Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Fries, Creamed Spinach Heaven

Our dinner was so good last night. I would be cheating on you if I didn't share the recipe for the pork chop. It really was good and so easy. I didn't marinate it but I am sure you could if you wanted.

Balsamic Dijon Pork Chops

Pork Chops

For each pork chop you will need:

1/2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

Black ground pepper

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup of water

Coat pork chop on both sides with dijon mustard, cover with ground black pepper. (Marinate if you want...) Drizzle olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Place pork in skillet. Cook 8 minutes per side or until juices run clear. Note this is for a thinner chop so if you use thicker cuts increase the time. Remove from skillet. Add balsamic vinegar and water to skillet and whisk ensuring to get the drippings incorporated into the vinegar/water mixture. Bring to a bubbling boil, and cook until sauce reaches desired constistency. I added the pork back into the pan at this point and cooked for an additional minute on each side to let it soak in the vinegar. Enjoy pork chop with some of the vinegar sauce over it.

This really was a simple recipe. As for the sweet potato fries, they just had some olive oil and greek seasoning on them and then were baked at 450 for 20 minutes. The trick to getting the skins crispier is to heat the baking sheet in the oven before putting the fries on it.

The spinach is a recipe from a weight watchers cookbook and uses cream cheese to make it creamy.

This meal really hit the spot. Unfortunately we are eating pork again for dinner today because we are getting together with his family but at least the pork with be pulled so there will be a change in taste.

And for those of you who missed my new blonde highlights here is a teaser. Hopefully I will remember to take more photos today and will share. Have a great weekend.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Tangy Chicken Recipe

I think the recipe was a success - it was easy and tasted like sweet and sour chicken without all the fat! My favorite part were the pineapple chunks.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Tangy Chicken
1 bottle of bbq sauce ( I used honey chipotle by Sweet Baby Ray)
1 15 oz can pineapple chunks (I had a 20 oz can of Pineapple slices and cut them myself)
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I only had a red one so that is what I used)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine were frozen)

In a large bowl, mix together bbq sauce, pineapple chunks, chopped onion, chopped pepper and garlic. Place chicken in slow cooker and pour mix over top. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. (Since my chicken breasts were frozen they took 4 hours on high to cook...if your chicken isn't frozen then it will definitely take less time.)

Serve over rice.

When picking up a bbq sauce chose something that is sweet and spicy. The spice is not hot but adds a bit of kick to the recipe. If you can't find some spicy bbq sauce I am sure you could add some chipolte of your own. I hope you enjoy!

Last Minute Lasagna

I got this recipe from a blog that I read and she got it from real simple. But I modified it to add in more veggies and be more to our tasting. It was so easy and great. I actually made it on Sunday minus the cheese and put in the fridge till we were ready to eat it. This let the frozen ravioli defrost in the fridge. When I came home I pulled it out of the fridge and put it into the oven which I then turned on to 375. Once the oven was up to 375, I timed 10 minutes then put on the cheese and left in for another 15 minutes. This is a great busy weeknight meal.


Last-Minute Lasagna
Hands-on-time: 15 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
1 24- or 26-ounce jar pasta sauce –I added ½ a jar more of Vodka Sauce
2 18-20-ounce refrigerated* large cheese ravioli (used costco frozen spinach cheese ravioli)
2 cups cooked veggies – I used onion, red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini
1 8-ounce bag shredded mozzarella (ran out of so I added Aged Cheddar)

Heat oven to 375° F. Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cover with a single layer of ravioli. Top with half the vegetables and a third of the sauce. Repeat with another layer of ravioli and the remaining vegetables, and the remaining sauce(not all the ravioli may be needed). Bake for 10 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and bake for another 15 minutes or until cheese is all melted.

* I used frozen ravioli instead of the expensive refrigerated kind. I defrosted the frozen ravioli before using them in the recipe. The frozen ravioli worked great!

Layers: sauce, ravioli, vegetables, repeat.

Here is a picture of the layers....and melty cheese.
My husbands second plate - you know it is good when they go back for seconds.

By using the spinach ravioli I was able to sneak in another vegetable without any complaints. I love these sort of tricks! Plus this was easy clean up and now we have leftovers for the weekend.

Quick and Healthy Pasta Carbonara

Bruce and I tried a new recipe on Friday night. This was super easy after a long day/week of work and it was delicious. I found it in the clean eating magazine but adapted it to fit our needs.

