Easy Dinner: Pan Fried Maple Pork Chops

Pork chops and applesauce have been a favorite combination since, well, forever. I wanted to find a way to keep the flavor combo but add some more texture to the plate. This cooks up quickly without a million different steps and it's flavorful and delicious, so it's a winner for this Mom. Hope you enjoy!

What You'll Need

4-6 bone-in pork chops

salt & pepper

cinnamon sugar

maple syrup

2 Cortland or McIntosh apples

1/2 large onion, wedged then sliced

extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

*optional rosemary

*optional slivered almonds 

Season each side of pork chop with salt and pepper. Let sit 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, core and cut apples in 1/4 inch slices- sometimes I leave the skin on, other times I peel it, so just do it how you like it

Halve onion, slice in similar fashion to apples; cut wedges in half

Heat butter on med-high in large skillet pan. Cook apple slices for 3-5 minutes; add onion & almonds, if using them. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp maple syrup, stirring gently to coat. Sprinkle 1 tsp cinnamon sugar, stirring more. Cook about 5 minutes more. Remove from pan before getting too soft, and place in a bowl or pie plate while you cook the chops.

I've made this with real maple syrup and with the store stuff - both were good!

Drizzle olive oil in same skillet; add pork chops. Sprinkle some rosemary over each pork chop (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't). The chops I had were very large, so I could only cook two at a time. You want a nice, brown sear on the chop, so don't turn it too quickly; it needs to cook about 6 minutes on each side. The centers were too pink after this "first round," so I flipped them over again and put a cover on the skillet, which was no problem since they had already gotten seared.

When the pork chops are cooked through, it's time to plate. Scoop some of the apples and onion onto the chop, and serve promptly. This pairs well with mashed potatoes or rice, and steamed carrots.

 I know the lighting is pretty bad- it's dark by five here (which is waaay better than when it's dark by four in December!!), and I don't exactly have tons of free time to make dinner ahead just to photograph it...I've got hungry people demanding food, ha!

I'm sure you could use boneless pork as well, but I prefer the bone-in chop for this recipe

So good!

For other quick & easy dinners, check out:

Hearty Crock-Pot Beef Stew

 It's a snow day today and we're making this!

Tangy Pork Loin

Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Enjoy!

EASY BASIC QUICHE: FAST PREP & DELICIOUS

I used to think quiches were a little bit complicated and kind of a pain to put together. Not anymore! Making a basic quiche this way is one of the most forgiving, easiest dishes to throw together.

The most time consuming part is cooking the bacon, if you'd like bacon in the first place. I normally pair this quiche with BLT's for dinner, so yes, bacon is a must. I made this last week in the early afternoon since we had to be at baseball play-offs and the dance recital by 5pm. It's a great make-ahead dish. Slice some tomatoes, shred some lettuce, and toast some bread for the BLT's, and you've got dinner ready in less than five minutes.

I stopped measuring the ingredients years ago, but I'll give you some to refer to, and you can easily make adjustments based on what you like or don't like.

What You'll Need:

4 large eggs

3/4 cup half and half, light cream, or whole milk (or a combination of these)

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese

4-5 whole mushrooms, chopped

fresh baby spinach, chopped (thaw first if using frozen)

1/4 medium onion, chopped 

4 slices bacon

salt and pepper to taste

nutmeg, optional

pastry crust*

*I rarely make my own for this recipe, and get a 2-pack deep dish frozen crust

What You'll Do:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

• Whisk together eggs, milk or cream, add salt & pepper; set aside

• Layer cheeses, vegetables & bacon on bottom of pastry crust- this way makes all the difference! No messy, clumpy mixtures to contend with. Carefully pour egg mixture over all, and ingredients magically "float" to the top and throughout; sprinkle with nutmeg if desired.

• Bake for about 40 minutes or until eggs look set and crust begins to brown. Lots of time, I end up turning the oven off and simply leaving the quiches in for a while. This is a very forgiving dish!

Serve warm or cool- cold leftovers are great the next day, too, though in this family...not so many leftovers. ;)

I know these photos aren't the greatest, but the day I made these was particularly hectic so I was in rush rush rush mode. Thankfully, that is the exception and not the norm around here!

EASY CHICKEN STEW & DUMPLINGS

I thought I'd share a recipe with you that I've been making for nearly twenty years now. Whoa. That sentence makes me sound (and fee!) like an old granny lady. I guess I am getting old, ha! Last night I shared on IG how yesterday was our engagement anniversary, and when I wrote out the date- April 7, 1997... yikes! That was a loooong time ago! I'll be shopping for dentures and Depends before I know it, sigh.

This is a quick and easy main dish and takes about a half hour from start to finish, less if you've got the chicken already prepared. It's great year-round, too. It's warm and comforting in the colder months, and it keeps me from having to turn on the oven in the hotter ones when we still need to, oh I don't know, eat something other than cereal.

 INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN STEW

14 oz chicken stock

about 2/3 cup water

small bag frozen mixed vegetables

1 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

1-2 cups cooked chicken, cubed *

oregano, parsley, thyme & basil

dash garlic powder

salt & pepper 

fresh basil for garnish, optional

1. In large saucepan, combine broth, vegetables, water (I fill the stock up about halfway; if I use more water, I'm sure to compensate by adding a bit more spices), herbs & spices. Bring to boiling.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, gently blend milk and flour with fork. Add to vegetable mixture and stir. Next add cubed chicken and stir. Reduce heat to medium and cook until mixture thickens- this may take several minutes. If the mixture still won't thicken or get bubbly, stir in a bit more flour.

3. While stew is thickening, prepare dumplings.

INGREDIENTS FOR DUMPLINGS

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

2 tbsp cooking oil

dash salt

a few shakes of dillweed and parsley

4. Combine dumpling ingredients to form a thick doughy mixture. Don't over-stir. If mixture seems too dry, add milk; too wet, add flour- this recipe is forgiving, which comes in handy when I'm making a bigger batch than usual. Drop dumpling mixture onto bubbling stew with either a cookie scoop or a spoon. 

5. Cover mixture and simmer over low heat 10-15 minutes. DO NOT LIFT COVER while simmering or the dumplings will not fully cook. Serve promptly. Enjoy!

*We cook chicken for this dish in a covered pan in about an inch of water over medium-low heat.

**If you're really short on time, you can combine about 1 cup biscuit mix and 1/3 cup milk for the dumplings; add herbs to dough mixture.

PS: This is Isabelle's basil, or hazel, as she calls it, and she is quite proud of it. She may have been a bit overzealous when pinching one of the leaves off, ha ha.  =)

Happy Wednesday!

EASY SUNDAY DINNER IDEAS

Good Saturday morning! The sun is shining and I hear we might even get up into the 30's today. Woot! Last night we had Jonah's birthday party- it was so much fun! What a great group of boys. I thought, however, that I was going to enjoy a quiet and lazy morning today... but then I woke up at four, ended up making blueberry coffeecake, and generally puttered around doing a little of this and that. Until the quiet ended. =)

Today I'm sharing some easy fix 'em & forget 'em recipes, which have come in handy on Sundays. I've gone to church my whole life, and growing up, I remember always coming home to the smell of something delicious after Sunday service. We enjoyed a big, sit-down meal around one o'clock, sometimes with one set of grandparents or the other. It was just a really special time. In our family now, we typically enjoy a larger Sunday evening meal, but since joining an afternoon Bible Study, this hasn't been working out quite so well, as dinner doesn't get eaten (or prepared) until much later into the evening. And that actually feels a little bit stressful, not exactly how I'd like to welcome a brand new week.

Here are some recipes, all of which can be fixed ahead of time, left in the oven with the timer set, and be ready for us when we're back home around noon.So now I'd like to begin this midday tradition with our family. It's certainly easier with colder weather since we're already sort of stuck indoors, but come summertime, I'm sure I'll happily trade in oven-cooked meals for a cold picnic lunch at the beach or mountains.

Easy Scalloped Potatoes

When this dish is the main meal, I add cubed ham.

Veggies: sauteed asparagus (10 min); steamed carrots (8-10 min in microwave)

Sides: cottage cheese; canned or fresh fruit

Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Stew

I like to prepare the ingredients sometime on Saturday to save time in the morning.

Sides: rolls or bread for dipping; fruit

Tangy Pork Loin

Truly a fix it and forget it dish- toss a few sweet potatoes into the oven to bake at the same time

Veggies: potatoes/ sweet potatoes

buttered peas & corn (frozen, steamed) or salad

Sides: cottage cheese; applesauce

Slow Cooker Ribs

Veggies: green beans (or green bean casserole); steamed corn

Sides: corn bread or rolls; applesauce; "pink stuff" or cottage cheese

Aw. I came across this photo from a few years ago as I was looking through the files- we'd had my Mom and Dad over for dinner, and then we headed outside to make S'mores since it was such a gorgeous afternoon. Boy oh boy am I looking forward to green grass and cute little sundresses and eating outside again!

Quick & Easy Dinner: Tangy Pork Loin

Ugh. Has this been a rough season of colds, flu bugs, back spasms (seriously!), and fevers in our household. Thankfully, we're normally very healthy, but we've been hit by our share of mack trucks so to speak for the past couple of months. And with the temperatures rarely venturing beyond 7 degrees since December...yeah... is it summer yet? Pleeeeaaase!?!?!

In other news, I've been reading lots of fashion blogs lately. Not the high-end Vogue kind of fashion, more the normal but nice, everyday kind. While I would not call myself a high maintenance kind of gal by any stretch of the imagination, I do like to look my best, as most of my friends do too. But sometimes it's hard to find the right balance of what's appropriate and cute versus what just, well, isn't. Is the length too short, the neckline too low, the fit too tight...? I want what I wear to honor the Lord first and foremost, and I believe that dressing more modestly also honors my husband. But I also want to be stylish and modern, not frumpy or hidden beneath a moo moo (is that even spelled correctly, because even the word looks unattractive).

