All posts by cajunmamacookin

Welcome! My name is Aimee aka Cajun Mama. I am from Alexandria and my family's roots are deep in Avoyelles Parish. I love where I am but I love where I'm from and I love to tell you all about it . I am a wife, mom, sister and teacher! I love to cook meals my family loves and I enjoy sharing family recipes with you all. I live in Shreveport now and I am blooming where I'm planted. I love sharing stories about my family and the foods we love with our Shreveport friends and my coworkers. Nothing makes me happier! I also love spending time with my family, taking trips with my 3 sisters, and snuggling with our two dogs, Roy and Millie! I'm so glad you're here and I hope you enjoy my stories and recipes!
breads, Sides

Alayna’s best ever cornbread

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I could give you a very brief synopsis here about this chick named Alayna who gave me a cornbread recipe that is to die for. That would be the abbreviated version. Y’all know that abbreviated it not really my thang so here goes. Alayna is one of the wittiest, most clever, funniest and most loyal friends a girl could have. Now, back when our girls started preschool together when they were 4, I was not so sure. Saw her in the target parking lot one day (where I see and meet most people) and she looked at me like I had 2 heads when all of my circus people start climbing out the suburban. She made some (witty I am sure) remark about “all my kiddos” and it was after school and I am sure my humor was low at the time. But Alayna is a tell it like it is type of gal. She will not steer you wrong and will tell you just how it is. Kind of…wait a second…hold up…like me. We are so much alike, which is kind of good and kind of not good, depending on the day. Now she says “cue the circus music!” when we arrive anywhere. She helps me to take it all in stride. I sure do love her. Tried and true, wonderful in every way…a lot like this cornbread recipe. She says she and her hubby, John, found this recipe somewhere and then perfected it over time. Oh I am gonna tell you…as Alayna is fond of saying…that’s what she said. They have tweaked it to the ultimate cornbread perfection. My country boy, I mean man, LOVES this cornbread with everything. Chicken and dumplings, Lima beans, red beans, chili, any kind of soup. And with fall around the corner and all those yummy gumbos and stews to be made you will be set with Alayna’s cornbread recipe in your arsenal. That’s right you are cornbread slinging, soup making Cajun mama (or daddy!). So when you are ready to try THE best cornbread recipe, the last you will need as far as I am concerned…make this one. Love you Layner! Thanks for the good cornbread recipe and even better friendship!!~AMB

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I love her a bunch

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our kiddos dig one another too

Alayna’s Best Ever Cornbread

Makes 1 large skillet of cornbread

Stuff you need~

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 vegetable oil (I use canola)

What to do with the stuff~

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9 glass dish or a cast iron skillet with unsalted butter (if you have it, or spray it with cooking spray or use salted butter…Alayna would not want me fussing up recipe).

In a large mixing bowl, pour in flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and baking powder and kind of combine with a fork. Just mix it all together. Next, whisk in the egg, stir. Whisk in milk and oil. Whisk whisk until just combined. Pour into greased skillet or dish. Bake for about 30 minutes or until done in the center and golden brown on top. Yummy!!! Oh and don’t forget the butter. Oh my!!!
*let me add that some of this leftover cornbread with some ice cold milk poured over it in a bowl makes some excellent cush cush. Just saying!

breakfast, Mexican

Cajun mama’s breakfast burritos

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I have always loved breakfast burritos. Good ones anyhow. There is just something so pleasing about all that goodness rolled up into one yummy warm tortilla. It just so pleasing and yet simple. Straightforward. Not fussy. With all these kiddos running around, I enjoy not fussy things. It makes my life easier. And as I have told y’all before, Big Daddy loves him some breakfast. He demands it, as much as he demands anything, which is not much. His mama, Dianne, always made him breakfast every morning. She had a full time job, but according to him and his brother, she made pancakes or something yummy nearly every morning. Then after she passed, and my father in law remarried, Deb (mother in law extraordinaire) continued this tradition. She used to make breakfast (well still does) for the duck hunters when her daddy ran the duck camp that is now, Bayou LaGrue. She did this from a young age so breakfast is in her blood. So, for the Bowlin gang, breakfast is a must. And I love breakfast burritos and it is a natural progression that I would find a way to make them myself. It started way back in college and I have gotten much better since then. My two youngest, Toot and Pappy (aka Aubrey and Lucas), love them a good breakfast burrito so that makes them pretty popular. They usually take simple ingredients you probably have around the house to make them. I will give you some pointers on how to make them more involved and authentic tasting (according to moi) but you can really make them as basic as you please. So let’s get cooking some breakfast burritos mis amigos! Mis compadres! Vamanos!

