Easiest and Best Pork Chops Ever

I hated pork chops growing up. There was no reason for it as my mom never really made them. I think I just had in my mind that they were gross. Since becoming a "grown up" I have to come to really like them. They are CHEAP and very versatile. A friend of mine, Becky, who gave you Becky's Fried Rice, mentioned this recipe and it sounded so simple, I thought I'd give it a try. As it turns out I LOVE this recipe and Michael couldn't stop talking about them. You don't even need a knife, these babies literally fall apart on their own. If you have a guy that eats a lot, take my word for it and double this recipe. You'll be glad you did.

Ingredients:

A splash of olive oil

Half cup flour, or enough to coat the chops.

4-6 pork chops, I like the thin cut kind but any work and if you use the thin cut kind, you'll probably need 8-10 chops because they cook down pretty small.

1 can Campbell's condensed Chicken and Wild Rice soup, undiluted

Water, optional

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until it just starts to smoke. While it's heating, put the flour in a ziploc bag and add the chops a couple at a time and shake to coat them in flour.

When your oil is hot, brown the chops a few at a time in the skillet, just a couple minutes on each side. You don't want to cook them, just slightly brown them on the outside.

Once browned, put the chops in a slow cooker and pour the can of soup over the top. When I make this again, I think I'll add about a half cup of water or so only because I found we didn't have as much "sauce" as we would have liked. You could also just add another can of soup.

Cook on low in your slow cooker for 4-6 hours (I cooked mine for 8 while I was at work and it was lovely). Serve over rice (see my rice how-to below) or egg noodles. Have you ever had pork chops that you can't even get out of the pot because they fall apart? I have :)

How-To: Cook Rice

So...maybe I am the only person who has issues with rice cooking. I know I've mentioned it before. We don't eat rice enough to justify a rice cooker taking up space in our *TINY* kitchen so I have to do it the old fashioned way which can easily yield gummy, gooey rice paste....until now. A friend of mine used to work at an Asian restaurant and one of the chefs shared this secret with her and it has yet to fail me. So far I've used it with several different types of white rice and always had great success. Here are a few tips on how to get perfect, fluffy, non-sticky rice every time:

1. Cooked rice is double what uncooked rice is. So, 1 cup of uncooked rice will turn into 2 cups cooked.

2. It's generally safe to plan on a 1/2 cup of rice per person if the rice is a side dish or something is being served over it.

3. Some people rinse their rice, others don't. Rinsing removes some of the starch and lessens the chance of it becoming gummy but it also rinses out some of the nutrients. My method of rice cooking doesn't require that your rinse it, so I don't.

4. NOW FOR THE TRICK. Stick your pinky finger out in front of you. Do it now. I'll wait. Okay. See where your first joint is from the tip of your pinky? That's your measuring device. Measure your desired amount of rice in a sauce pan then fill the pan with water until you can stick your pinky in and touch the top of the rice and the water reaches the first joint. To ensure non-sticky rice you can put a splash of vinegar in.

5. Put on the stove top and heat on high until the water starts to boil. Then, and this is important! Stir the rice just once or twice. Not stirring it will cause a layer of rice to stick to the pan's bottom and scorch. Stirring too much will cause gummy rice. Once or twice. Done.

6. Cover, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. DO NOT TOUCH. After 15 minutes, check on it, if there is still water in the rice, let it sit covered for 5 more minutes. Fluff with fork and voila! Perfect!

7. Variations, depending on what I'm making, I substitute water for coconut milk, or chicken broth and add butter, herbs, or whatever else I feel like depending on the recipe. Happy cooking!

Easy Crunchy Chicken Fingers

Here's a recipe for easy and FAST chicken fingers. I had dinner on the table from start to finish in 30 minutes. Great recipe for picky kids because it uses Goldfish crackers as the chicken coating!!!

Ingredients:
1.5-2 lbs. Chicken tenderloins
5-7 cups crushed up cheddar Goldfish crackers or pretzels
1.5 cups Buttermilk ranch dressing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Line 2 baking dishes (I used a 13 X10 and a 9X9 and it was perfect) with tinfoil and lightly coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a Ziploc bag, crush up 5-7 cups of Goldfish crackers and pour into a shallow dish. The recipe calls for cheddar but it might be interesting to try other varieties.
Pour ranch dressing into a bowl and dip the tenderloins in it, letting the excess drip off for a second. Then roll them in the crackers and put them in the baking dishes.
Bake 15-20 minutes, turning over half way through. Serve with ranch dressing or BBQ sauce for dipping!

This made a lot and I brought some with me today to cut up and eat on my salad!

Stromboli

I got this gem out of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Mike and I were both skeptical of the ingredients but it turns out to be delicious! It's a combination of flavors you wouldn't expect to go together but they do!

Ingredients:
Olive Oil (just enough to coat a cookie sheet)
flour (also just enough to sprinkle on the cookie sheet)
13.8 oz. store-bought pizza crust
1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used more than a cup)
4-6 slices of deli ham
4-6 slices of deli turkey
1/4 cup olives (any kind you like - I used black)
1/3 cup chopped sweet bell pepper, any color
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Coat a cookie sheet with the olive oil and sprinkle flour or cornmeal on it, set aside
On a floured and clean (Mike insisted I put the clean part in) surface, carefully roll out the pizza dough to a 13 X 10 inch rectangle. I think it comes out of the package like this but if you are me, you mess it up and end up having to roll it out with a rolling pin.
Sprinkle half the cheese on the dough
Layer the ham on top of the cheese, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edge of the dough
Layer other half of the cheese on the ham
Next, layer the turkey on,
Then sprkinkle the olives, bell pepper and spinach on top of all of that.
Starting on one of the long ends of the dough, carefully roll it up into a big roll. Pinch the seams and edges together and place on prepared cookie sheet. Brush with the beaten egg and bake 30 minutes.
The directions suggest cutting it in to 2-3 inch pieces but....Mike just cut in half and took half...then came back for more. We ate it with a salad made with the leftover peppers, spinach and cheese with Italian dressing. Yum!