Quick and Healthy Pasta Carbonara (feeds 2)
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
6 oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
1 1/2 cups mixed frozen vegetables (next time I will use less pasta and more veggies)
1 large egg
1/4 cup sharp white cheese
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Put water on to boil (use a large pan and remember to leave room for pasta and vegetables). After cutting the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, I seasoned with pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning. In a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, cook chicken, stirring occasionally until browned and cooked through (about 4 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl (all the other ingredients will go into this) and set aside.

In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions. Stir in vegetables 2 minutes before pasta is al dente (or done - since Bruce likes his pasta soft we cooked the pasta a little longer then added the veggies.)

While pasta is cooking, add egg, cheese, garlic and any extra seasoning to the chicken and mix well.

When pasta and vegetables are done cooking, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, then drain pasta. Immediately add pasta to chicken and stir well. Add pasta water to reach desired consistency. I only added about a tablespoon but this could be that we cooked our pasta longer. Serve immediately.

Serving size 1 1/2 cups with only 410 calories.

I will probably add this to my crazy weeks at work when I am working late or when I have late workouts with my trainer. It was super easy and didn't dirty too many dishes. Next time I am hoping to take a picture for you.

Country Bob's All purpose sauce

A while back I was offered two free bottles of Country Bob's All purpose sauce if I would review it on my blog. I accepted the challenge and it arrived the week of Valentine's....or the week of being deathly sick. So of course I didn't cook but now that we are back on track I can finally give my review of this yummy sauce.

The first thing I tried it on was steak. I have never been a fan of A-1 because it is too much vinegar for me but I really enjoyed the seasonings in Country Bob's sauce. It added a really nice kick to my rib eye. So then I tried it on my hamburger - also good and something I would do again. Since it won both trials, I thought I would put it to the final test. Would it be able to finally help me make a turkey meatloaf that was as good as the real meatloaf? Bruce and I love meatloaf but regular meatloaf made with beef and sausage is a little too much fat for us (and his heart). We have tried so many turkey meatloaf recipes and they usually end up dry. The last time we did find an ok recipe but it needed an extra kick so I decided to see if Country Bob's sauce would be the kick that made it a touch down.

Turkey Meatloaf

2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 medium onions)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves ( 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons Country Bob's All purpose sauce

3/4 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste ( I used other tomato paste to make shepherds pie!)

4 pounds ground turkey breast ( I used a little less)

1 1/2 coups plain dry bread crumbs

3 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup ketchup

4 tablespoons Country Bob's All purpose sauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, over medium low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, appr. 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, Country Bob's All purpose sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature. (I put the onion mixture in a bowl in the freezer to cool it quickly).

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. Mix the ketchup and Country Bob's All purpose sauce and spread evenly on top of loaf. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through.

Helpful tip: A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.

Serve hot and enjoy leftovers in a sandwich!

This was so yummy, moist and the seasoning was perfect! I will definitely be making this again. One of the best things about making this was that I used the same saute pan to turn around and make shepherd's pie as well. This means dinner for tonight is already complete and most of the dishes are done as well! I love making two dinners on top of each other when I have the time. For some reason it doesn't seem like I have that much more work but it is nice to know that I can get out the shepherd's pie and put it in the oven and 30 minutes later we will have dinner.
Prep time for both dinners 1 hour - time to relax on Sunday night after work priceless!

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Growing up with my mom, I developed a love of pumpkin. She makes the best pumpkin pie (although she attributes that to Grandma making her test taste all the pies that she made). We also had dinner in a pumpkin, pumpkin and oreo shakes, pumpkin and chocolate chip bread. I could list more but I want to get to my new love of pumpkin oatmeal. Since January 1st I have been trying to eat breakfast. I have never been a big breakfast eater but by lunch I have been so ravenous that I would attack everything including people's candy dishes. Yeah that was NOT good. So on to my breakfast journey. I decided in my breakfast goal that if I was going to incorporate breakfast I was going to do it healthy and at the same time I discovered Kath's Tribute to Oatmeal. I never knew oatmeal could be made so many ways and it really opened by eyes. I know Oatmeal is a great breakfast but only when I made the Pumpkin Oatmeal did I realize how totally satisfying it really is. YUMMY! Here is my Pumpkin Oatmeal picture:

1/2 c Old Fashioned Oats

1/2 c Skim Milk

1/2 c water

1/2 banana

Put in pot over medium high heat, stir once and then let it go until it starts to boil then start stirring (use a spatula for best consistency). Stir and cook until oatmeal reaches it desired consistency. I like mine thick so it takes me about 5 minutes. At the end, I stir in 1/4 cup of Libby's canned plain pumpkin, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 to 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice. (Remove from heat first or else the vanilla will evaporate and you lose the flavor) After mixing all together, pour into a bowl and top with chopped walnuts (I heat mine for a minute in the microwave to get maximum flavor). Enjoy!

