"goya" news and stories

Pork is a must-have food for the holidays. Heck, it's a must-have meat for the home cook. Below are two pork recipes for those with little time to cook, especially families, during the holiday rush.

This Tex-Mex-inspired dish is the easier of the two and adapted from a recipe by the blogger's mother-in-law, Robin Ringland. Since she doesn't have all day to spend in the kitchen, she gets the dish going first thing in the morning. By the time she returns home beat from the corporate grind, it's practically ready to eat.

Photo: Jennifer Iserloh.

It was one of those things that my granny always insisted on: finding ways to use leftovers and never wasting food. Even though I've grown up eating leftovers, I've never liked eating a big plate of odds and ends, a spoonful here and bite there.

I wondered if that's why Americans waste about 27 percent of their available food. But what if you could turn those tidbits into something luscious? I guarantee that you won't be tempted to toss that handful of broccoli florets, those spoonfuls of blue cheese crumbles or your remaining half a jar of olives.

First I took a look in my freezer before proceeding on to my self-imposed "Top Chef" challenge. Frozen dough disks didn't look that interesting resting in my freezer door, until I remembered that they're Goya empanada wrappers that you can fill with just about anything. Bingo!