Lemon Mustard Pork Chops

Lemon Mustard Pork Chops

I made these a few days ago, it wasn't bad, but it really didn't strike us as amazing. My husband doesn't like pork chops that much so I was hoping fixing them a different way would help them go over better, it didn't. He ate them and didn't complain, but gave me the 'meh' look when I asked him what he thought. Perhaps your family will like them better.

Lemon Mustard Pork Chops
Serves 4
Source: Taste of Home

4 boneless pork loin chops
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
Lemon wedges

Drizzle pork chops with lemon juice. Combine the parsley, mustard, garlic, lemon peel, rosemary, and salt; brush over both sides of chops.

Place pork on a greased broiler pan. Broil 3-4 inches from heat for 4-6 minutes on each side. Serve with lemon wedges.

Of course I adapted this since we don't use our oven. I did ours in a skillet and they came out fine. Paul thought it was too lemony, I thought it didn't have enough lemon, so who knows.

Crockpot Cabbage Rolls

When I first tried making cabbage rolls I just threw stuff together and it never turned out well, in fact my first attempt was more like cabbage casserole instead of cabbage rolls. So I started searching for a recipe and found this one and it is a hit! We have made this recipe several times and it is always good, the leftovers even freeze well.

I believe the trick to good cabbage rolls is using savoy cabbage, the leaves separate easily from the head and after they are steamed, they still maintain their shape and can easily be filled. Once we made the rolls with ground turkey and the rolls were very moist and tasty, much better than made with ground beef. The best part of the recipe is the sauce, it is what makes the dish perfect.

Cabbage Rolls

• 12 leaves cabbage - I recommend using savoy cabbage
  
• 1 cup cooked white rice
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef or turkey
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil cabbage leaves 2 minutes; drain.
2. In large bowl, combine 1 cup cooked rice, egg, milk, onion, ground beef, salt, and pepper. Place about 1/4 cup of meat mixture in center of each cabbage leaf, and roll up, tucking in ends. Place rolls in slow cooker.
3. In a small bowl, mix together tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over cabbage rolls.
4. Cover, and cook on Low 8 to 9 hours.

Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cabbage-Rolls-II/Detail.aspx

Cheesy Acorn Squash

Another new vegetable we've tried recently was acorn squash. While I love squash and zucchini, I've never really tried anything beyond the basic green zucchini and yellow summer squash. So when we received an acorn squash in our food co-op box I was very excited. Hitting allrecipes for inspiration, I came upon Cheesy Acorn Squash.

This was so good, we will be having this dish again tonight for dinner. It was hilarious when I went to the store to purchase more acorn squash, the cashier picked up the squash and asked what it was, I told him and said "oh it's so good too" to which he replied, "oh you eat it? I thought it was a Halloween decoration." On the way home my husband was laughing over this and asking if the cashier really thought we were decorating for Halloween in the middle of July.

Here is my version:

Cheesy Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash, halved and seeded
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 c onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
6 slices bacon, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1/2 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place squash cut side down in a glass dish. Cook in microwave for 20 minutes on HIGH, until almost tender.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and onion and garlic; saute until transparent. Stir in bacon; cook 2 to 3 minutes more or until cooked. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parsley. Divide mixture in half, spoon into the squash.
4. Cook 15 minutes in the preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven. Sprinkle with cheese and put back in the oven until the cheese bubbles.

Enjoy!

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheesy-Acorn-Squash/Detail.aspx

Mushrooms in White Wine Sauce

Since we have signed up for our delivery of local fruits and veggies, we have taken advantage of trying some new vegetables we would normally never purchase at the store. This week we received a huge portabello mushroom in our box. Now, I've never been a huge fan of mushrooms, they always seem rubbery to me, so I set it aside and ignored it for a few days.