Kath even has a video of how to make the Oatmeal so if you are feeling inspired you can watch her every move.

Tortilla Soup

I made this soup last Sunday and it was the perfect lunch! I got the idea for the soup out of Cleaning eating magazine but I modified it so it was simpler to make.

1 1/2 cups leftover turkey breast or you could use chicken
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 yellow onion chopped
2 cans rotel tomatoes (if you don't like spicy you might want to try the mild or do one can just tomotoes or if you like it extra spicy add more peppers/chiles to taste)
1/2 cup frozen corn (I added 1 cup because I love corn)
Cilantro
Avocado
Tortilla Strips
Shredded cheese

In a 3 qt saucepan heat chicken broth and onion for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, corn and turkey breast to soup, heat for another 5 minutes. Serve with your favorite toppings- cilantro, avocado, tortilla strips or cheese. This makes appr 4 1 cup servings. I put in bowls and took for lunch by Thursday it was quite spicy and adding the cold avocado after heating cut the spice so my lips wouldn't burn off. This was very filling and a lot less sodium then soup from a can.

For the tortilla strips I used 1 whole grain tortilla cut into 1/2 inch strips, spray with cooking spray and place on strips on skillet. Tossing and turning them frequently till brown and crisp appr 5 minutes.

Dr. Pepper Crockpot Pork Roast

I tried a great new recipe and thought I would share since I know many love Dr. pepper as much as I do.

4 lbs. loin of pork
1 cup Dr. Pepper (I used diet)
1/2 cup orange marmalade (I used the low sugar)
1/4 cup soy sauce (Again I used low sodium)
2 tablespoons ginger (I used powder but think if you buy the fresh it would kick this up a notch)

The directions called to cook it in the oven at 325 degrees for 2 hours but I didn't want to heat up our house so I chose to do it in the crockpot. After mixing the Dr. Pepper, orange marmalade, soy sauce and ginger, I poured over the pork in the crockpot. Since my crockpot is new I cooked it on low for 4 hours. The pork was tender and really good.

For those of you that don't love sweet, this may not be the recipe for you although I think if you added some horseradish for heat this would taste really good and counteract some of the sweet. I am also thinking next time of adding garlic and onion for some additional flavoring. I would think this would work with pork chops and chicken as well. Also I should note that my husband is not a big fan of Dr. Pepper so I didn't tell him that this had Dr. Pepper in it till after dinner. He was suprised as he coudn't taste it.

We served our roast with roasted zuchini and yellow squash "fries". You cut them in long skinny sections to look like fries and toss with olive oil and flavor as desired. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Make sure to flip the fries 1/2 way through.

Besides eating yummy food, I have been busy studying. I really am trying to stay on top of all the studying so that I don't get behind. My teachers expect 3 to 4 hours of studying for each hour you spend in class. So that means I have to do about 15 hours of studying a week. I don't mind but it does leave me very little time to do stuff to blog about.

The Perfect Turkey Recipe

This is the famous turkey recipe at work. I have yet to try it but if you do let me know how it turns out.

The Perfect Turkey

Items needed: Morton’s Kosher salt, Brown Sugar, Low Sodium Chicken Broth, Cornstarch, Kitchen Bouquet (small bottle), Un-salted Butter, Foil, Pan release spray (Pam), Onion, Celery, Carrots, Fresh Thyme, Sage and Rosemary, Digital Thermometer with cord. ( This will be the best 20$ Investment you will make )

