Pork Chops and Apples with Stuffing!

Tried out a new recipe thanks to my coworker, Jami! I have always heard that pork and apples go together, but I never tried them together.... until now!

So my coworker Jami and I share recipes, craft ideas, and a love for Pinterest. When she told me about a yummy recipe she made for her family that only took about 30 minutes, I knew I had to try it! I love trying new recipes. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they just don't. I know how to tweak them just right so I know my family will like it. My husband and step-son are my two picky eaters. My one year old daughter will eat any and everything! (I just pray she stays that way. I hate picky eaters!) The recipe can be found here on the Kraft website. My husband loves Stove Top stuffing, so anytime I make a recipe with it, I earn extra brownie points! Haha. Now I would change some things about the recipe. Just laying a plain ol' pork chop on some apples will not cut it in my house. We are not down with the bland. So I browned my pork chops in a skillet with some garlic powder and black pepper. An seasoning is fine, those are just my go to. Everything else I kept the same. I made mine in a 9x13 casserole dish, and my apple pie filling was spread a little thin. I think next time I will either use a smaller dish or double the apples. I also used thin pork chops (it was all they had at Aldi), but I think it would be better with thick cut pork chops. Also, it calls to cook for 30 minutes, but because my pork chops were most of the way cooked from browning them before hand, I just baked it at 400° for 20 minutes. I made some cream corn on the side which was really good with it. I loved this recipe and will add it to my repertoire. It looks and tastes so fancy, but is simple to make and could definitely be a comfort food.
I would even maybe try it with a little Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce on the pork chops to add a little punch of flavor! BTW, we only use Sweet Baby Ray's. I think the rich flavor of the BBQ sauce paired with the sweetness of the apples and cinnamon would just be heavenly.

Let me know if you try it and what changes you made!

So on another note, I recently changed my food Pinterest board. I got tired of scrolling and scrolling, so I organized everything. I now have a board for desserts and baking (here), dinner/entree options (here), and drinks (here). Most of my drinks are smoothies, shakes, and hot chocolate; I hardly ever drink alcohol, let alone mix any at home!

2015... The Year of Food!

I would like to try more recipes! I have always been one to love to try new things, but I have my go-to classics. Like most pinners, my Pinterest board Yum is overloaded with tons of recipes I always say, "Oh I could make that!", "That sounds amazing!", but I never actually get around to trying them. Well, as cliche' as it is, I want to try and make (at least) one new recipe from my Pinterest board each week. Now these will not be "super foods", "healthier choices", and probably not "gluten-free". I am not a stickler about every little thing I eat. Yeah, I got curves... and I love 'em!

So today, January the first of 2015, I am tackling a Shepherd's Pie. I love chicken pot pie (one of my old trusties), so I think the beef version of it will be quite tasty. My picky boy isn't here today, so I can try it out without the "What is this? (with a snarled nose and questionable eye). My bottomless pit of a one year old and darling husband will be the judges today. They aren't very picky... at all!

I got my recipe from Pinterest (of course), and you can find it here. And yes, it has the word EASY in the title. As I fore mentioned, I have a one year old. A tiny terrorist that doubles as a tornado aka Lilli. I cannot be in the kitchen for hours slaving over a meal with a hip-high monster trying to pull my pants off to get my attention, trying to climb up the oven door, going through all the cabinets and pulling everything out, or terrorizing the dog as they both beg for food. (Just a day in the life that I love!) So many of my meals are 30 minute wonders! Because I always leave my husband wondering, "How did you do that?" Slight of hand and a little magic! ;)

