Friday, November 7, 2014

November 7, 2014

This week we finally have a new keeper dinner recipe!!!  Yay!!!  Pork chops with tomatoes and onions; talk about delicious!  And to add to the fabulousness this was an incredibly easy recipe to pull together.  We will definitely be making this one again.

We also made a new side dish this week, Broccoli Cheese Bites.  Ryan and I thought these were really good, The O-man thought they were okay, Miss H tried them but didn't like them (not a surprise since she doesn't like melted cheese) and Lima Bean wouldn't even try them.  They didn't earn keeper status but thought a link to this recipe might be worth a look for some of you.  Let me know if you do try them!

I haven't even thought about the meal plan for the week ahead so I am not sure what is on the menu.  Maybe a cinnamon bread?  Wouldn't that be fantastic in the morning?  Or I used to love Corn Muffin bread that Thomas' brand made years ago.  Apparently not enough of us loved it because they stopped producing it, but I wonder if I might be able to replicate a similar bread?  Hmmm.....  I guess check in next week and see what I ended up testing out!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipe
Pork Chops with Tomatoes and Onions

Quick Pork Chops with Tomatoes and Onions


Ingredients
* 2 tsp oil
* 6 boneless pork chops
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 small onion, sliced thin
* 1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1 cup beef broth
* 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
* 1/8 tsp dried basil
* 1/8 tsp dried oregano
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions
1. In a large nonstick skillet heat the oil over medium to medium high heat.   Pat dry the pork chops and then season with salt and pepper.  In the skillet brown the pork chops on both sides.  Remove from the pan.
2. Add the onions to the now empty skillet and cook 3-5 minutes or until they are tender and beginning to caramelize.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, add the pork chops back to the skillet. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, and then flip the pork chops and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Test for doneness (when the pork is cut into the juice should be clear).
4. Place the pork on a platter and top with the tomato and onion sauce.  Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.  Enjoy!

Notes
This was incredibly easy and delicious!  It could easily be put together even on a hectic weeknight.  The cooking time when the pork goes back into the sauce may be a bit longer or shorter depending on the thickness of your chops.  Mine were of average thickness (a little more than 1/2 inch each), so this timing described in the directions worked well for our pork chops.  The boys asked for mashed potatoes so that was our side dish (along with both roasted and steamed broccoli - so everyone would eat their veggies!).  We will definitely make these again.