Braised Pork Chops

Tonight I tried a new recipe. Braised Pork Chops. I love pork and I try to find different ways to cook it, because we do eat it quite often.

Tonight I found this recipe in a Rachael Ray magazine. It was on a advertisement page for cooking with pork, so I'm not sure if it is a Rachel recipe or not.

The recipe turned out fantastic. I pared it with home-made potato salad and some steamed asparagus (for me). I very easily could have eaten more, but knew I would be uncomfortably full if I did, so I limited myself to one helping. Needless to say this will become one of our regular rotation recipes from now on.

Here's the recipe:

4 Boneless pork loin chops

1 Tbs. tomato paste

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 sweet red pepper sliced

1/2 yellow pepper sliced

1 small red (or yellow...I used red) onion sliced

1/2 cup dry red wine or chicken stock (In my opinion, the wine is what made this dish!)

2 Tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper

Start by heating the oil in a medium skillet at medium heat. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Place in skillet and cook on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Next add the tomato paste to the skillet and let it cook while you are stirring it around for a minute or so. Add peppers and onions and cook for about 2-3 minutes more. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

Add wine and scrape off any of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring liquid mixture to a boil and add back in the chops. Nestle the pork into the liquid, reduce heat to simmer, cover and let cook for about 4 minutes. Turn chops and cook for one more minute.

This was a wonderfully savory summer meal and I will definitely make this again!

Enjoy!

The BEST S'more!

"Do you want a s'more?"

"Some more of what?"

"No...do you want a s'more?"

"How can I have some more if I haven't had anything yet?"

"You're KILLING me Smalls! A S'MORE. Watch. First you toast the mallow. Then you take the gram, with some chocolate. You put the mallow on the gram. Then you SCARF!"

One of the best lines in one of the greatest kids movie of all time, The Sandlot.

Last night was a perfect night for a little fire in the fire pit my husband and I have. There was little wind, it was surprisingly not too hot out, and the wood was dry enough to catch on fire.

Of course where ever there is a fire. There are s'mores.

I will confess...I've never been CRAZY for s'mores. While the rest of my family can fire down two or three of the sweet sandwiches, I am usually just fine with one.

Then I met my husband.

And his "alteration" to the typical s'more made all the difference to me!

Instead of using a plain ole Hershey bar...use a PEANUT BUTTER CUP!

Magic.

Try it. You won't be sorry.

That is unless you are allergic to peanut butter...in that case don't try it. :)

My Make-Shift Oven

Summer months bring out the best in grilling. Grilled chicken, steaks, burgers, hot dogs, brawts, veggies, and many other wonderful combinations. It's part of what I love most about summer. Plus it's practical. Using the oven during the warm months makes the AC work harder and the electric bill go higher. We are on a strict "no-oven policy" through most of the months of May, June, July, August, and even sometimes September.

Practical it may be, there are times it gets old.

There are times I would kill for Ethan's home-made baked ziti, or my chicken Mexican Casserole, and not to mention chocolate chip cookies...

So tonight I attempted what I had read about, but always been to afraid of failure to try. I used the grill as an oven. I did my homework, read up on what the different techniques were and selected a dish to try.

BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Here's how I made the grill my oven...

1. I turned on the grill. Closed the lid and let it get all good and warmed up.

2. Once it was hot enough, I turned off the middle burner (we have a 3 burner grill) and closed the lid again.

3. Once the pizza was ready I put it in the middle, where the burner that is off is located.

4. I closed the lid and let it bake.

Now...I will admit. I did check it probably every 3-4 minutes. I was nervous and didn't want my pizza to burn. I tried to keep the temperature around 350 (we are lucky enough to have a temperature gage on the outside of the grill). The recipe for the pizza dough I made said to cook it at 450 for 16 minutes. I went about 15. Everything was done and looking fine so I took it out. In looking back, I could have probably left it on for a while longer, but I didn't want it to burn. It turned out great!

I can't wait to try out something else...I'm thinking ziti!

Givin' You My Best!

I thought I would share with you the best recipe I have.

Why is it the best?

1. It never fails to be completely gone from the bowl when I take it to parties or pot-luck lunches

2. It can be "spiced up" or "toned down" depending on your taste.

3. If the saying "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is true, then this is what got me my husband!

Cream Cheese Rotel Party Dip

2 - 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened
1 - can of corn
1 - can of Rotel (this is where I like to use the HOT for the extra spice, but mild is just as yummy)
1 - packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (secret ingredient!)