Yesterday I knew I had to do something with it or it was going to go bad, so I pulled out some steaks and decided to make the husband sauteed mushrooms and onions to go on his steak. I went to my favorite site allrecipes and searched for a recipe to try. Mushrooms in White wine sauce sounded like a perfect one to try. I tweaked their recipe a little and Paul loved it. He encouraged me to try a bite and WOW, it was so good, I could actually learn to love mushrooms after this meal.

Mushrooms in White Wine Sauce

Olive oil, just enough to coat skillet
1/3 c chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c water
1/4 c white wine
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, 1/2 cup water, wine, chicken bouillon and butter. Season with basil, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, reduce liquid by half.'

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mushrooms-in-White-Wine-Sauce/Detail.aspx

4th of July

We were on our own for July 4th but decided to grill out anyways.

French Onion Soup - Crockpot

To participate in the slow cooking Thursday and see more recipes go to -
http://familycorner.blogspot.com/

With school and work, we've been using the crockpot more for meals. Some of them have turned out well, others not so good. The French Onion Soup turned out really well.

5-6 onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 stick butter
2 cans beef broth
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
French Bread slices
Swiss Cheese

In large skillet, cook onions and garlic on low heat in hot butter for 20 minutes, stir several times.

Transfer onion mixture to crockpot. Add beef broth, Worcestershire and 1 c water.

Cover and cook 5-8 hours on low heat or 2-4 hours on high.

Before serving, toast bread slices with cheese on top. Place on top of soup. Or place bread on soup with cheese in an ovenproof bowl and place in oven for a few minutes to melt cheese.

The onions cooking.

I used my homemade beef broth. I rarely use the store bought anymore.

When I went shopping about a month ago, I put the bread and cheese in the freezer for when we were ready to make the meal.

The finished product, our oven is broken so we had to microwave it to melt the cheese. It will look more melty if you can use the oven.

This recipe is a keeper for us. The flavors mingled really well and was super easy.

Check out Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for more great crockpot recipes - http://familycorner.blogspot.com/

Making Pumpkin Puree

We decorated with so many cute little pumpkins, I decided to try to make pumpkin puree for homemade pumpkin pies and other baked goodies. Here are two of the four pumpkins I used.

Cut them in half and scoop out the insides. I saved all the seeds to roast and use later for snacks.
Bake in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours until tender.

Move to a pan to cool.

Scoop out pumpkin and put in a strainer with cheesecloth to drain for a few hours.

Use immediately or package up to freeze for later use. I put mine into two cup packages for later. I got about 8 cups of pumpkin puree total.

Verdict: For the amount of time and effort this took, the pies had better be the best pumpkin pies the family has ever eaten!

Instant Oatmeal for Pennies

Instant oatmeal is a great healthy easy breakfast. You can make your own much cheaper and healthier than the storebought. First you'll need a box of quick cooking oats, baggies and salt.
Powder 1 cup of oats in the food processor. Put in each baggy 1/4 c oats, 2 Tbsp powdered oats and 1/4 tsp salt. Seal baggie and store in a tupperware container. To prepare add 2/3 c milk or water and microwave for 2 minutes. Add more or less milk depending on how you like the consistency of your oatmeal.

You can make your favorite flavors too. Just add 1 Tbsp sugar and 2 Tbsp dried fruit and enjoy. We try to dehydrate our own fruit whenever we can right now we have coconut, strawberries, apples, oranges and bananas.

A box of instant generic/store brand instant oatmeal is $2.00 for a box of 10 servings. We paid today $2.00 for a box of oats, which will make 40 servings. Plus our oatmeal has 4 ingredients oats, salt, sugar and fruit, not the big list of ingredients we can't pronounce that the store bought oatmeal has.

Update - We made used our homemade instant oatmeal for breakfast this morning (me-maple syrup and brown sugar, him-cinnamon and apples) It was delicious!! So much better than the storebought. The only change I'm going to make is to try 1/8 tsp salt instead of the 1/4, it was a little salty tasting to us.