Notes and suggestions:
q Never stuff the Turkey! Prepare the stuffing in a separate casserole dish with Chicken Broth in place of water and bake. It is not safe and exposes the protein to extra unnecessary heat. The excess mass within the turkey(the stuffing) will add extra cooking time to the bird, exposing extra-unnecessary heat to the meat causing it to overcook needlessly.
q Make the brine two days before you plan to cook the turkey, so it will be nice and cold.
q The drippings will be too salty for gravy, so make separate gravy from stock. If you are Hell-bent on using the pan drippings, I will give you a ‘fix’ at the end of the instructions, for making gravy.
q Remember to remove all the ‘goodies’ inside the turkey, both cavities !
q An 18 lb turkey will feed approx. 12 people and if prepared by these directions, will take about 2&1/2 to 3 hours to cook.
q Important! Allow 30 minutes of ‘rest’ time in your dinner schedule, for the bird to sit before carving.
q No basting needed! The meat will not absorb the juice and it will only take longer to cook, from the heat loss every time you open the door.
Brine
q Mix 1gal + 1 qt of water with 8 oz of brown sugar and ½ lb( 8oz ) Morton’s Kosher salt. Stir to dissolve. You will have to stir this several times to completely dissolve the salt and sugar. Chill this mixture well!
q Place thawed turkey in a container large enough to be able to submerge it when the brine is added. Pour in enough brine to cover. Place in refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.
q If turkey floats, place a gallon bag filled with water on top to keep it submerged. Don’t worry, if it won’t completely submerge, put as much brine as possible and just flip it over several times during the process.
To Cook
q Set oven temp to 500
q Place oven rack to its next to lowest setting in the oven.
q Rinse turkey well (we need to remove the excess brine)
q Rough chop 1 medium onion, 1 head of celery, and 1 or 2 carrots. Reserve.
q Make a sheath of foil (breast plate) to fit the breast of the turkey. Shiny side out. It should only cover the breast.
q Remove the foil and spray the inside of the foil with Pam and reserve the foil until later.
q Massage room temp butter into the skin of the turkey. 4 to 6 oz should do it. Really rub it in.
q Place the vegetables into the turkey (where you used to put the stuffing) add a few sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage. All fresh please.
q Place the turkey into a roaster with a rack so the bird is elevated off the bottom of the pan.
q Place the turkey into the 500-degree oven, ( do not put the foil on until later in the recipe ) neck first and set a timer for 30 minutes.
q Remove the bird from the oven. The breast should have a nice golden color. (If not, return him to the oven for another 10 minutes)
q Place the foil breastplate on the turkey. Remember to spray the inside of the foil with Pam so it will not stick to the turkey and pull off that beautiful skin.
q Place the probe of the thermometer into the thickest part of the breast.
q Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and replace the now “armor plated turkey” back in the oven.
q Set the alarm (if the thermometer has one) for 161 Degrees. Make sure the thickest part of the breast is at this temp. (The dark meat will be at about 180)
q Remove the bird from the oven and cover completely with foil, making a tightly sealed pup tent over the bird. Place it in a warm place and let him rest for 30 minutes. This will finish the cooking and allow the juices to redistribute thru the protein.
q Your turkey is done !!

Gravy
q If you insist on making gravy from the drippings, add 1 cup of water, 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth and thicken with cornstarch slurry. Add a little of the Kitchen Bouquet for color. You can even boil the giblets and mince them up to add to the gravy for texture…

Enjoy and Happy Holidays
Chef Dave Del Rio

I love new recipes

So yesterday since Bruce had to take it easy, I spent the day trying out new recipes and this one was pretty easy and really delicious so I thought I would share. I am always looking for good slow cooker meals. I like to use my slow cooker at least once a month if not more. I found this recipe on Food Networks website. The hardest thing about this recipe is peeling and cutting up the veggies.

Maple-Orange Chicken with Acorn Squash and Sweet Potatoes
1 small to medium acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 leeks, rinsed and chopped (I could only find one and I am not in love with leeks so one was enough)
5 (5-ounce) skinless chicken breast halves (with or without bone)
Salt and ground black pepper
1 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (I found this by the Chinese food in my grocery store)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
For the garnish: (I totally forgot the garnish - well we used a little bit of butter for the veggies but that is it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Place squash and sweet potatoes and leeks in the slow cooker. Season chicken all over with salt and black pepper and place on top of vegetables in slow cooker. In a medium bowl, combine orange marmalade and remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over chicken and vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
Serve 4 of the chicken breast halves with squash and potatoes on the side and extra sauce spooned over top (reserve remaining chicken for pizza). Top with parsley and rosemary just before serving.

Here is the Pizza recipe that is mentioned in the recipe. I haven't tried it yet but since we have chicken left over I just may.

I will also have to look up more recipes for hoisin sauce as I have never used it before...if you have any will you share?

Enjoy!