Cajun Mama’s breakfast burritos

makes about 6 burritos maybe more depending on how much filling you use

Stuff you need~

A pack of burrito size tortillas (I use the kind that say soft and fluffy on the package. Pretty sure they are Mission Bell brand. And feel free to use the smaller size. I do if that is what I have)

8 eggs, scrambled

1 pound breakfast sausage

4 ounce cream cheese

1/2 cup onion diced

1 small bell pepper, diced (if you have it or are so inclined…it’s not mandatory)

1/2 package frozen Ore Ida potatoes o’brien (or you can use left over baked potatoes as well. Scoop out the filling and add to burritos)

Shredded cheese (I use what I have on hand but Monterey Jack and cheddar or cheddar jack work wonderfully…get crazy and see what you like)

taco seasoning or if you are feeling frisky get some Goya sofrito (found at Mexican Supermercados or I have heard some Walmarts carry it)

What to do with the stuff

Ok…what I do is brown the sausage in a large skillet. After that is almost down, I add in the onions and bell pepper (if I use it) and sauté that for a few minutes until they are almost tender. I also add the potatoes o’brien at this point to give them a little head start in getting defrosted and warmed up. Add a little olive oil or cooking oil to your pan if you feel it needs it. Of course you can add In the chunked up baked potatoes as well here. Season them up with some salt, pepper and a little Tony’s if you want to love on the wild side. In a separate skillet, I scramble my eggs with some milk. Ok next add the eggs to the sausage mixture. Now, cut the cream cheese up into chunks and over medium-low heat let that mix it up with the rest of the gang in the pot. It’s all good. No really. It’s so good. Yummm! But you are not done my friends. Oh no.
Now, at this point sprinkle in a little taco seasoning (not a whole packet…more like a tablespoon) or if you went full throttle and bought the Goya seasoning, add in a half packet or so. More if you like it. None of this is necessary, you can absolutely serve the burritos without it, but we really liked the flavor it added. So do what works for you. Ok now, stir in a cup of shredded cheese. Stir in around. The cream cheese should be fairly creamy now and spreading it’s creamy delight to all the rest of the concoction.
Warm your tortillas up, and add a nice size scoop of the burrito mixture to the middle. Roll up burrito style.
No words right? Yes they are muy bueno.

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all that goodness getting ready to get rolled up

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so delicious

desserts, slow cooker

Slow cooker hot fudge sundae cake

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This dessert is a real winner. It is not only a chocolate lover’s dream…it is made in the slow cooker. Oh yes. You heard me. Slow. Cooker. Cake. When my editor for Red River Mom’s asked me for some slow cooker recipes for our September issue, I of course had several on hand, tried and true and no fail. But then I thought of this little nugget I had found on Pinterest (where all things magical come from…happy sigh) I was skeptical (really? Cake in a crock pot…yeah maybe.) and I decided I would give it a go. The blogger at Country Cook blog (www.thecountrycook.net) made it sound heavenly and she had found it in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook. That alone said so much! I am a Gooseberry Patch lover from way back and I always loved their cookbooks (and sidenote…I actually have a recipe in one of them…little Cajun Mama trivia for the day). The recipe uses pretty basic ingredients and is super simple. PI did not double the recipe the first time around and I really should have. We had a friend and her son over and it was gone in no time flat. Bluebell Homemade Vanilla on the side of this ooey gooey delight pushes it right over the edge into pure dessert nirvana.
I urge you, out of the goodness of my heart, to do what is right and try this dessert very soon. That’s my challenge to y’all. No ice water here, just hot fudge sundae cake ba-beee!!! So glad the als challenge is going well, but over here we prefer hot fudge over our cake to ice water over our heads. It’s the Cajun mama way!~AMB

Slow cooker Hot fudge sundae cake

*this recipe is meant for a smaller slow cooker (3 quart) so double it if using a larger crockpot. Doubling is recommended if you have more than 4 people who will be eating it and you want to avoid an angry mob.

Stuff you need~

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa powder, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
3/4 brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cup hot water

What to do with the stuff~
**IMPORTANT–be sure to spray your slow cooker with some Baker’s Joy or cooking spray before adding the first ingredient. Trust Cajun Mama on this!

