Cajun Smothered Pork Chops

Last night I tried another new recipe called Cajun Smothered Pork Chops from the cookbook my grandma sent me. Before I was diagnosed with so many food allergies I was a PICKY eater. When I went to restaurants I ordered the same probably 5 things, and at home I ate what my mom made but usually not all of it. I can't say I'm not picky any more but I am definitely better because 80% of the recipes I've been looking at/cooking... I would've turned my nose up before.

Saying that, last nights dinner was one of my "branching out" projects and I have to say, it wasn't bad. Much like the Chicken and Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce, my husband really liked it. We have so many leftovers in the fridge I asked if he wanted to take the 4 leftover pork chops (I made more than the recipe called for) to work and he said "No I'm eating this for lunch for the next couple days" ... and this is coming from a man who is not a huge fan of pork lol, "unless it's in bacon form", he says. I definitely have to say the feedback from my husband and friends is making me love cooking.

Enough about me...

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in pork loin chops, 1/2 in thick (about 1 3/4 lb)
• 2 teaspoons salt-free extra-spicy seasoning blend (I couldn't find this so I used Cajun seasoning blend)
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded, chopped,
• 1 can (14.5 oz) organic diced tomatoes, undrained

Directions

1. Sprinkle sides of pork chops with seasoning blend. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeño; cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender. Push mixture to one side of skillet.
2. Add Pork to other side of skillet. Cook about 2 minutes, turning once, until brown. Add tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; cook 4-8 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center.

1 serving: Calories 270 (Calories from Fat 120); Total Fat 13 g (Saturated Fat 4g; Trans Fat Og); Cholesterol 90 mg; Sodium 190 mg; Total Carbohydrate 6g (Dietary Fiver 1g; Sugars 3g); Protein 32g % Daily Value: Vitamin A 4%; Vitamin C 10%; Calcium 4%; Iron 10%

I started cooking this in a skillet pan on the stove, however, regardless of the pan or the skillet, there was no way I was going to be able to fit the vegetables and the pork chops in one pan side by side. What I ended up doing was heating oil in both the skillet and the pan on the stove. I cooked the onion and jalapeño on the stove and browned the pork in the skillet. Once all of my 5 pork chops were browned I place 4 side by side and the 5th was placed on top in the middle. I then added the onion, jalapeño and tomatoes to the skillet and closed the lid. It took mine the full 8 minutes to cook thoroughly but in the end everything worked out great :) I haven't quite mastered meal planning yet, so I reheated the leftover macaroni to have with this meal. whoops!