The ingredients to this Shepherd's Pie are things I usually have around the house. I literally had everything for this with some substitutions of my choosing. Now for these ingredients, I go as simple (and CHEAP) as possible. The meat we usually buy in bulk and portion it out when we get home to save time and money. I always have a bag of potatoes or a box of instant mash in the house. You could even use the pre-made mashed potatoes from the grocery store. I eliminated the cream cheese and opted with how I usually make my mashed potatoes with butter, ranch, and sour cream. I didn't want the sweet of the cream cheese with such a savory dish. Just my opinion. I always have a variety of shredded cheese in my fridge too. I will use colby-jack today. As far as garlic goes, I just use garlic powder and onion powder. Those 2 are married in this house and go everywhere together! I also didn't have mixed veggies (I like canned Veg-All) so I took one can of carrot slices (diced them), green beans (cut them smaller), whole kernel corn, and sweet peas. Made a ton of veggies, but I am ok with that! So for the gravy, I didn't have a packet of beef gravy but did have mushroom gravy. I saw a few recipes call for mushrooms in the actual veggie mix, but I am no fan of mushrooms, unlike my husband. So I thought the mushroom gravy wouldn't be too over-bearing for me and nice for him. La-tee-da. **After eating this recipe, I realized it needed more gravy. The veggies and meat were a little bland. I put some A1 Steak sauce on mine (I could drink A1 straight from the bottle!) It needed some extra oomph!**

The recipe calls for the oven to be at 375° F, but I cook everything (besides baking) at 400°. Just how I do it, so I preheated my oven to 400° and got my water going for the mashed potatoes. I had like 8 small potatoes in a bag that I needed to finish up using, so I went old fashioned on it. I leave the skins on the potatoes for a little rustic flair (and I'm just too lazy to peel them). Sliced them and diced them and threw them in the salt water. Then I began browning my pound of hamburger meat (venison, ground turkey, or lamb could be yummy too) and sprinkled it down with my garlic and onion powders. Once my meat was almost complete, I got my mushroom gravy going. I drained my meat really well, returned it to the pan and doused it with the mushroom gravy.  I drained all my cans of veggies and cut the green beans and carrots. I threw them all in the casserole dish and mixed them together, then covered the veggies with the meat/gravy mixture. **I layered my meat on top of the veggies, but after eating it I realized I should have mixed the meat and veggies rather than layer it.** Then I mashed my potatoes and added salt, pepper, ranch, butter, and sour cream then spread it over the meat, covered it with cheese, and popped it in the oven for 15 minutes.

 


I was raised that a complete dinner is a meat 2 sides and a bread. So I had my meat and veggies, so I needed a bread. I went with some good ol' Red Lobster biscuits. My local grocery store carries the box mix to make them or you can use this recipe. Either way, they are freaking delicious, and I am too broke to be hitting the Red Lobster all the time.

So there ya have it. A quick, easy family dinner that your family is going to love. My husband liked it but agreed it needed some oomph, but my one year old TORE IT UP! She loved it!

Dessert was yummy too. I made Oreo Chocolate Pudding Parfaits. Something I whipped up in minutes just off the top of my head. I took 4 oz of cream cheese and microwaved it for about 30 seconds so it got all soft and gooey and added about 8 crushed Oreo cookies. Then I spread that mixture in the bottom of a little glass. Spooned some chocolate pudding onto the Oreo mixture. Then sprinkled 2 crushed Oreo cookies onto the pudding and topped with Cool Whip. Simple. Could even be made with more layers or in a casserole dish.

TMNT Time!!!

So it is about that time again.... Xander's birthday is just around the corner! I always get so hype when it comes to throwing birthday parties! This year I will get to throw my pretty girl's FIRST birthday!!! That isn't until October though, so let's focus. Xander will be 8 this year. Which is so hard to believe! He was so little when I came into his life 3 and a half years ago. This year we are doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I LOVED them when I was little and love that he is doing a TMNT party. So I have been busy scouring Pinterest to find ideas for his party. I bought the typical stuff from Party City, Birthday Express, and Discount Party Supplies for all of the plates, cups, table covers, loot bags, and goodies for the loot bags. Since we are having the party at our house again this year, I want to have a few things for the kids to do in between cake, gifts, and Croc Island. 