Put all in a bowl (I don't drain the corn all the way, about half the liquid) and mix together. Chill (or eat right away if you can't wait...like Ethan) and eat with corn chips, tortilla chips, Nacho Doritos, potato chips, pita chips or even veggies!

Trust me...it's a keeper!

Cake Cookies

I have recently discovered the perfect way to make a cookie.

Cheat.

For some reason I can never get my home-made cookies to turn out just right. They're either too flat, hard, or just plain burnt. Finally I found a great way to make semi-homemade cookies that taste great and turn out perfect every time.

Use a cake mix.

Yep, that's right. Any old cake mix that comes from a box. (My favorite ones for cookies are Duncan Heins Devil's Food). Add 2 eggs and a 1/2 cup of oil, toss in your favorite chips/nuts and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350.

Perfect every time.

Some of my favorite combos...

Chocolate Cake with peanut butter chips.

Chocolate cake with little Andes Mints

Chocolate cake with chocolate chips

Can you see a pattern forming here...

Red Velvet Cake with white chocolate chips

Lemon cake with powdered sugar frosting

Yellow cake with craisens...

The possibilities are endless!!!

Failure...

I love to try new recipes. Something different, new, or even sometimes strange. Most of the time the recipes I try are added to our normal rotation and we plan to make them again.

Not this last one.

I made potato pancakes. Sort of...

I have always wanted to try them, the sound so yummy.

I found a recipe in a magazine that looked like just what I was wanting. Mix two cups of mashed potatoes with an egg, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, parsley, and salt and pepper. Nothing about those ingredients sounded off. And they really tasted pretty good.

The problem came in the frying. The directions said to heat oil at medium heat and then drop the potatoes by 1/4 cup globs into the oil, press flat and cook for 3 minutes on each side. That's were it all went wrong.

You see...potatoes do not like to be pressed...they stick to the spatula or whatever you try to use to press them flat. Resulting in the flattened part splashing into the oil, spraying it all over...including on me.

The second problem...these did not like to be flipped. They fell apart so that basically I had a mess of random pieces of mashed potato laying in a skillet.

The end result would definitely had not won a presentation contest. The taste of the potatoes was good, but the mess, pain from hot oil, and frustration was not worth the taste.

Next time I think I'll just make "cheesy mashed potatoes" with the same ingredients and call it good!

Home Cookin'

There's nothing like "mom's cooking."

That is a true statement. Every time I go to my parents home, or to my in-laws, I can be sure of one thing. I will be VERY WELL FED and my jeans will fit just a little bit tighter. I discussed this with Ethan as we drove home tonight from his parents house after eating...

~ Pork Chops

~ Potatoes

~ Corn

~ Steamed veggies

~ Salad

~ Ice cream

~ Peanut Butter Cake

~ Chocolate Chip Cookies

and then not even 3 hours later, sat down for dinner where we had...

~ Hamburgers

~ Chips

~ Baked Beans

~ Cookies

That's WAY more food than I ever usually eat or that I need.

"It's worse at your parents" he says, "because we are stuck there, two and a half hours away from home and can't escape the food."

Not that we'd really want to...as I said. The food is great!

Some of our all-time family greats are...

~ Lasagna and cheesy bread (Ethan's mom)

~ Enchiladas (My mom)

~ Grilled German Sausage (Ethan's mom)

~ Biscuits and gravy (My dad)

~ Death by Chocolate (E's mom)

~ Small-town Pizza Joint that we can't help going to in LeRoy or Halstead. We're suckers for good pizza!

~ Chili and/or Chicken Noodles on Christmas Eve at E's mom's

~ Prime Rib for Christmas dinner at my mom's

~ Cinnamon Rolls...recipe from E's mom.

I will mention that we have been successful at making all of these recipes ourselves (except the prime rib...), but seem to have much better control over the amount we eat when we are at home and not at our parents. I am very lucky to have married a man who comes from a family of "eaters" just like me. Although in order to have a waistline that I can live with, we are either going to have to start watching our portions OR going home less...

Tough decisions... :o)

Websites

When it comes to finding a new recipe, or trying to "fix up" and old one, I usually get out my computer and head to a few tried and true cooking websites that I have found and enjoy! I thought I would share...

All Recipes

Taste of Home

Food.com

I use All Recipes and Taste of Home all the time and really enjoy reading the reviews the readers post. It gives me good ideas on what to do with my meals.

Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

I am not a real picky eater. I'll eat most things out there, or at least try it. There are a few things however that I am picky about the way it is cooked. Chicken Parmesan is one of them. I really like the flavor and the idea of chicken parm. However, I do not like ordering it at restaurants. Most restaurants pan fry their chicken, I'm just not a fan of that. I would rather have it baked.

Although baking has it's downfall...I do like my chicken to have a "crunch" coating...not "crispy." Yes, there is a difference. It has taken many attempts and many different recipes to finally find the chicken parmesan recipe that I really really like!

So here's what I do...

I don't know the exact measurements since I "eyeball" most everything and this recipe has basically come from experimentation!

~4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves pounded into equal thickness (I used to skip this step, but it actually makes a big difference)

~1/2 cup flour seasoned with garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper

~2 eggs w/ salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I like garlic and hate it when my chicken is not well seasoned!)

~3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs w/ some help: garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I've used fresh and the stuff in the green can...both are fine, although the fresh definitely has better flavor)

I pat dry my chicken breasts and lightly cover them in the flour. From the flour I dip the chicken in the egg. The flour before the egg is a very helpful trick I've learned to help the egg really stick to the slippery chicken. This will help your batter/coating/whatever to stick to the chicken MUCH better. Then I coat the chicken in the bread seasoning mixture and set aside.

Once all the chicken is coated I take a 9x13 pan and I put in it either a cookie cooling sheet or some type of broiling rack. On that rack, I place the chicken. This is how I get that "crunchy" chicken. This allows air to get to the bottom of the chicken. If you just put it in the pan the coating will end up soggy on the bottom. I bake that in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes.

While that's baking I have out another baking dish (9x13 or whatever you want to use) and I put just a little spaghetti sauce on the bottom (I use Ragu). After the chicken comes out of the oven I put it in the sauce and top it with a little more spaghetti sauce and put it back in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.

After the 12 minutes I pull it back out again and top each piece of chicken with provolone cheese. I love the flavor of Provolone with Chicken Parm...so good! I then put the chicken back in the oven for a few minutes to sit under the broiler...be careful...it will melt very quickly. Pay attention to that!

When it's all done you have wonderfully flavored, crunchy (not crispy), baked Chicken Parmesan. Pair it with some nice spaghetti noodles or veggies and a glass of wine...YUMMY!

Enjoy!

My Go-To Favorites!

I love to try new foods. One of my favorite things to do is go to a restaurant with a brand new type of cuisine that I've never had and "give it a whirl." As much fun as that is, I always seem to find myself craving those "go-to meals" that I love no matter how often I have it, or how long it's been since I made it.

These are some of my favorite "Go-to's"

Breakfast:

~ Peanut Butter Toast. Creamy, crunchy, and stays with me throughout the day. YUMMY!

~ Cheerios. Cool, refreshing, crunchy, and no extra sugar needed :)

~ Bagel and Cream Cheese. There's just something about the combination of cheese with the toasted bagel that I can't get enough of.

Lunch:

~ Albacore Tuna with Triscuts and a side of string cheese. Sounds yucky if you are not a tuna fan, but such a healthy meal that is very quick and easy. Although, I don't ever take this with me to lunch at school...I am mindful of the smell tuna leaves lingering around.

~ Old fashioned PB and J. Nothing brings me back to being a kid than grape jelly oozing out from the back end of a perfectly filled sandwich.

~ Hot dogs and mac and cheese. Another meal that brings me back to snow days home from school when I was a kid. Warm and satisfying!

Dinner:

~ Anything with mashed potatoes and gravy. As a kid I could not get enough of those...as an adult I am much more mindful of how many "taters" I pile on to my plate...even though I would LOVE to be able build a mountain!

~ Spaghetti. A definite go to meal. Easy to make and even tastes great as leftovers.

~ Pizza. I don't think we ever go a month without having some kind of pizza :)

Mmmm...I think I'll finish this off with a warm slice of peanut butter toast and a cup of coffee!

Applebees

Applebees has never been my favorite restaurant. I like it fine, but there weren't many choices of nicer eating establishments in Emporia, Kansas. So I believe I kinda got burnt out on it. Seeing the same choices on the menu time after time. Needless to say, now that I live in Wichita and have many options, Applebees is not usually one of my suggestions when my husband and I venture out for a meal.

However, Friday night, after realizing that we had no hamburger to cook the Mexican casserole I was planning I did suggest that we go to "Everyone's favorite neighborhood." Two reasons led me to choosing Applebees that night. 1.) I had seen some commercials about the 550 calorie menu that they have and knew that I would be able to find something to eat there that wouldn't completely ruining my figure. 2.) I had a coupon for buy one entrée and get a second half off. So we jumped into the car and headed out.

