Second chances... Pork chops and apples with rice

When I was in elementary school, I had to make a dish for dinner in order to complete the AWANA book that I was doing.  I picked pork chops, apples and rice.  I'd love to say I made it and it was great, but apparently I was not the cook then that I am now. 


It was nasty.

Really nasty.  Crunchy rice, burned pork chops.  Lots of fun.  We still laugh about it (although I'm pretty sure I cried then).

But this week I gave it a second chance.  I made pork chops, apples and rice.  And this time it was...



AMAZING!!

I love a second chance.  I love the way God gives us those each time we screw up.  I hope that I remember to give them to our kids.  And I'm pretty sure that I am glad I gave it to this dish too.

Ingredients:
4 Thin sliced pork chops
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cups apple juice
1/4 c stone ground mustard
3 apples, cored, peeled and sliced
2 TBSP cornstartch
1/4 c water

Instructions:
In 2 tbsp olive oil, cook the garlic and onion.  Brown the pork chops 2 minutes per side.

Mix the apple juice and mustard.  Add it to the pan.

Cook on low for 45 minutes.

Add the apples.  cook 10 minutes.

Remove the apples and porkchops.

Mix the cornstartch and water.  Add to the pan and stir over medium heat until it reaches the thickness you desire.

Add the pork and apples back to the pan.

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!!

Another post without pictures... Italian wedding soup

About 10 years ago, I was pretty full into wedding planning.  Husband and I were engaged for 10 months, but really had our wedding basically planned before we even got engaged.  It worked for us.  And it went pretty well...   We had a wedding that was beautiful and a reception that was full of yummy desserts.  So it wasn't even a problem when the wedding cake didn't show up. 

But now, I'm grateful that all of that planning is over.  I don't think I'd go back and do it any different.  But there's something good about life the way it is.  I love my family, I love being married and being mommy.  I love the way I can't really remember my life before it all.

So let's celebrate with some wedding soup, shall we?

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c chopped red and/or yellow pepper
1 red onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic, chopped
6 c chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 pkg frozen meatballs
1/2 pkg small pasta (I used alphabets because it was fun.)

Instructions:
In 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat, saute the peppers, onion and garlic until soft (about 3 minutes).

Add chicken broth.  Mix tomato sauce and seasoning, add to the broth.

Bring to a boil.

Add meatballs and pasta.  Bring back to a boil.

Simmer on medium heat, 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!  We liked it so much a certain someone (who I've been married to for almost 10 years) basically licked the bowl clean.

Now what? Skillet enchiladas

So, this post is without pictures.... I'm having some issues.  I am out of room in my online picasa and am not sure if I want to store them all on my computer.  So until I figure something out I'm not sure what to do with the pics for my blog.   If you have any ideas, let me know!

But this recipe was one I have to share.  It's called skillet chicken enchiladas, but honestly, it was more like mexican chicken and dumplings.  And I love my mexican food.  So here we are. 

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 bell pepper, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
2 c chicken or turkey breast
2 c chicken broth
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp ranch dressing
5 tortillas, sliced
1/2 c cheddar cheese
salsa and sour cream for topping

Instructions:
in a large pan, warm the olive oil.  Saute peppers and onion. 
Add turkey.
Mix the broth, flour and dressing.  Add to the pan.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low.  Simmer 10 minutes.
Add the tortillas, simmer another 5 minutes.
Add cheese to the top.

Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Enjoy!!

Stopping in quickly.... apple coffee cake

So, I've been in the middle of apple heaven here.  We've been through almost 2 bushels of them so far this year.  One of the best things I've made has been this coffee cake/dessert.   So I have to share the recipe.  Try it, because it's amazing.

Ingredients:
1 c white sugar
1 c margarine (or butter), soft
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
apples
cinnamon
sugar

Mix the first three ingredients until they are crumby, yes, because crumby is good in this case. 

Pat 3/4 of themlightly into a 9x13 pan. 

Mix apples, cinnamon and sugar.  Spoon over top of the crumby mixture.

Add the rest of the crumbs to the top.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Birthdays... My boys favorite lasagna

My boys are getting too big, too quick.  Isn't that how it goes?  They turned 7 and 4 this summer.  Which makes the Little Man no longer a baby.  It's undeniable, I guess. 

And birthdays in our house mean that you get to pick the dinner. I was pretty happy when Big Man asked for lasagna.  I don't make it often, because it's quite a bit of work and it makes so much... but a birthday party is the perfect place to get rid of  eat the whole pan.

My lasagna is pretty easy, a combination of the things others have recommended to us, tweaked until it's perfect for my family. 

Ingredients:
8 oz cottage cheese (you can use ricotta if you want, but aldi's doesn't always have it, and since we shop there, we use cottage cheese)
parmesean cheese
1 egg
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1 lb hamburger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 c spaghetti sauce (We used homemade, since we had an abundance of tomatoes!)

3 cups mozzerella cheese

lasagna noodles, I prefer the no cook, barilla square ones.  I will go out in search of them, because I love them!

Instructions:
In a small pan, brown the burger with the onion and garlic powder.  Add the spaghetti sauce.

In a blender, blend the cottage cheese, nutmeg, egg and 1/4 c parmesean cheese.

In a deep 9x13 pan, spread the meat sauce on the bottom of the pan.

On top of that, layer the noodles, the ricotta mixture, mozzerella cheese and then more meat sauce.

Do this until your pan is full.  I usually get three or four layers in.

Cover with alumninum foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour. 

Remove the foil and then broil on low until it is browned.

Serve to your family and CELEBRATE!

Enjoy!

Here's what we've been doing... or how to freeze tomatoes

My husband called today.  I missed the phone call.  I called him back and told him I was up to my elbows in tomatoes.

It's been a common occurance here.  I think we've frozen 25 quarts of tomatoes this year.  I don't can, I freeze,   I have a big freezer and honestly, canning scares me.

It's simple really.

  Boil a big pot of water, throw the tomatoes in for just a minute. 

Peel and dice and put them in freezer bags. 

Until your freezer is full.  Because mine is.  I can hardly shut it if everything isn't perfectly in there.  But it makes me happy.

I love the idea of using all of the corn, tomatoes, green beans and green peppers that we've frozen this summer. 

Green peppers are simple too.... just cut them, take out the seeds and ribs, dice them and freeze them.

But don't comfuse them with these!!!

Believe it or not... Monday menu planning

I know!  It's been forever... but I'm here.  It's been a crazy last month, with camping, music festivals, more camping, more music, a mountain of tomatoes and back to school madness.  We've eaten, but it's been alot of the same dinners... something on the grill, fresh corn and potatoes and cucumbers.

So I'm back, with a freezer full of beef, tomatoes, corn, green peppers, green beans and spaghetti sauce.

And this week, we're working with apples around here.  But dinners... well, we're back to menu planning.  Here we go.

Monday- BLATs (throwing a little avacado on the blts... cheese for the little guys)
Tuesday- chicken parmesean
Wednesday- Work
Thursday- chicken pot pie
Friday- Taco salad bowls
Saturday- Thanksgiing on the grill
Sunday- Sausage and perogies

So hang on... recipes are coming. 

So what's new with you?  what was the best thing you've cooked while I was away?