Maple-Pecan Pork Chops

We had this for supper last night. It was pretty good. It would be better for a fall dish than a spring dish, I think. This one was also from BH & G 5 IF.

Maple-Pecan Pork Chops
4 boneless pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
salt and pepper
4 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Trim fat from pork chops. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In lg skillet, melt 1 tbsp of the butter. Cook chops over medium high heat 8-12 minutes, turning once, until chops are no longer pink and thermometer reads 160. In a small bowl, combine butter and syrup until smooth. When chops are done, remove to serving platter and spread with butter mixture. Sprinkle with pecans.

Sounds easy enough, huh? Well it was easy and yummy. I don't make things with nuts very often because I am the only one who really likes them. But this was easy to leave the nuts off the kids' chops. I asked Steve if he wanted pecans, knowing he really didn't, but I convinced him by saying it was going to be REALLY good with them. He is a good sport, so he tried it. He said it was good but he always says that so...anyway I'll keep this one because it was quite good.

Soy and Sesame Pork

We just had this tonight for supper. It turned out SO good. It tasted like something you could get in a restaurant. No really it did. I'm not being braggy because I didn't make up this recipe, I just followed directions to get it. It's from the cookbook Mom gave me for Christmas, Better Homes and Gardens 5 Ingredient Favorites (usually known, to me at least, as BH & G 5 IF...because I am too lazy to type that everytime...but now that this blog goes on Facebook I wanted to reiterate my sources so no one thinks I'm plagiarizing...is that how it's spelled? You know...copying someone else's work and taking the credit...I'm not doing that).

Soy and Sesame Pork
1 1-pound pork tenderloin
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used regular because that's what's in the fridge and I didn't want to buy reduced-sodium for the sake of 1/4 cup...plus historically I do not like things are reduced-anything)
1 tbsp ketchup
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 to 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted (you toast them by putting them on a baking sheet either in the regular oven or toaster oven @ 350 for like 3-5 minutes)

Trim fat from the meat. Place meat in large ziploc bag. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, ketchup, and garlic powder. Pour marinade over meat; seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally. Drain meat, discarding marinade. Place meat in shallow roasting pan. Roast, uncovered, @ 325 for 45 to 60 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 155. Cover meat with foil and let stand for 10 minutes (the meat's temp will rise 5 degrees during standing). Sprinkle sesame seeds onto a piece of foil. Carefully roll meat in sesame seeds. Cut meat into thin slices.

So like I said, a big hit. Even Nathan and Emma ate it. The meat was so moist and tender. The sesame seeds were a big plus for me (I love them) but Sam said that was the only part he didn't like. Emma and Nathan were like "what are these" and Steve said "It's just part of the recipe--Eat it." They did. This is definitely a keeper. Good enough for company even. One thing to note is that the Wal-mart, where I buy almost everything, only had pork tenderloin prepackaged in 1.7 lb sizes...so I made a bit more marinade to make sure. This came out a bit Chinese-y so if your family doesn't like that flavor then steer clear. But we all liked this one!!

Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Don't really like the name of this one. It should be like "Lazy Lasagna" or something. Because what if you want to make it on a weekend? Anyway this is from Kraft Food & Family Spring 2009. It was pretty easy, tasted quite good, too.

Weeknight Lasagna Toss
1 lb lean ground beef
2 green peppers, chopped (I left these out. Regular readers know why. Even if I was going to put them in, 2 entire green peppers seems a bit much...)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 2/3 cup water
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters (the bottom of the recipe says that you can use regular lasagna noodles, broken in bite size pieces, and increase water to 2 cups)
1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Brown meat in large saucepan; drain. Stir in peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water, and dressing; bring to boil. Add noodles; stir. Cover. Cook on med-low heat 10-15 minutes (if you're using regular lasagna noodles, increase cook time to 30 minutes) or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; sprinkle with cheese. Cover. Let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We had this with garlic bread. Sam didn't like the garlic bread but did like the lasagna. Emma ate it without having to be reminded to eat 100 times. We didn't even attempt with Nathan, he just had yogurt and a cereal bar. Steve liked it, and so did I. It was quite good, and we had 2 servings left over that we can use for lunches next week. So I would call this a keeper.

Peanut Butter S'more Tarts

Emma and I just made these and put them in the fridge. I have the time right now to type out the recipe while supper is simmering, so that's what I'm doing...I'll write reactions of them after we eat them. I have a 3-day weekend! Woot! So anyway these are from BH&G 5 IF.



Peanut Butter S'more Tarts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups tiny marshmallows (I'm not sure if these are littler than mini marshmallows. I used the mini size)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (I left these out since I'm the only one that likes them)
1 4 oz pkg (6) graham cracker crumb tart shells (less than $1 at the Wal-Mart)

In a small heavy saucepan (why does it have to be heavy? Whenever recipes tell you to melt chocolate, they always say heavy saucepan. I only have one weight of saucepan. I always use it and nothing bad has ever happened) melt chocolate chips over low heat until they melt. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Stir in marshmallows and peanuts. Spoon mixture into tart shells. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours (I am realizing as I type this that I did not cover them. Oops). Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.