We got this for Xander's party last year and it was a huge hit! It doubles as the gift and the main attraction. It is huge and so fun (even for the adults)!! It is 16 feet wide and 8 feet tall! We are getting a pinata, of course. I also made a TMNT cornhole game for them to play. 

This was really easy to make. It literally cost me $5 to make! I got a free 18"x14"x4" cardboard box from work (it was a computer monitor box), but you can use any box really. I got a black poster board for the background on the box, a green poster board for Mikey's body, half a yard of spotted fabric, 1 sheet of red felt, one sheet of tan fabric, and rice (which I already had). 

Cut your box on the edge diagonally. I made the top 4" tall and the bottom 2" tall, so it would sit angled up like a regular cornhole game. I then drew Mikey on the poster then placed the black background on, then Mikey. I cut the mouth once I had everything placed then colored the inside edge of the mouth with a black Sharpie. The mask/orange part and chest/yellow part was just drawn on a piece of computer paper so the colors would show up better than on top of the green. 

The slices of pizza were pretty easy also. Below is the pattern I used. I made it with an eighth of an inch seam allowance. Just cut the fabric all in one piece and fold it in the middle instead of separating it. Helps the point be more defined on the end. Your pizza bean bags should end up being 4" wide x 4.5" angled sides. I sewed it with right sides together and left a small like 1" opening at the top/crust. Then flip it right sides out. It was easier this way because the felt crust will cover your closure stitches. I filled it 3/4 of the way with rice (the more full, the heavier). Then stitch it closed. Attach a tan triangle to one side which will be the bottom. Then a wavy piece of tan felt goes on the "front" and be sure to cover your stitching to close it. Cut your little red felt circles for pepperoni. I used hot glue, of course!! :)

Xander and Brian have already challenged each other to some living room cornhole. Xander won!

I also designed his invitation. I saw some on Pinterest that look like event tickets. I thought it would be fun as a kid to receive a special ticket to a party. So this is what I came up with....

 So the star of the show.... THE CAKE! I started off with a rectangle, circle, and 12 cupcakes... all green of course. To get the bandanna on the head, I used the cut out pieces from his hips/pelvis area and shaped them a little. The trick was to keep the cake in the fridge so it was more firm and easier to cut without it crumbling. For the green, orange, and yellow icing, I used plain vanilla icing with some color gels. The brown is chocolate and the black is an icing pen. I did leave some of the cupcakes without icing because Xander doesn't like icing, and it was his cake so..... I think it turned out pretty good and was very tasty!

  

Lumpia Time, baby!!

This word, "lumpia", was foreign to me until this week. My next door neighbors, Ryan and Lisa, brought over a few little egg roll looking things that they call "lumpia". Interesting... and DELICIOUS!!! I dipped these deep fried babies into hot sauce mixed with Italian sauce and YUM!! It is a type of eggroll that comes from China, but Lisa and Ryan learned the recipe from their time living in Hawaii (lucky ducks!!). So simple to make and so, so good! So thanks to Lisa and ryan for the recipe, Brian and I loved them for dinner last night!

So what you need is a pound of ground beef/pork/turkey/chicken, seasonings of choice, egg roll wraps, 3-4 cups of shredded cabbage and cubed carrots, Crisco, butter/margarine, and a cup of warm water. (1 lb of meat should make ~12 lumpias)

First I browned my ground beef in a pan and added some onion powder, garlic powder, season salt, and a little cumin. After getting it browned, I sat it aside.

In a large saucepan, I put a large dollop of Crisco in over medium-high heat. I let it turn to the magical liquid it is while I worked on the veggie portion of the lumpia. **** You can use regular oil, next time I will use a pot and put enough oil to completely cover the lumpia so I don't have to flip them****

In a saucepan, I put 2-3 tablespoons of butter, and once it melted, I added the carrots and cabbage (I used the coleslaw mix in the pre-made salad section). I made sure my slaw was coated in the melted butter and placed a lid onto the pan to sweat it out. Once the cabbage loses the white hue and becomes more transparent, I took it off of the heat and added it to the browned meat.