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and 2 tablespoons of the cocoa powder. Or instead of sifting, just use a fork to mix it together really well and mashing the ingredients up against the edge of the bowl until it’s all really fine. Stir in milk, oil and vanilla extract. Stir until combined. Fold in the chopped nuts at this point if you are using them.
Spread this mixture evenly all over the bottom of the sprayed slow cooker. Ok now, for the second layer, in a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cocoa powder. Next, stir in the hot water and mix until smooth. Finally, pour this mixture evenly over the first layer. Now DO NOT STIR!!! Do not stir the two layers. This will mess with the perfection that is this dessert. No stir–got it?!! This how the hot fudge sauce and cake layers form. Important scientific stuff.
Put the lid on and cook for about 2-2 1/2 hours on low. Use toothpick test if you are uncertain on the doneness.
Let this sit in the crockpot for 30-40 minutes after the cake is done, so the layers can settle.

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mash all those dry ingredients together

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cook and then let it sit. So tempting and hard to do…it’s worth it

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see what I mean? Worth it. A la mode honey. All the way!

pasta dishes, seafood

Spicy Cajun shrimp pasta

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Well I told y’all when we were on vacay that we picked up a few pounds of fresh Gulf shrimp right? Shrimp is such a luxury for us to have on hand. Somehow it is less painful to shell out the money on vacation for several pounds of big beautiful fresh Gulf shrimp than it is to go to the store and fork it over. Not sure if one is actually more cost effective than the other, but it seems so much easier the other way. Now, that being said, the recipe I am sharing today is so flipping amazing that I will go to the Brookshires or Kroger and buy some shrimp so I can make it. It certainly won’t hold me back!! This was the freshest, tastiest seafood pasta recipe I have tried in a long time. It was yummilicous! (That’s a hybrid word I am trying…cross between yummy and delicious…try it out) I found the original recipe at http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/15/spicy-parmesan-shrimp-pasta/, but I made a few changes to it to make it Cajun style. In all seriousness, this was one fantastic pasta dish and I will make it over and over. I think you will LOVE it.~AMB
Find the rest of this recipe on my new site…Spicy Cajun Shrimp Pasta | Cajun Mama Cooks
http://cajunmamacooks.com/2014/08/04/spicy-cajun-shrimp-pasta/

Sides

Savory mushroom brown rice

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As long as I can remember, this recipe has been around. It truly connects my family to Big Daddy’s family in a unique way. Wait what? I know, sounds crazy right? And yet so true. In a past blog post, I know I told y’all that BD and I have known one another since childhood. Actually babyhood. I was 1 and he was 9 months when they moved in across the street from us in a little neighborhood called Airview Terrace in Alex. (that is Alexandria for those who are not hip to the lingo ha ha). Our moms, Bernie and Dianne, became fast friends. As a mom myself now, I imagine they were so happy to hit it off and their kiddos played well together. Well as well as BD could play with anyone as he was sort of a precious little hellion back then. I can say that because I am raising his prodigy these days. 🙂 So they became fast friends. Clay’s mom was a few years older than my mom. And she had a degree in home economics from what is known as ULM. So sister could cook and enjoyed it. Of course, she was not from Marksville like my mom but from North Louisiana, so they had different styles. I would have to say in general they had different styles period. Dianne was tall and statuesque and had sass to spare. Bernie is a petite and a little more soft spoken. But they were the yin to the other’s yang and they remained friends until the day Dianne passed away. And now of course, there are 4 kiddos running around as a result (to some extent) of this friendship those two ladies formed back in 1976. Thank Heavens for that.
Read the rest of the post on my new site…
Savory Mushroom Brown Rice | Cajun Mama Cooks
http://cajunmamacooks.com/2014/08/04/savory-mushroom-brown-rice/

pasta dishes, quick and easy, Weeknight Meals, Weeknight wonder

Million dollar spaghetti and at the center of it all

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So when I was growing up, spaghetti was an event. Spaghetti and meatballs that is. My mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. Took all day to cook and it was worth the wait. It almost always was a meal on a weekend and we would have leftovers during the week. That meal to this day is very special and still very much an event. I do enjoy cooking up a pot of spaghetti and meatballs from time to time, but my family loves and I mean LOVES spaghetti. And as much as I love them, I do not have time to make a pot of spaghetti and meatballs as often as they would like it. So I often turn to spaghetti and meat sauce. My oldest prefers meatballs (mix of pork and ground chuck mom, STAT) but he will endure meat sauce if he has to.
Of course, as much as I adore tradition, I am always looking for good variations on our favorite meals. I like to shake it up sometimes, keep it fresh, and make some noise (ha! Like I have to do that…these cookoo loos over here make enough noise for 3 households) but you get what I am saying. I like to stay out of the dinner time rut. So when I came across this recipe on Pinterest for million dollar spaghetti a while back http://ashleykaitlin.blogspot.com/2011/01/million-dollar-spaghetti.html?m=1, I knew I had to try it.
Well this week has been, um, interesting to say the least. It started off that way and it continues to be so. For different reasons. Swimming pool calamities, sick kids, sick hubby and it’s only Thursday, so I figured let’s just blow it out and doing something crazy! Let’s make million dollar spaghetti!!! Or it went something like that. I have said it before and I will say it again, when things are stressful on the home front and I have an inkling of that feeling that I just want to bury my head under the covers and cry, I shift into crazy homemaker mode. I know that few things are in my control, but what I cook and how I feel in my home, is all me. So I cook something traditional and comforting or I try something new. I try a cleaning tip and do some laundry. I guess my home is my center and I find comfort there. I guess it’s the Narcille and Beulah Mae coming out in me and every other Cajun mama I come from.

