Drunken Pork Chops

I am not a huge fan of pork, but this recipe is so stinkin good! It is probably one of my new favorites.


Drunken Pork Chops

5-6 pork chops (I have used bone in and boneless, I prefer boneless)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle of beer (I have tried dark beer, and lighter beer, and the BEST was Coors!)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup ketchup

Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Season pork with salt and pepper, and just brown both sides. Do NOT cook all the way thru.

Combine beer, ketchup and brown sugar and pour over chops and simmer for 45 minuets. Remove pork from skillet and thicken the sauce. Combine 1\4 c water with 1 T of cornstarch in a small cup and pour in sauce and stir until just thick. Put chops back in and flip to coat.

I serve this with mashed potatoes. So good!!

Working on it

I really am going to get this blog back up and going. I am going to start making menus again, and posting recipes and pictures. I am. Really. Eventually.

Crock-pot Pork Chops and Taters

I haven't blogged for a while..... It's summer, it's hot, and I don't feel like cooking!!  That is why I LOVE my crock-pot. This is a recipe I found in a crock-pot recipe book. I chose it because it only had a few ingredients, and it ended up being one of my favorite recipes, even tho I am not generally a pork fan.




 Crock-Pot Pork Chops and Taters

 6-8 boneless pork chops
3-4 (ish) pounds of potatoes ( I like to use either red or yellow potatoes)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
Pepper to taste

~ Just throw everything in your crock-pot and cook 6 hours on low. YUM!
~ If you really aren't a fan of pork, chicken can be substituted. Still YUM!!

Taco Seasoning

I've always bought packaged taco seasoning, and would not be happy when I wanted tacos and didn't have any. Then one day I decided to make some of my own, just to see. I will NEVER buy taco seasoning again! Homemade is so much better, and SO much cheaper!!



Taco Seasoning

2 tablespoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons onion powder
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Salt to taste

This makes enough for about 3 pounds of ground hamburger.  Add about 1/3 cup of water and enjoy!

Pair this with fresh salsa, and you are in taco heaven!! :)

Cheater Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mayo

I am not a big fist eater. At all. I will however eat fish sticks, and breaded fillets (like Long John Silvers!). Hubby saw a commercial for frozen fish fillets, and they said they would be great for fish tacos! Hmm I thought, that would be something different. So I bought some frozen beer battered fish fillets, baked them and used them for fish tacos.

Usually this wouldn't warrant a whole post, however, I discovered a little magic to add to these tacos....

Back up about a month ago. Hubby and I went out to eat at Granite City. I ordered shrimp tacos. I don't know why I did this. I don't like shrimp that much, but they sounded good so I ordered them. They were so good! They came with this sauce that was amazing. I didn't really know what it was, but I was determined to duplicate it.

  Then I forgot about it........
Until Tuesday night. I was looking for a sauce to put on my fish tacos. I searched fish tacos on Allrecipes.com, and was looking thru the posts and came across a Chipotle Mayo sauce. I thought that is sounded good so I tried it.

Chipotle Mayo Sauce

First buy one of these


1/2 c. mayo
2 peppers
1 T. adobo sauce
1/4 cayenne pepper

Put in blender and pulse until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Long story short. It tasted almost exactly like the stuff at Granite City! WHOOO HOOO!!

 

Chicken and Spinach Pasta (Even the kids love it!)

If you are looking for a yummy way to get your kids (or yourself) to eat spinach, this is it! We love this recipe. The very first time I made it, my sweet Hubby said, "I would totally order this in a restaurant!" That is a big compliment to me. I was a bit weary of it at first because it seems like a ton of spinach, and you can totally see it in there, but the kids didn't complain once! YAY!

Chicken and Spinach Pasta
6 T. olive oil
6 cloves of garlic; minced
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
3 boneless, skinless, chicken breast; cubed
salt and pepper
1 lb. penne pasta (I use whole wheat)
5 oz fresh spinach
1 T. basil
6 T. lemon juice
Parmesan cheese


*Heat oil, garlic and crushed red pepper in a small bowl in the microwave for about 1 minuet.

* Pour 1-2 T. of the flavored oil into a skillet. Cook chicken on med. heat until done. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add spinach, cook until wilted, about a minuet. Don't worry, it looks like a lot, but it really cooks down!

 See....... :)

Meanwhile, cook your pasta and drain well, and return to pot.
*Add chicken to pasta along with basil, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese.
*Stir in the rest of the flavored oil. Toss until well combined.

See all the steamy yummy-ness!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

This is a pseudo knock-off of Minsky's BBQ Chicken Pizza. My friend told me once to order it, and have them put cream cheese on it. It sounded questionable, but I did and LOVED it.

BBQ Chicken Pizza
2 c. shredded chicken
2 c. BBQ sauce (I use KC Masterpiece original)
1/2 c. cilantro ; chopped
1/4 red onion ; chopped
2 c. mozzarella cheese
cream cheese
pizza crust of your choice

I like to put chicken and bbq sauce in the crock pot and let it cook for several hours.
Spread cream cheese on pizza crust.
Top with cilantro

 Spread chicken and BBQ mixture

 Top with cheese and bake!  YUM!