You want all that condensation in there so they sweat out.

I mixed the slaw and meat well and to each egg roll wrap, I added about a tablespoon of the mixture. I then wet three edges of the wrap. Place it so it looks like a diamond to you instead of a square. Fold up the bottom corner, fold in the edges and roll. Put a little water on the corner that creates your outside seal. I placed them into the hot grease seam side down. It only takes about 20 seconds before you need to flip them with tongs. They cook fast!

Lay it out.

Adding water on the edges.

Fold up.

Fold sides in.

Roll on over and put a little water on the seam.

I dipped mine in equal parts of Texas Pete Hotsauce and Zesty Italian Dressing. My husband just went straight for the Ranch dressing. (He puts it on everything!!) More ideas for sauce: try these with salsa and sour cream and make them more of a Mexican dish or sweet and sour sauce or soy sauce to punch up the Chinese volume! I paired these with whole kernal corn and slices of tomato. Easy, easy dinner!!

Dinner tiiimmee!!

I hope you enjoy making these easy little treats as much as I did. Try new things and play around with it and make it your own. These are perfect to make for a dinner party or making for lunch the next day. I will definitely make many variations of these!!

Fried Chicken? Please!

So last night, I was in the mood for some chicken, lemon pepper chicken to be exact! So I fried up some lemon pepper chicken for the hubby and me. I paired it with sweet peas, au gratin potatoes, and toast, but not your typical toast... I'll explain later.

So, for the chicken, I used three boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can use bone-in, skin-on, but my love prefers the bone/skin-less variety), 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs (aka God's gift to those of us who loved deep frying foods), 2 teaspoons of lemon pepper seasoning, and one large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. I also used canola oil to fry up the chicken, of course (enough to completely cover the chicken in the pot/pan).

So first, I got one of my big Paula Deen (MY HERO!!!!) pots out and popped it on a burner with about a quart of oil in it at medium-high heat. **** Points of advice: Make sure there is enough oil to COMPLETELY cover the chicken (Props to Marcella for that advice, she makes amazing fried chicken). Also, get the oil hot, hot, hot! You can check it by dropping a little drop of water in it and it will pop and fizzle (probably not a real word lol).****

Next,  In three spearate shallow dishes, put your flour, egg wash, and Panko crumbs mixed with your lemon pepper seasoning and arrange your dishes in that order. You take each breast and roll each one in the flour (fully coat it), roll it in the egg wash (again fully coat, dont forget the edges and ends), then roll in your Panko/seasoning mixture. The flour helps hold the egg on, and the egg works as your binder for the breadcrumbs. (I thank Paula Deen for that process) Once all the brests are coated, drop them in the prepared HOT oil. I let them cook in the oil for about 12 minutes. I turn mine, but that makes the breading come off so leave it to cook. **** Remove one of the breasts and cut into it to make sure it is throughly cooked or use a meat temp. gauge to check that it is at 165 degrees.****



Swap where the flour and egg are. I had them backward in this pic.

Ok, last night, I wanted some toast with my meal. We had hot dogs last week and I had a couple of buns left over and we needed to eat them before they got too old. So I decided to toast them up. I opened the buns without breaking the middle and popped them in the toaster then buttered them. My husband thought it was goofy, but buns are bread too and I would rather eat them than let them go bad and have to toss them. It's all about being frugal and creative. That is why I love to cook. You can be as creative as you want!

Dinner was great, and I hope you can use this quick and easy fried chicken recipe to your liking! Feel free to throw in some cayenne pepper or just garlic salt instead of lemon pepper. It is a very versatile recipe, so play with different ideas and have fun! Enjoy! Happy cooking and don't be afraid to get creative!

