Cinnamon Pork Tenderloin

Sunday prep was four hours and twenty-eight freezer meals, which is not my record but is honest work. The week was a summer week, the kind where the light through the kitchen window arrives at a particular angle and the freezer hums in a different register depending on the temperature in the garage. I made notes in my prep notebook on Sunday afternoon, the way I always do: meal name, ingredient list, cost per serving, prep time, freezer instructions. Twenty-eight bags. Two hours and eleven minutes. A little slow this week, by my standards, but Brandon was helping and the conversation was good, and I have learned, slowly and against my own grain, that the conversation is sometimes the point and the time is sometimes a courtesy I extend to my husband for being willing to chop onions on a Sunday afternoon.

The children are doing what they do, which is the central report of every week of my adult life. Ethan, 20, is in the Philippines on his mission. He sends emails on Mondays. I read them on Mondays. The day is now structured around his email. Olivia is 18, at BYU studying elementary education — the path she chose at age seven and has not deviated from once. Mason, 15, is in Brazil on his mission. His weekly emails are short and full of jokes. He does not write much about the work. He writes about the food. Lily is 13, in high school, asking the kind of questions in Sunday School that make the teachers uncomfortable, which I find difficult and also, secretly, admirable. Noah is 11, the comedian, the performer — the kid who does an impression of my disappointed face in front of company, and gets away with it. That is the family report. I do not have a system for these reports. I just listen and remember and call back when I said I would call back, which is most of the time and not all of the time, and the difference between most and all is the territory of motherhood.

The recipe of the week was Hawaiian chicken, which I have made some specific number of times in my life and have refined to a system that I now hand to other people in printed form. The version I made this week fed eight, cost under fifteen dollars, and required twenty-six minutes of active prep, which is within my requirements and not a coincidence. The freezer in the garage is the freezer of record. The freezer in the pantry is the freezer of convenience. The distinction matters. I have stopped explaining the freezer-meal philosophy to people who already follow my work, and I have stopped apologizing for it to people who do not. The philosophy is simple: tomorrow is coming whether you are ready or not. You can either be ready or not. I pick ready.

I prayed on Thursday morning for the first time in two weeks, which the therapist would call worth noting. I noted it. I am still a Latter-day Saint. I am also a woman who has sat in front of a casket the size of a bread box. I do not see those two things as contradictions, but I do not pretend they sit easily together either. The bench in the chapel where I sit on Sunday is the same bench. The woman is not. The faith makes room for the woman. That is what I have learned to ask of it.

Dinner is in the freezer. Tomorrow is coming. I am ready.

The Hawaiian chicken got its slot in the freezer, but it was the cinnamon pork tenderloin I keep coming back to when I want something that rewards the discipline of Sunday prep — a marinade you assemble in minutes, a result that tastes like it required more than it did. Brandon chopped the onions; I handled the rest. This is the kind of recipe that earns its place in the printed binder I hand to other people, because it asks very little and gives back steadily, which is a quality I have come to appreciate in recipes and in most other things.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 35 min (plus 2–8 hrs marinating) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb each), trimmed
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

Mix the marinade. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, garlic powder, ginger, black pepper, cayenne (if using), and minced garlic until the sugar dissolves.
Marinate the pork. Place the tenderloins in a zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour the marinade over the pork, turning to coat evenly. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours. For a freezer meal, seal the raw pork in the marinade and freeze at this step — it marinates as it thaws overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat. When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 425°F. Remove the pork from the marinade and pat lightly with paper towels. Discard the used marinade.
Sear. Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat with a small drizzle of oil. Sear the tenderloins for 2–3 minutes per side until browned on the outside.
Roast. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast for 15–18 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 145°F.
Rest and slice. Remove from the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch medallions and serve.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cinnamon Pork Tenderloin — The Freezer Meal That Earns Its Place