinating in: Organic Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce), garlic powder, sea salt and pepper

A few days before Christmas I found myself in denial. Denial that it was a few days before Christmas. Typically I plan things ahead of time (although I have noticed that with my "older" age, comes more of a "go with the flow" agenda).  Now that I do not micro manage myself as much, I need to accept the fact that I reap what I sow.

So, there I am standing in the middle of Whole Foods/paycheck, when I realize that we may not have that wonderful, standing prime rib roast that I like to make for Christmas dinners. As I approached the butcher counter and inquired, my hunch was right. I did not order mine ahead, so I get to choose from whatever is left over. They did have some choice rib roasts, beef that is "Step 1" according to Whole Food's meat "5-step Animal Welfare Rating" system.  Step 1 requires that "Animals live their lives with space to move around and stretch their legs." That's only one of the several things I look for in buying meat. Looking ahead to "Step 5", this is the stipulation to qualifying, "Animals get to live their whole lives with all the body parts they were born with." This just sounds horrific to me, although I had a slight chuckle (evil laugh) because this sounds like a no brainer that a cow would need all the body parts it was born with in order to be a productive end product. Obviously I am not a farmer, a rancher, or a butcher. I am a "Volvo-driving Soccer Mom" (warning, that link is rated PG-13) who tries REALLY hard to make sure my family eats well enough (to make up for all the years I "let" them eat McDonald's Happy Meals, ugh) and help them build a foundation of food knowledge. And, now that we are in the Beyond Organic business, I am learning more than I ever began to think about in terms of every thing that comes into play with where my meat truly comes from, how it's handled, and how nutritious it really is.

After the Whole Foods butcher explained to me that the marbling was better in the lower rated cuts of beef (because the animals are fed corn to fatten them up) and tried to sell me on it, I just wasn't going for it.  They were Step 1 rated, and although better than "Walmart meat", I was not about to pay the high price for Step 1.  Almost everything in life has a spectrum. There is the poor cow that lived a life in crowded feed lots, eating corn all day, never knowing what life was supposed to be like for a cow, standing in mucky urine and feces, possibly diseased, and requiring antibiotics and hormone injections to make him grow faster so he is ready for the slaughter house a whole year earlier than his free roaming, grass eating counterparts. Then there is the cow (or pig, turkey or chicken....) who gets to live life as it should, grazing on organic green pastures, so healthy there is no need for antibiotics, no need for hormones. Yes, they all have be slaughtered eventually, but it does make me feel a bit better to buy the cow who was treated humanely and slaughtered by biblical methods. Some say it is too expensive, but I always view it as, "Why would I PAY for the bottom of the barrel meat?" The burger meat at fast food places, the chicken nuggets that are more like tendons and muscle meat from chickens farmed in unsanitary conditions, the pig who was killed on the "death floor" by literally being squished to death......why would I eat this meat for FREE let alone pay for it?