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the two sick dudes laid up, everyone else around them (getting infected I can only imagine)…but that’s my chaos and my heart and soul

This million dollar spaghetti was a wonderful alternative to our regular spaghetti and meat sauce. Big Daddy said he could do with less creamy stuff, but the kids LOVED it. Even my BHB (picky man) ate it with gusto. It’s kind of like my lazy girl’s lasagna https://cajunmamacookinblog.com/2013/12/13/lazy-girls-lasagna/, only with angel hair pasta. It really was very easy and delicious. I recommend you give it a go the next time you are feeling stressed to the limit and not quite certain you do this whole being a grown thing another day. It may not change the world, it may not make things 100% better, but it will surely change your outlook. You can look around the table at your family enjoying a meal that you made and think, ” I cannot do it all, but I can make a meal my family enjoys” and “I can bring my family together.” And let’s not forget, that is kind of the point of this whole cooking for these people we live with anyway. Enjoy!!~AMB

Million dollar spaghetti
Stuff you need~

8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
2 lb. container Cottage cheese (that’s the taller one)
1/4 cup sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 small jar spaghetti sauce (I am a Ragu girl)
1 pound ground chuck
1 stick of butter (I used about 3/4 of the stick)
2 cups shredded mild cheddar

What to do with the stuff~

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook your pasta according to package directions. Brown ground beef until no longer pink. Drain well.
Stir spaghetti sauce into the drained ground beef. Heat until warmed throughout.
In a mixing bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese. (I used my standing mixer to do this, as she suggested)
Put half of the butter (sliced into pats) at the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish. Layer half of the noodles on top of this. Now layer all of the creamy mixture on top of this.
Next, layer the rest of the noodles on top of the creamy mixture. Lay the rest of the butter pats on top of the noodles.
Now spread the spaghetti sauce and meat all over the top.
Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.
Finally, sprinkle the cheddar all over the top of the whole shebang.
Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is all bubbly and irresistible looking.

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noodles on top of creamy mixture

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more butter pats on top of the noodles

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my handsome boy helping me cook and telling me all about his latest google research. He amazes me.

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layers and layers of yummm

desserts

Berry picking and a dang good cobbler

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So this past weekend a local blueberry farm, Hillcrest Blueberry Farm, ran a special on blackberries. A gallon for $10!! We have always wanted to take the kids to pick berries and every summer it is on our list but somehow we get busy and it just never happens. Until this past Saturday. What a wonderful time we all had picking berries! It didn’t take a full hour for us to fill two gallon buckets with those huge, juicy berries. They were the most perfect looking things I had personally ever seen. The kids were in awe over the size as they plucked one big one after another from the vine. Frankly, BD and I were pretty dang impressed too!
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Here is a link to their website if you want to check it out and maybe take a trip to a great local farm so your family can get the whole experience too. http://www.hillcrestblueberryfarm.com/. Plus they have some super yummy berries, syrups, jams, and a bunch of other too delicious to mention goodies. They also have some out of this world Tahitian Vanilla soft serve that is out of this world. I say this and I am not an ice cream lover and certainly not vanilla and this stuff was ah-mazing. Just saying!! The kids were stoked…berry picking AND soft serve. Yes please! My little one saw that they had blackberries and blueberries to add to the top of your soft serve and he was all “don’t mind if I do!” My baby is smart like that. It was a great experience for them, for us, for our whole family and I highly recommend it.