Tamale Casserole

I've been trying out crockpot cooking. Paul is on a different shift for a few months and leaves before I am home to fix dinner, I've never been too impressed with crockpot cooking, but I've found a few good ones lately. Here's one we liked, I got the recipe off another person's blog (sorry don't remember who) but I changed a few of the ingredients to match things we like. Next time I make it I'll be using shredded beef instead of ground beef. Here's my version:

Tamale Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 (15.25 ounce) can hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 jalapeno pepper diced (I used the sliced ones from the jar)
1 (1.25 ounce) package chili seasoning mix
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a crockpot, combine the egg, milk and cornmeal until smooth. Add hominy, tomatoes, jalapenos, chili seasoning, seasoned salt and beef. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Sweets for your sweet

Here's a quick and easy caramel rolls recipe to surprise your sweety in the morning.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
36 pecan halves
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 450ºF. Place 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons butter and 3 pecan halves in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups; place in oven until melted.

2. Stir Bisquick and cold water until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Gently smooth dough into ball on surface sprinkled with Bisquick. Knead 5 times. Roll dough into rectangle, 15x9 inches. Spread rectangle with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar and the cinnamon. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side; pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut into twelve 1 1/4-inch slices. Place slices in muffin cups.

3. Bake about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof serving plate. Leave pan over rolls a minute.

source: http://www.bettycrocker.com/

Dinner Tonight

Tried something I've never made before, Stuffed Peppers. They turned out pretty good and it's alot easier than I thought it was. Here's the recipe below - of course I changed it a little bit but you can make it to suit your style. Paul had to go into work early so I brought them to him for dinner, it was fun, kind of like a picnic. I just feel it's a woman's duty to provide a good homecooked meal for the family. Even though alot of nights I'm tired and it would just be easier to do takeout a homecooked meal always tastes better and really doesn't very long to fix.

Peppers Stuffed with Spanish Rice

4 large green peppers
8 oz ground turkey breast or ground beef
½ c chopped onions
1 c cooked rice
1 c recipe style stewed tomatoes (with juices)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ c finely shredded cheddar cheese

Bring water in a large saucepan to a boil. Meanwhile, cut the peppers lengthwise in half. Remove and discard the stems, seeds, and membranes.

Carefully, place the peppers in the boiling water for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peppers and invert them onto paper towels to drain well.

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly spray an unheated large skillet with non stick spray. Add the turkey and onions. Cook over medium heat until the turkey is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the rice, tomatoes (with juices) tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, basil, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Place the pepper halves in an 8 X 8 X 2 baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture into the pepper shells. Sprinkle the cheese on top. (I spooned some extra tomato sauce on top to keep them moist) Bake about 10 minutes or until heated through.

Dinner Tonight

Fixed a yummy dinner tonight. We had Baked Pork Chops with a Parmesan-Thyme Crust, Cooked Spinach and Brown Rice. Here's the recipe for the pork chops (I used thyme since we didn't have any sage).

Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan-Sage Crust
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs from french bread
1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
1 tablespoon dried sage rubbed
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 large eggs
1/4 cup flour
4 pork chops bone in
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
lemon wedges optional
orange wedges optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, sage and lemon zest in pie dish. Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Place flour on plate; season generously with salt and pepper. Coat pork chops on both sides with flour; shake off excess. Dip chops into eggs and then coat on both sides with breadcrumb mixture.

Melt butter with olive oil in oven proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.Transfer skillet to oven and bake until pork chops are crisp on the outside and meat thermometer inserted into pork registers 150 degrees F, about 20 minutes.Transfer pork chops to plates and garnish with lemon and orange wedges, if desired.

Serves 4.

Easter Dinner

Our Ham

Deviled Eggs (YUM!)
Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Birthday Cupcakes for Paul & Crystal

Apple Crumble Pie

Scottie enjoying the ham bone

Makin' Pickles

Jars in the canner processing

The first batch

Making Pesto

Making fresh pesto with basil from my garden