I was impressed.

We got there and were seated right away on a Friday night. We did decide to sit at the bar in order to get seated sooner. The bartender handed us our menus and after sifting through it I realized that my decision on what to have was going to be MUCH harder. Not only did every item on the "under 550 calorie" menu look great, but they had so many new and different choices than the last time I was there. Everything looked great.

My husband and I ordered and appetizer of potato twists and queso blanco. The seasoning was excellent and I really wish I knew how to make that queso! Ethan chose to have provolone stuffed meatballs with fettuccine alfredo and I chose a 550 calorie chicken teriyaki pasta. Both meals were fantastic. We both raved while we ate about how good it was, and were happy to take some home with us.

I left there thinking..."I could come back here real soon and try something else." Maybe I had stayed away from Applebees long enough for them to revamp their entire menu (except for a few classic items) and rekindle my liking for it. So if you haven't been there in a while, you might give it a try. You might just be as impressed as I was.

My New Cookbook!

I love cookbooks. I love looking at different recipes and if the book has pictures it's even better. I have many cookbooks...with many recipes I haven't tried. My husband makes fun of me, and rolls his eyes every time I bring home a new book.

This book is different.

This is a Taste of Home cookbook...they are the best. I think I have three and a magazine subscription that my mother-in-law gets me each year for my birthday. This Taste of Home is the Comfort Foods Diet book.

What makes this "diet" book different from all the others? First of all it uses real, everyday foods. I don't have to make everything with ground turkey rather than beef, and I don't have to use reduced fat cheese...two things that frankly I'm not willing to use in my cooking. Second it lists the calories/serving of each meal. So if I want to make Mexican Chicken and Rice I know that one serving of it is 300 calories...great tool! Third, it has all kinds of tools and helpful hints about losing weight. For someone like me, this book is ideal because it allows me to eat what I want and still have some basic tools to cut down on the intake of too much food.

I will be sharing some of the tools and recipes from time to time from my new cook book. To start off, I'll post the tip on portion size references...very useful!

3 oz. of beef, chicken of pork = deck of cards

1 serving of cold cereal = baseball

1 medium potato = tennis ball

3 oz. deli meet = 3 CDs

1 serving of cheese = Domino

1/4 cup grated cheese = golf ball

1 teaspoon butter or jam = finger tip

1 tablespoon peanut butter = your thumb

1 average bagel = hockey puck

1 serving of rice or pasta = cupcake wrapper

Enjoy!

Mission Slim-Possible!

At the start of every year there are thousands of people across the country who pledge to lose weight and be healthier. Gyms are over crowded, workout clothes are bought up like candy, and grocery stores push their diet/low fat and healthier items. People jump on weight-loss teams with the hope that they will find support in numbers.

This year, that person is me.

I already feel that I have a pretty well-balanced diet and I'm generally happy with my weight. I am classified as "mildly overweight" by the BMI calculators and fat charts, and for the most part I'm ok with that. I fit in my clothes fine, and I enjoy a bowl of ice cream for dessert at night.

But being a girl, the desire to lose another 10 lbs. will always be there. 10 lbs. seems to be that magic number. I would be back down to what I weighed in high school, and give me just a little more cushion when we decide we're ready to start a family. (The thought of pregnancy weight scares me...) So I joined a weight-loss team that began on January 17.

I'm hoping that my team "Mission Slim-possible" will be able to help me get off that plateau I've been on for the last year and a half. However, I am NOT willing to be miserable starving myself of my favorite foods and desserts. Everyone has their own way to diet. I don't like the word diet. That sounds restrictive, tiring, and just plan sucky! I know the minute I tell myself I shouldn't eat carbs...I'll want nothing other than a hot basket of bread sticks from Olive Garden.

So, here's how I plan to do it. Portion control and calories. I truly believe that a person can eat normal, everyday foods (including a scoop of ice cream) and still lose weight. I want something that I'm going to be able to maintain. I don't want a fast drop in weight because I stop eating carbs, and then the minute I go back to enjoying my rolls and noodles blow I up and gain more than I did to begin with.

I have started this first week by dropping my calorie intake to 1800 a day and exercising at least 30 minutes a day. Once I get used to that, I'll drop my calories to 1600. Again eating what I want as long as I stay in the calorie range. And if I start to struggle, I know my teammates will be there to help me.

So for all of you trying to lose a few this year good luck and God Speed!