So these were very simple to make. Sam said they were won-delicious. They were a little hard to eat because we didn't wait the full 30 minutes for them to warm up, but they were still good. Nathan said "I don't want that." And then Steve told him it was chocolate and marshmallows and Nathan said "chocolate yay!!" Emma also said it was delicious. These produced many crumbs, so be ready for that.

Gooey Chocolate-Caramel Cake

I made this for last night, to have at Autumn's scrapbooking fellowship thing. I was crossing my fingers that this would turn out good, after the fiasco with the onion dip, since many of the same people would be partaking. This was very very good, so I was like "phew." One of my many friends named Becky makes a recipe like this, I'm not sure if it's exactly like this one or not, but when I've had it before it's been very good. Hers is called something different though. This one is from BH&G 5 IF.

Gooey Chocolate-Caramel Cake
1 pkg 2 layer size chocolate cake mix
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12 oz jar caramel ice cream topping
1 8 oz carton cool whip
chopped skor bars, optional

Prepare cake mix by pkg directions and bake in 13x9 pan. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes about 1 inch apart over surface of cake. Pour sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping over cake. Spread cool whip evenly over the top. Before serving, sprinkle with skor bars. Store leftover cake in fridge for up to 24 hours.

So, I thought I had so much caramel topping in the fridge that I didn't buy any. Turns out, I had barely any. So I had to make caramel to put on top of this. Making caramel is not hard, I have a recipe from Becky (a different one) that she always makes to pour over popcorn. It is 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 stick of butter, and 1/8 cup corn syrup. Put it all in a saucepan, heat over medium heat until it is a full roiling boil, then let cool. I think using this caramel made the cake not as sticky as it would have been with commercial topping (not as "gooey," as the title of the recipe would have you think) but it was very very good. That homemade caramel I could just eat right out of the pan with a big spoon. We all had at least one piece of the cake, Steve had 2, I had 2 (but they were small ones). Overall a successful recipe. A keeper for sure.

Easy Goulash

So this, you make in the crockpot. I already have a sweet recipe for goulash, comfort food from my childhood, that involves macaroni and tomato soup, but I thought I would give this one a try, since it goes in the crockpot. It's from the BH&G 5 IF (my new abbreviation for this cookbook with a long name--to see what it is if you don't know, just read an earlier post).

Easy Goulash
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 of a 28 oz pkg (3 1/2 cups) frozen diced hash brown potatoes with green pepper and onion (they do not have this at the Wal-mart, plus Sam hates peppers. So I got plain hash brown potatoes and cut up an onion to go with them)
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used shredded Mexican blend because that's what I had in the fridge)

In a lg skillet, cook ground beef over medium high heat until brown. Drain off fat. In the crockpot, combine all ingredients except cheese. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Turn off crockpot and sprinkle with cheese. Let stand about 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

So this was actually quite good. It ended up looking kind of like chili but without beans. The kids weren't crazy about it, I think because of the tomatoes, but I only had a couple of big chunks in mine, and I picked theirs out for them because that's the kind of mom I am. So I think we will keep this one. It was easy and made the kitchen smell good all day and was yummy too.

Asian Chicken and Vegetables

Well I must say that this week has been a confidence-shaker, as far as my cooking abilities go. First the snafu with the dip on Friday, and then last night at Bible Study nobody ate my peanut butter bars. I brought a whole plate of them, and maybe like 2 were gone. I brought the rest home and told Steve I'm going to hang up my apron, because things are going down hill. I don't even wear an apron, but I think you see what I'm saying. I do have a couple aprons in a drawer but I never wear them. Anyway...

Last night we had this recipe, from the BH&G 5 Ingredient Faves cookbook. It was pretty good. Steve liked it, the kids all ate it (they are getting better about eating real chicken--well Sam was always good about it, but Emma and Nathan are getting better about it).

Asian Chicken and Vegetables
8 chicken drumsticks and/or thighs
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder (this cost $6.85 at Hannaford--yikes! But it seems like a lot of the recipes in this book use it so I decided to go for it--if you want to borrow 1 1/2 tsp of it from me, you can--for $1.00--hee hee)
1/3 cup bottled plum sauce or sweet and sour sauce
1 14-16 oz bag frozen stir fry vegetables

Skin chicken. Arrange chicken in a 13x9 baking dish. Brush with oil; sprinkle with 1 tsp of the five-spice powder. Bake, uncovered, @ 400 for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 tsp five-spice powder and the sweet and sour sauce. Add frozen vegetables; toss to coat. Push chicken to one side of the baking pan. Add vegetable mixture to the other side of the pan. Bake, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes longer or until chicken is tender and no longer pink (180 degrees), stirring vegetables once during baking. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken and vegetables to serving platter.

So one thing I like about all the recipes in this cookbook so far is that they are pretty simple to make. This took basically no effort at all to make. I don't think it tasted particularly Asian, really, in spite of the expensive spice, but maybe this is what real Asian food tastes like, as opposed to the Chinese buffet stuff that I am used to. So this was okay, but I don't think good enough to save. Because I have lots and lots of chicken recipes that are so so good. So this was a good change I guess but doesn't make the cut for a keeper. But if you want to try it, you can, and borrow some spice, at the previously mentioned terms. =o)