Moving on. Not sure why I launched into the fashion dilemma for this post. Must be he Nyquil talking.

I don't know about you, but thinking about meal prep and shopping lists- much less actually making meals-  when I'm sick seems somewhat torturous. I have to note that my husband is VERY helpful and completely competent in this area, but that's kind of my job. Although my boys are pretty great in the kitchen, too! Here Jonah is earning culinary arts credit, I mean, making yummy yeast rolls.

This guy, on the other hand, not so helpful. Please don't judge me. I am fully aware how gross that must look. In my defense, I was nearly done and he is just so cute and...okay, I don't really have any defense.  I digress. Again. (Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Stew Recipe)

Here is one fabulous dinner that doesn't require measuring, tricky ingredients or prep, helping hands (or paws) or even any thinking. Win win.

Easy Prep Tangy Pork Loin with Baked Potatoes

1-2 lb pork loin

olive oil

rosemary, optional

salt and pepper

French's mustard

Dijon mustard

flour

potatoes ** / ***

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After washing and pricking potatoes, place on top rack to bake.

Place pork loin in baking dish, make a few narrow cuts/slashes in top, and sprinkle salt, pepper & rosemary over top; drizzle with olive oil. Next, coat pork with a dusting of flour. Squirt mustards over top. 

  With a spoon or pastry brush, spread across top.

Pop in the oven and completely forget about it for the next hour or so.

**Instead of baking potatoes, you could quarter them and place them in the baking dish alongside the pork loin- be sure to drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. (When I'm this sick, fooling around with knives and slippery potatoes isn't such a great idea...)

***You can also bake nutrient-rich sweet potatoes, though I wouldn't recommend quartering them and baking alongside the pork loin.

After an hour or so, I check on the potatoes and the pork. Sometimes they're ready within a few minutes, and other times, like last night, they require another twenty minutes. I made some deeper slices in the pork loin so the insides would cook evenly at this point- don't do this too early or the pork will dry out.

Voila

No, sorry, I don't have a pretty picture with the baked potatoes- or even a pretty plated picture of the entire meal- but I think we all know what a nice baked potato and steamed spinach look like. Pop some organic baby spinach in the microwave or into a steamer, and you've got a satisfying, nutritious meal with very little prep...no thinking required!  =)

I have a few other good and easy dishes like this that have saved me on more than one occasion. And there's always take-out, because sometimes...a girl just needs some take-out.

I was writing this yesterday but never finished. Oops. I'm happy to report that I feel halfway decent this morning! Happy Wednesday! (HA, my kids just informed me that it's actually Thursday...baby steps...)

Oh, and one last thing: things are getting springy and summery in the shop...here's a little post about it.

Scalloped Potatoes: The Ultimate Comfort Food

 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit...

1 Peter 3:18

Today is Good Friday. I'm forever thankful for a savior who loves us just as we are, flaws and all, and who wants nothing more than to call us His own. I know lots of people think that God might not love them because they aren't perfect. That isn't true; He knows we aren't perfect and He loves us!

With our Spring weather teaser last week and the now near-freezing temps this week, I've got comfort food back on my mind. Scalloped Potatoes fit the bill perfectly. I didn't start making Scalloped Potatoes until recently, mainly after I bought a cookbook dedicated to solely to spuds. (One of those $1.99 Clearance deals, which not only screams, "Buy me, buy me" but simply jumps straight into my cart. True story.)

Anyhoo.

They are so, so good. The top gets slightly crunchy while the underneath layers get soft and tender and creamy. Yum! I altered the recipe slightly by avoiding heavy cream and using a lighter alternative.

YOU WILL NEED:
4-5 potatoes, peeled, sliced thin
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt & pepper 
1 cup half and half (or light cream)
1/2 stick butter
parsley, fresh or jar
ham, diced (optional)

This is the longest part of the process: after you peel and slice the potatoes, let them sit in very cold water for at least a half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

You don't need to use fresh parsley, but it sure looks pretty.

To begin, coat the baking dish with butter. I used a large ceramic 9x13 dish; a heavy 2-quart dish would work, too. Then sprinkle some half the chopped garlic around the edges/sides of the dish; layer with potatoes. Add a splash of cream to cover potatoes, 4-5 pats of butter randomly placed, salt and pepper, a few more garlic bits, and a sprinkling of parsley.

If you add chopped ham, layer it with everything else.

Repeat these layers until all the potatoes are used.

You don't need to cover it at all. Bake for about an hour. Edges of the pan will brown, but you know the potatoes are done when they begin to brown.

Turn up the oven to 400F for the last 10 or so minutes if you want a nice browned topping; I didn't do that this time.

Sprinkle with more parsley and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Since I made slow-cooker ribs, I omitted the ham and used the potatoes as a side dish. It's more suitable as a main dish when you add the ham.

During the throes of soccer season, we learned that you can set the oven temp to 325F and bake for up to two hours, slightly longer. Delicious and versatile? Yes, please!

Check out this Hash Browns recipe for another great potato option.

Later this morning, the boys and I will be making these yummy things...