Parmesan Almond pork chops

SO good!  That's all I can say about it!

Pound out some boneless pork chops and salt and pepper them.  Then dip them in egg and then in a mixture of parmesan cheese and almonds all ground up together so it's a fine bread crumb texture.  Heat up some olive oil in a skillet.  When it's hot, turn it down to medium and put the pork chops in for 4 minutes.  Then flip and cook 4 minutes more.  They will be a golden brown.

We had it with fresh steamed broccoli and cheesy rice.

The pork chops were the star of dinner for sure!  And they were moist.  Something rather rare in a pork chop dinner.

Cheerio.

Noodles and Beef with sauce

Homecooked was the theme I went with tonight.  We had side pork, chopped up and fried till crispy with olive oil, garlic, and thyme.  Then I removed that from the pan and put in cubes of tip steak that had been tenderized.  I added chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Then took those out.  With the remaining juices, cooked some chopped baby carrots and then some mushrooms.  Added it all together with a jar of garlic spaghetti sauce and peas.  Serve the sauce over linguini noodles with some cilantro sprinkled ontop.  Thank you Rachael Ray!
I also whipped together some butter, garlic cream cheese cooking sauce, and cottege cheese and spooned that over pieces of cheese rolls.  Broiled it.  YUM!  Cottege cheese really works nicely in a garlic bread form.  You should try it.  It melts nicely!
All served with a side of what????  Salad, of course.  A spinach salad with tomatoes, bacon, and smoked gouda, and a dressing of Paula Dean's peach dressing.

Honestly, I hated the peas in it.  I think it de-elevated the dish.  Something warm in the stomach, though.  The cilantro made it extra good, but I don't think I would have liked it if there was not cilantro ontop.  Cilantro always makes things taste more fresh and delicious.

Cheesy scalloped potato and ham soup

Remember that smokey scalloped potato and ham with pecan bacon green beans we had?
We have TONS of leftovers.  Miraculously, the green beans got all eaten up that first night.  Otherwise, a plate full of potatoes and like half of the ham!  What can I say, when I get a ham, I get a big one.  Make it worth my while...
I found this quart size carton of Wisconsin cheese soup, which on its own is horrid.  I mean, so fake cheesy with no depth of flavor!  So I poured that into the saucepan, added scallions, salt, pepper, the smokey scalloped potatoes, a bunch of diced ham, garlic, and some more smoked paprika.  Then added some fresh grated parmesan in the end because it still lacked a richness I was trying to achieve.
Mmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!  The girls thought it was weird, but my honey was like, "is there a lot more of this left?"  I told him "enough a big lunch for you tomorrow."  He smiled, relieved.  I'm so happy he liked it!  And it took literally 15 minutes to dice and chop and fix up.  So kuddos to the gross Wisconsin cheese soup in a quart size carton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Anything with cheese can be great.

eggs n spinach

I got up this morning and cleaned the house, studied for meeting, did my talk...so I thought that while the baby is sleeping I deserved a nice breakfast for myself.
Wilted spinach with bacon and eggs and parmesan cheese ontop.
Mmmmmm.
There's nothing like the feeling of being a mommy and making a special breakfast just for yourself, eating it while drinking a fresh hot cup of Donut Shop coffee while watching a girly show.
I think I deserve it today.  I'm taking care of myself for the moment.
Until later when I have to clean.
But for now, the time is mine, and I'm gonna love it.

ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans

So this is no ordinary supper.  Sounds like it, right?
We bought a spiral cut ham because, well, people, let's face it.  They're deliciously thin and the edges are all carmelized and chewy.  Delicious.
Then I made homemade scalloped potatoes!  My sister used to always make them and I thought she was a kitchen whiz for it!  But I found this recipe with shallots, half and half, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, potatoes, parmesan cheese, and sharp cheddar cheese.  SO good and cheesy!  And the paprika added so much.  It wasn't that strong either, but the aftertaste was to die for!
Then for the green beans, the real star of the show.........
fresh green beans, crispy bacon, carmelized onions, crushed red pepper, and toasted pecans.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
I've never ever loved green beans so much!
So this is a newsflash for me-*try something new with veggies!*  Next on my list, cauliflower and artichoke sauteed.
I still get the Rachael Ray magazine.  RR and I are tight, like this-
But now I get the Food Network magazine.  It's quite a bit more expensive, but still SO worth it.  There are some to DIE for recipes in there!  I'm saving the copies.  If anyone wants to take them, let me know.  Seriously, either Rachael Ray or Food Network.  I got em here for you.  Oooh, and I want to try creamed corn ice cream.  With carmel corn ontop.  Yeah JIM....don't knock it till you try it.  And I'll let you know when I do.  It's going to be fireworks in my mouth.

More chicken tacos

I am realizing how much I make tacos, different kinds of tacos.  So I actually am a very boring cook.  I make:  burgers, tacos, pizza...pretty normal stuff.  Just things with a twist on them.  So tonight I made aioli sauce for the tacos.  Sour cream, milk, garlic, salt, pepper, avacado, cilantro, and green onions.  And the regular old corn and bean salad with tomatoes, black beans, corn, cilantro.  Of course....now that I've had grilled tortillas, I always grill the tortillas.  It's like a whole new flavor and chewiness!!!!  It's totally worth the few extra minutes and as long as the stovetop grill is hot anyway-why not?!?!  We also had some pomegranate cherry crystal light concoction, except worse because it's not even Crystal Light, it's another strange obscure brand.  The girls love the deep red color of it.
All I can think of is what would happen if they spilled it.
And now all I can see is big huge tall mustaches on their faces that won't come off.
Attractive.
The wierd thing is, I have cool ranch dorito breath.  Must be the garlic and onion.
Hmmm, I think I'm going to go and brush my teeth or I'm getting no kisses tonight!

Baked Dijon chicken

So I haven't been cooking much lately.
What can I say, I've been super sad.  I've been eating pizzas and going over to mom and dads instead of cooking, or cooking the same old boring things.
I watched Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals yesterday and got inspired again,
And I'm so glad I did!!!!!!!!!!  It's so worth it to cook.  Not only did my house get cleaned, laundry got done, (and put away, girls!) and supper was made.  It took until 8pm, but did I feel great!  And tired.
SO-I got this bone in chicken from the food shelf.  What do I do with it?  It's legs and thighs, and I'm not really a dark chicken fan because there are all those wierd things in them.  And it takes forever to cook.  When I watched the 30 minute meals I was ready to go!
Put the chicken pieces in a scorching hot pan of olive oil to brown it.  Then mix up dijon (I did hot n spicy mustard, it was also delicious!) rosemary, oregano, and I put some brown sugar.  Dollop that on top of the half cooked chicken, and then I added some more water and popped it in a 400 degree oven.  For about a half hour.  Then I took red wine vinegar, whole cloves, bay leaves, and sugar and reduced that mixture down about halfway.  Strained it out, and poured it over finely chopped cabbage.  Then poured a little bit of olive oil over it.  By the way, easy on the cabbage.  I have gas.  This is so good you'll want to eat the whole head, but beware!
Mix it up.
Then we also got tons of red potatoes from 2nd harvest, so I cut those up and put them in my fancy dancy Pampered Chef steamer pot with some water and popped that baby in the microwave for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, I mixed butter, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper.  When the potatoes were done, I doused them with the butter.
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  It was all SO good together!  The chicken was super juicy, the potatoes were great with the flavor of the chicken, and the cabbage was sweet with a little zing from the vinegar.  But not too much.  I'm not really a lover of vinegar.  Which is why all the sugar was added.
TRY IT!  It's under Deviled chicken if you look up Rachael Ray's website.
What to make tonight???.......  I'm going to study for meeting and make some fabric flowers so I can pin them onto my cream colored curtains now for my new blue and gray bedroom!  C YA!