Mom's Pork Chops

I love this recipe! It is simple yet very tasty and something my mom used to make when I was a girl. It's basically making a very tasty gravy for your pork chops which works really well over rice. (Here I decided to have mashed potatoes with it.) Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 6 loin pork chops
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1/4 cup water with 2 T flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2T finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 T ketchup
• 1 garlic clove
• Optional: small dash of cream or milk
  

Preparation:

*In large skillet, brown pork chops.
*Once browned, add 1/2 cup water, the onion, ketchup, garlic and bouillon.
*Cover and let simmer for 30-40 minutes until chops are tender. Remove chops.
*In small bowl, combine flour and 1/4 cup water.
*Slowly add to cooking liquid stirring constantly.
*Cook until thickened.
*Stir in sour cream (and dash of cream or milk) but do not let it come to a boil.
*Serve sauce over chops on bed of rice.

Enjoy!!!

Chicken Spaghetti

This is a recipe I got out of the Wisconsin State Journal and decided to try it. The picture isn't mine but this is almost exactly what it looked like when done (except for the red pimentos). My family likes spaghetti and I thought this would be a nice new twist. It turns out it was a real hit! My son is in a season of being a very picky eater and I watched him gobble this down. He finished it all and asked for seconds! I can't remember the last time he's done that. He usually has 3 bites and says "all done mommy". So this will be a keeper.

Ingredients:
*Spaghetti noodles (amount would depend on # of people eating)
*2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
*2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
*1 small onion, finely diced
*1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
*Seasoned salt to taste
*Black pepper to taste
*1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (this gives it a nice kick)
*About 3 cups cut up and cooked chicken breast

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook spaghetti according to directions, drain but KEEP 1/2 cup pasta water and set aside. In a large bowl, combine cooked spaghetti, soup and 1-1/2 cups of the shredded cheese. Stir in onion, bell pepper and cayenne pepper (I actually threw my onion and green pepper in with my chicken to cook it a bit before mixing). Mix well. Add chicken and some of the reserved pasta water (as needed) and mix. Spoon into a 9 x 13 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes and serve. Hope you enjoy it!

Picture credit: Kids Eat the Darndest Things

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you ever get in the mood for some good chocolate chip cookies but you really just want a few, not a whole batch? That was me today. I searched around and found a small batch recipe but doubled it for mine. This is fun to make with your little ones. My son loved helping me stir. Here is the doubled recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Adapted from Small Batch Baking.

5 T butter (room temp or microwave soft)
4 T brown sugar
4 T granulated sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 cup plus 4 T flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars, mix in the eggs and vanilla, stir in the dry ingredients, then the chips. Bake at 375 for 8-11 minutes. This made about 15 small to medium-sized cookies.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

My husband got this recipe from a lady at work who was really thoughtful after I had our baby and wasn't able to cook much. After sitting around for a couple years, I finally made it! It was pretty good too and so easy to make. Here are the details....

Ingredients:
Cut up cooked chicken (1 to 2 pounds)
1 large jar cheese whiz
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 packages frozen broccoli
1 small diced onion
1-2 cups of rice

Cook broccoli as on package directions. Cook rice. Mix all the ingredients together. Put in a casserole dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Parmesan fondue

Last night, I went to a fondue party for my Titus mom's group. They asked me to make a cheese fondue and I found this recipe which looked really good. It ended up tasting even better than it looked. I was told afterwards that my fondue was the favorite among the moms. The consistency was great with bread, not too hard or stringy yet not too mushy or runny. Just the right sponginess is the word I'd use.

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cubed
* 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cubed

Directions
In a large saucepan, cook and stir the milk and cream cheese over low heat until cheese is melted. Be careful so the cheese does not burn. Stir in Parmesan cheese and garlic salt; cook and stir until heated through. Transfer to a fondue pot or mini slow cooker; keep warm. Serve with bread cubes.

Baked Ziti; 3 cheese with chicken

This dish is kind of like macaroni and cheese with chicken but with ziti instead of macaroni. I like the white cheeses in it too.

Ingredients:
1 (16oz) package ziti pasta
1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 (8 oz) sour cream
1 (15 oz) ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup parsley
1 1/2 cup mozzarella

Cut up chicken breasts and cook in pan. Cook ziti. Drain and mix chicken, ziti, alfredo and sour cream. Spoon HALF of the pasta/chicken mixture into a 9 x 13 dish. Stir ricotta and next three ingredients; spread over ziti. Spoon remaining ziti over ricotta mixture and then sprinkle the top with mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown crust. Enjoy!

Chocolate Elvis Smoothie

Ingredients:
*Milk
*Ice
*Cut up bananas
*Peanut butter
*Chocolate syrup

As far as how much of each ingredient, it's purely up to your taste. You may like yours really "banana-y" or chocolaty, etc. so it's fun to experiment with how much of each. I read that you're always supposed to put the liquid ingredients in first, then the solids. I used the "chop", "blend" and "puree" features on my blender.

YUM! I love this one when I'm craving some chocolate. It's better than a candy bar!