Savory Pork Roast
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 (4 pound) boneless pork loin roast
Directions
1.Combine the seasonings; rub over roast. Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
*** I only used a 1.3 lbs pork roast but I kept the amount of seasonings the same. I like a punch. :) I also mixed in a little bit of olive oil to make the rub into more of a paste.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts 
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2.Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
3.Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Adjust seasoning with kosher salt, if necessary. Serve immediately.
***I quartered them first (wanted to make them a little more "bite size"), then par-boiled them for about 2 minutes. Let it sit in a colander for a couple minutes to drain while you're doing other things. Then toss with oil and seasoning, spread out on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven! Overall- pretty good. It was a little salty. But not too bad. I don't normally do Brussels Sprouts since it has the whole "taste like feet" reputation. But I'm really trying to branch out and try different things. It was pretty good. Didn't taste like feet, so that's a plus! :) We ate them all.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
I don't have a "recipe" for this but here's what I did. I first cut off the top of a whole head of garlic, drizzled olive oil over the top with a touch of salt, wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the oven with the pork -- I let it roast for about 45 minutes or so--not really sure how long. Basically I just let it cook until I was ready to mash the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender, drain, return potatoes to pot, cover and let sit until you're almost ready to serve dinner. When we're about 5-10 minutes from serving everything, I take out the garlic, unwrap it and using a fork or knife, pop out each clove of garlic (ok....and taste some too...yum). Then turn on the flame to low, pour in some milk and add butter (whatever looks good - remember you can always add more but you can't take out, so start small). Using a large whisk (or potato masher, or fork or ..whatever) mash and mix everything together. Add in garlic cloves and shredded Parm cheese along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir and taste until it's good. :)
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So I catagorized this under "Cheap Meals" because once I added it all up - it was PRETTY CHEAP! I spent less than $5 on this entire meal (which had leftovers!). Here's the breakdown:
Pork Roast -- 1.3 lbs (on sale) 1.99/lb --$2.59 --**I already had all spices and olive oil on hand**
Brussel Sprouts -- 1 lbs -- 1.99/lb --$1 -- **already on hand: seasonings and olive oil**
Mashed Potatoes -- One 5lb bag (15 potatoes) was $0.69. I used 4 potatoes which came out to be about $0.20 ; Parm Cheese - the container was $3.11. I used just a couple of handfuls, so I'm guestimating about $0.50 for the Parm Cheese. **I already had milk and butter on hand.**
I also made a packet of gravy b/c I had that in the pantry. However if you bought one it would probably be about $1. Let's just throw that in there for the fun of it.
TOTAL = $5.29
