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!

Sloppy Joes - Lazy Day

Today was a bit of a lazy day. Last night we had a pretty big thunder storm and I found out my 11 month old German Shepard is afraid of thunder. My husband sleeps through everything so I got to deal with my whining 70+ lb baby lol. My friend Mandy and her daughter came over to drop off their fish because I am fish sitting while they are visiting her parents, and I decided to whip up a quick dinner. I have to say, there's nothing quite like the approval of a 4-yr old... especially when it's over Sloppy Joes :).

I have made homemade Sloppy Joes before, however, tonight's recipe can be found on the back of a Sloppy Joe mix packet.

Ingredients

• McCormick Sloppy Joes Seasoning Mix
• 1 lb lean ground beef or turkey, I'm a turkey fan myself,
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 1/4 cups water
• hamburger buns (I use Rudi's Gluten Free Bread)

*substitute 15 oz can tomato sauce can be used to replace paste AND water. This is important, because the first time I did this I used tomato sauce and water... and ordered pizza. =D

Check back tomorrow for a recipe and write up on Cajun Smothered Pork Chops.

Homemade Chicken Tenders

Friday night I was short on time, dinner ideas and ingredients, so I decided to make homemade chicken tenders. I've made them before for myself, but I have never made them for my husband before and I was a little worried about how he'd feel about the gluten free flour.... He didn't even notice! I have to say, it was one of the best dinners we've had in a while and it's so fast!

I absolutely love this meal, unfortunately, I more or less "wing it" when cooking this. The next time I make it I will make sure to keep better track of ingredients and time, however, I choose to post the "approximate" recipe for those interested now.

I paired this recipe with broccoli, Annies Macaroni & Cheese, Rice Pasta & Cheddar for myself and Kraft Macaroni for my husband.

Ingredients

• oil
• chicken breast
• all-purpose gluten free flour
• 1-2 eggs
• 2 bowls
• 1 medium frying pan/skillet

*You may notice I do not have exact ingredients for this recipe. This recipe is something I learned from my mom and adapted to my gluten free lifestyle. The amount of chicken depends on how many people you want to cook for. I bought pre-cut chicken breast tenders, however, if you buy 2 chicken breasts you should be able to slice them up into enough tenders for 2-3 people depending on the appetites. If you have a family of big appetites I would recommend 1 chicken breast per person.


Directions

1. In the first bowl, crack your eggs. (1 egg should be sufficient for 2 chicken breasts.)
2. Fill your second bowl about 1 inch with your all-purpose gluten free flour.
3. Cover the bottom of your pan with oil and put it on the stove on medium heat. You want to make sure not to make it too hot in order to cook your chicken thoroughly without burning the outside.
4. Slice your chicken breasts into tenders and spice them with your favorite spices (for this recipe I gave each tender a lighting coating of salt and pepper on either side).
5. Take each chicken tender and dip both sides in the egg, making sure to get a decent covering on both sides.
6. After saturating in the egg, place the tender in the flour, make sure to get a decent covering here as well. *If you don't think your tenders are covered enough you may let them sit for a moment and then repeat the process.
7. When your tenders have a decent covering of flour place in the oiled pan. they should take about 5 mins on each side to fry, however, make sure to keep an eye on it and cook until juices run clear, or thickest part of chicken is cooked through when cut.

Chicken & Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce

So today was "Chicken and Avocado with Sweet Pepper Sauce" day. This is one of the recipes I picked, however it was geared more towards my husbands taste than mine. I like this recipe, but I wouldn't put it in my top ten, or "Recipes to commit to memory" category, however, my husband on the other hand, could not stop talking about it! We had mashed potatoes with this and he not only had seconds, but tried to scrape up every last bit with the mash potatoes.

Ingredients

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 bell pepper (any color), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 apricot spreadable fruit, melted

1/4 ripe avocado, sliced

 

Directions

1. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat chicken breasts, broth, garlic powder, pepper and bell pepper over medium-high heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut. Remove chicken; keep warm.
2. Pour broth mixture into blender; add spreadable fruit. Cover and blend until bell pepper pieces are pureed. Slice chicken breasts crosswise. Arrange chicken and avocado slices on plates; top with sweet pepper sauce.

Now for those of you who know me, I'm no Julia Child and I seem to have a reading level of maybe 2nd grade, when it comes to cook books (I'm working on that). I forgot to melt the apricot spreadable fruit, and I accidentally bought thinly sliced chicken breasts at our grocery store and had to use 4 instead of 2 regular chicken breasts. Regardless of my mistakes, it came out rather well with the only real issue being the chicken breasts were a little dryer than I'd hoped. As I said previously my husband absolutely loved this and finished the meal with "I demand this meal to be on repeat".

Next time I think I will make sure to get full chicken breasts instead to help with the dryness and distribution of the spices.

*Disclaimer: I forgot to take a photo before my husband got to it and...I'm better known for taste than presentation! The picture below is my husband's seconds. I hadn't planned for seconds so he just took one of the thin fillets put a chunk of avocado on it and poured the sauce on top!

Turning Over A New Leaf

At dinner tonight my husband asked, "Whatever happened to that blog you were writing?" and I thought about it for a minute and realized I'd stopped posting because, well, I stopped cooking anything interesting. I didn't cook anything worth mentioning very often and when I did I didn't remember to post.

Yesterday I decided to turn over a new leaf. We are going on a money and food diet so I decided to try and go the next month (or until our anniversary trip) without eating out... breakfast, lunch or dinner. I know that may not sound hard, but for us, unfortunately, it is. I try to cook more often than not, but at least twice a week laziness gets the better of us and we go out to eat.

This past weekend, however, I spent a better part of my days going through nearly every cook book I have finding recipes. I have one for almost every day for the next two weeks, starting this past Saturday. I have cooked every meal since Saturday's lunch and I have a bunch more planed and I am pretty stoked!

I plan to update my blog with all of this recipes, new, or old, just in case anyone was in a rut like I was!

Fudge Cookies

If I do say so myself, these cookies are divine! I first made them with a family friend I uses to babysit. He and his sister love to cook and when he came over to help me pack I let him pick out a recipe. I am so glad he picked this one!!

Ingredients
2 packages (12 ounces each) semisweet chocolate chips divided
1/2 cup (1 stick ) butter, cut into chunks
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325*F

2. Combine 1 package chocolate chips and butter in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30 seconds: stir. Repeat as necessary until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly.

3. Beat eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until blended and frothy. Add sugar; beat until thick. Add chocolate mixture; beat until well blended. Add flour blend, cocoa, baking powder, xantham gum and salt( beat until combined. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.

4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 325*F. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until cookies are firm. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove to wore tacks; cool completely.

* makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

Blog Neglection

O my! I feel like a bad parent who should be turned in to social services. Earlier this summer I fell behind on my blog and I kept thinking, well, I'm so far behind it will take a while to catch up so i'll do it this weekend, then it was the next weekend and, well, now it's November.

From here on out this will be a new blog, daily recipes from my family and I!

I will apologize in advance because there will be a short interlude sometime between December 26 and January 2. My husban (yes husband!!) and I will be driving from my parents house in Sparks, NV, to his parents house in Rosenberg, TX and then heading up to our new home (where we will finally live together after 5 years!!!!) in Fayetteville, NC.

First recipe will come this evening... I'm thinking dessert!