Pork Chops with Onion Gravy and Lemon Rice

Hi girls (I think my vast readership is still all-female at this point). On Thursday we had these two things, from Simple & Delicious Mar/Apr 2008. This was quite a tasty meal. It smelled really good while it was cooking, too.

Pork Chops with Onion Gravy
4 boneless pork loin chops
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 envelope pork gravy mix
1/8 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup water

Sprinkle pork chops with pepper and salt. In a large skillet, cook chops and onion over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until chops are lightly browned, drain (I had nothing left in the pan to drain). Add broth; bring to a boil (which takes like 2 seconds). Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 14-16 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, turning once. In a small bowl, whisk the gravy mix, garlic powder, and water. Pour over the pork. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 3-4 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. 4 servings

Lemon Rice
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 tbsp butter
1 to 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel (I left this out...wasn't to crazy about the sounds of it, so I left it out...so I guess this recipe should really just be called Rice)
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Dash salt
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley (omitted)
2 tbsp diced pimientos (omitted)
1/8 tsp pepper

In a small saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Stir in the rice, butter, lemon peel, garlic, and salt; cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, pimientos, and pepper. 4 servings.

Okay so even though I adapted the rice quite significantly, it was still so so good. I think it will be the new way I make instant rice, unless it's Rice A Roni (the San Francisco treat). The rice was almost tastier than the pork chops. Which were also very good. Emma ate almost all of hers, Sam was literally licking the rice off the table which fell off his plate (so gross and immediately halted)(but still made me feel good), and Steve took the leftovers to work yesterday. I cut Nathan's pork chops into little tiny pieces like they have in the Lunchables Jr, which he eats, but he was not fooled. Probably I should have saved one of those little plastic trays, then maybe he wouldn't have realized the difference. Oh well, both of these were keepers for the rest of us, anyway.