No Knead Bread. Don't be scared!

Bread is a scary thing to make.  Proofing yeast?  WTF?  But buying sub-par bread from the grocery store for four bucks a pop started to scare me too.  After much inner struggle, I decided to try no knead bread.  I'd heard so much about it, but I was still a little wary.  Let me tell you.  It is AMAZING.  And so easy!  Just takes some planning ahead! (All my recipes lately require planning ahead! what is this?)  And it does require one of those fancy schmancy cast iron enamel pans.  I got one for Christmas last year and I love it.  Mine is the Martha Stewart line, and you can get them for pretty reasonable prices if you watch the sales.  I highly recommend them.  So with no further adu, I give you no knead bread.

No Knead Bread

3 c. bread flour  (I also highly recommend King Arthur bread flour.  I don't know the science behind it, but it does make a difference for some scientific reason)

1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 5/8 c. water  (basically a little more than 1 1/2 c.)
and my little addition: a few drops of red wine vinegar (opt.)

Throw it all in the mixer, mix it up, (it will be shaggy) cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit about 18 hours.  If I am going to be making it for dinner one night, I will mix it all up the night before around bedtime. 

18 or so hours later, the dough will be bubbly, smell yeasty, and be suuuuuper sticky.  Plop it out of the bowl, dust with flour, and try your hardest to mold it into some sort of shape.  Don't get discouraged at this point.  Its a sticky ugly mess.  Just trust me.  Let it raise for about another hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 450 with the cast iron enamel pan in there with the lid on.  Let it sit in there and get super hot for about 30 minutes.  Take it out of the oven, and plop the bread it.  Don't worry about the shape.  This is very rustic bread.  Put the lid on, and place it back in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes with the lid on, then 15 more with the lid off. 

Once you remove it from the oven, try and restrain yourself from cutting a piece right then.  It is better if you let it sit and cool for at least an hour, or else the inside gets kind of gummy. 

This sounds hard, but I promise its not.  And it never fails.  This is always what my family wants me to bring to dinner because it is sooooo good!

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

These tasty little fella's are not difficult, but it does take some planning ahead. They are really good for a cold winter night's dinner too. 

Here goes:

chuck roast, about 4 ish pounds
2-2 bay leaves

Brown the roast on all sides in oil, then place in heavy pan.  (I use my cast iron enamel pan, which I love)  Add bay leaves and a small amount of water.  Cover pan tightly and cook at 275 for about 5 hours.

When the meat is done, shred with fork and place in large bowl.  Add 1 bunch chopped green onions and as much shredded cheddar cheese as pleases you.  Stir to combine.  Place a small amount of meat mixture in flour tortilla, roll up and place in greased 9x13 pan.  Depending on how big your roast is, you may have extra.  Last time I made these I had enough meat to do 8 in a 9x13 pan, and then 4 more in an 8x8 pan that I covered with plastic and foil, and then froze.

For the sauce:

1 pkg. brown gravy mix - made according to directions
1 can tomatoe sauce
1 can red enchilada sauce

Mix all together and pour over enchiladas.  Bake, covered, at 375 for 15 minutes, then take the cover off and put some grated cheddar cheese on top and bake for about 10 more minutes, until melty and bubbly and delicious. 

Feast away!!

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

This spaghetti sauce is the most exquisite sauce I've ever had. I was a little aprehensive because spaghetti sauce is one of those things that intimidated me. But I found this recipe and decided I would try it. Honestly, I almost put the ingredients back twice when I was grocery shopping. Boy, am I glad I did this. I froze about half of it, which also made me feel especially frugal and industrious.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Large onion, chopped
1/4 lb. sweet italian pork sausage chopped into bitesize pieces or ground italian sausage (I used ground)
1 lb. ground beef
A few shakes of salt
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. marjoram (I didn't have any so I used oregano)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz.) can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz.) Italian style stewed tomatoes (I substituted Tomato Puree because I don't like big chunks of tomatoes)
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. white sugar

Instructions:
(note: the grocery store I went to didn't have Italian Style of the tomatoes so I just used more seasoning that the recipe called for to make up for it)
In a skillet, heat olive oil and cook onions and sausage until the onions start to turn clear and the sausage is browned, transfer to slow cooker.
Brown the ground beef with the 1 tsp. Italian seasoning (I used a couple tablespoons...) and salt and garlic powder. When browned, drain fat (I put mine on a paper towel to soak it all up.) and put in the slow cooker.
Dump in all the cans of tomatoes and seasonings (except sugar) adding more or less depending on prefences.
Now, I did all this the night before and stuck the pot in the fridge and cooked it the next day while I was at work but if you are doing this first thing in the morning, first off, congratulations on your ability to wake up and function so well, second, proceed to the next paragraph for cooking instructions.
Heat in slow cooker on low for 8 hours, add sugar about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve and act like you spent all day in the kitchen.