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soft serve on a hot day=perfection
So now we arrive to the portion of this blog post where I give up the goods. I tell y’all, my friends, peeps, partners in cooking crimes, what I made with some of these ginormous berries. Well, I have some other creative ideas that I plan to execute, but on that first day, I made cobbler. Blackberry cobbler. Big Daddy adores blackberry cobbler and has always been fine with I have served him those frozen Mrs. Smith’s cobblers from our grocery store’s freezer section. Yes I said that. Yes I did that. I have told y’all about me being the anti baker. Until recently, my baking projects read mostly like a Pinterest “nailed it!” Roster. I am getting better with each attempt though I realize it is a process. So yes I have fed my man a frozen cobbler that I oh so generously cooked in the oven first. I am a loving caring wife who does that stuff. But buoyed by our authentic berry picking extravaganza and my recent successes in the baking department, I said I am gonna give it a go! I am gonna bake a cobbler from scratch! No wait, I think I said “I am going to attempt to bake a cobbler from scratch!!!” And my oven groaned. Ha ha!!! So I googled blackberry cobbler recipes and what do you think pops up?! Yes that’s right! Pioneer Woman’s blackberry cobbler recipe! It was a sign from the cooking gods and I ran with it! Here is a link http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/08/the_great_cobbl/. This is a basic cobbler recipe and it is easy as…well…pie.~AMB

Blackberry Cobbler

Stuff you need~

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup milk
2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen

What to do with the stuff~

First off, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Next melt the butter in a microwaveable safe dish
In a large mixing bowl, add self rising flour and 1 cup of sugar. Whisk in the milk. Then stir in the melted butter. Oh my. It’s getting good now.
Ok…now you will butter your baking dish. I used a round shallow one and it worked well but use what you have. Don’t be afraid to butter it well. Really work that butter. Yeah that’s right. Ok now, pour in the milk flour mixture. Now, add in the blackberries. Now, you want to sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar all over the top. Pop that bad boy (really that sweet thing) into the oven. Bake for about 55-60 minutes until lightly browned on top and set in the middle.
Serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream (Tahitian soft serve anyone? Anyone?) or some Cool Whip. It is good. It is divine. It is blackberry cobbler that you made yourself from scratch with berries that you picked! You are amazing!!! Take a bow. Just not in front of the oven or you might hit your head. 😉

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fresh berries in the cobbler! Go you and me and all of us. Blackberry cobbler for all!

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all for one, one for all…berries!

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a few more pics from our very excellent berry picking adventure

Party foods, feed a crowd, crowd favorites, slow cooker, Uncategorized, Weeknight wonder

Weeknight wonder #2!! Crockpot brown sugar pork loin with balsamic glaze

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So for today’s weeknight wonder I have a recipe sure to be the talk of the town, the bell the ball, the cat’s meow. Maybe I am exaggerating a tad but it will definitely be a hit in your house! This is a knockout pork loin with a sweet tangy glaze. My kids all devoured it. They could not get enough. It was the easiest thing to make too. I made this before this whole Cajun Mama thing, when it was everywhere on Pinterest, but not since and I have always wanted to blog this recipe to share with y’all. This is the link I found the recipe on this time http://brooklynactivemama.com/03/2014/slow-cooker-pork-tenderloin-recipe.html. I wondered if it was as good as I remembered it being. The answer to that question is yes. It may have been better than what I remember. Not sure if it is the simplicity that makes it so terrific or if it is the sweet, thick tangy glaze. Maybe it is those two things combined. One thing is for certain, this a pork loin for all seasons. It’s cooked in the crockpot so it is perfect for summer time. It’s delicious and hearty, so it is great for winter time, out of the house all day, come home to a great smelling dinner. Anyway you go, it is all good.

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though he is never hard to please, my baby really ate this roast up!

Crockpot brown sugar pork loin with Balsamic glaze

Stuff you need~

2 pound pork tenderloin
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 clove garlic, smashed (I used minced garlic because that is what I had. Worked fine)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

What to do with the stuff~

In a small bowl, mix together the sage, garlic, salt and pepper. Put your tenderloin in the crockpot. Rub that seasoning all over that roast. Now add the first 1/2 cup of water to the crockpot. Put the lid on. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Mine took 6 hours and it was fork tender.

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easy enough? Yes it is! Ok good!

Ok at some point before the hour 6, whisk together in a small saucepan the water, cornstarch, soy sauce, Balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to whisk the mixture until it is thickened. About 4 minutes or so. Remove from heat. For the last hour, brush the sticky sweet glaze over the roast 3 or times as it continues to cook. When done, transfer the roast to a large serving plate. Drizzle the remainder of the glaze all over that tender roast. It will make you drool. It is absolutely as yummy as it looks.

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there you go. You are welcome. Enjoy!!