Xander's Mario Birthday

This past week has been the absolute busiest week of my life! My darling stepson, Xander, celebrated his 6th birthday this weekend. He picked a Super Mario Brothers theme this year, and guess what... I couldn't find decorations ANYWHERE! (Well I did find some online, but $96 for a plastic table cloth, and enough plates, cups, and napkins for 8 kids seemed a little ridiculous to me!!) So I took the challenge and made the decorations myself! I had plenty of extra time between work, so I got it done.

This pile is made up of: a cardboard box, some toilet paper rolls, a shoe box, some funny shaped cardboard (computer parts came in), some stirofoam pieces, spray paint, and Mario, Bowser, and Peach figurines. With a little LOT of hot glue, I stacked the pices, painted, and decorated it all to become this....



Stacked and glued it.



Painted it.

Decorated it a little.

Decorated some more.

Right side.

Back side.

Left side.

I really loved how this turned out! The materials were mostly free, except for about $4 for the spray paint and of course the figurines were a little pricey!


Next up, I needed something to fill the time for the kiddos before we went swimming. I had two activities planned.

Pin the Mustache on Mario

I bought two green, two red, and two white posterboards, poster board markers, adhesive backed Velcro, and a sheet of black foam. I sketched Mario onto two pieces of white poster, colored him, then cut him out. I got a big cardboard box and gkued the red and green posters as the background. Then I hot glued my Mario onto the posters. I added a small strip of Velcro to the area where his mustache should go and cut out a mustache from the black sheet of foam and added Velcro to it.
**** Point of advice: Instead of doing Velcro, use an adhesive like sticky putty so the kiddos can stick it anywhere on him (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey). They kept just feeling for the Velcro on him, so the blindfold was really pointless.****

Chomp Chomp Pinata

This was one tough pinata! I wanted to make sure it wouldn't just fall apart when the first kid hit it, so I made it REALLY tough!! The materials for this pinata were a huge balloon (mine was 3' in diameter), black spray paint, lots of card board, lots of newspaper and old phone book pages (hey, I don't use the phone book, and they work!), flour and water paste (typical paper mache' mix), a coat hanger, and LOTS of hot glue (of course). ****This was a 4 day process, so get ready to dedicate some time!****

I blew up the massive balloon and cut some cardboard strips. I hot glued all of the strips into a sturdy frame around the balloon. I did all of this while watching the finale of Glee (which was terrible, just saying). ****Careful not to touch the balloon with the hot glue.****

I covered the balloon and frame with paper mache'. It was a VERY messy process but kind of relaxing and fun. I let it sit in the sun to dry and harden. I did this for three days in a row, layer upon layer. I left a hole so I could add the candy. Pop the balloon and remove it.

Next I made a hanging mechanism in the hole for candy. I added more cardboard framing with hot glue just like the inside. I poked a hole in the pieces and ran a hanger through then took a strip of cardboard and wrapped around the hanger to stabilize it. ****This pinata was heavy especially after the candy, so make sure your hanging mechanism is secured very well.**** My hubby spray painted the entire thing black while I was at work. When I got home I drew the eyes and face onto scraps of posterboard and hot glued them to the pinata.

This is the inside of the pinata.

It was a hit!! (Haha puns!)

This year I didn't make a cake. I got a cake pop baking machine. It is so neat!! Anyway, I decided to get oober creative so I made Mushroom Pops. They are supposed to look like the mushrooms that make Mario bigger. I used two boxes of white cake mix (WAAAYYY too much batter). The whole little bottle of red food coloring I added  made it very pink, so I added 4 packets of cherry Kool Aid. It made the red brighter and the cake was cheery flavored (pretty good too!) I used mini marshmallows, black food coloring, and vanilla icing. They were very fun and easy to make and ended up being a great conversation piece and yummy!!

I smushed three mini marshmallows together and put them into a skewer. I cut a cake pop ball in half and put some icing on the bottom to act as an adhesive to the marshmallows. I added the dots on top and drew on the eyes with black food coloring. There ya go, that's all there was to it!

Xander was very happy with his party, and I'm so glad it went so well! He got lots of presents and had great friends there with him! After the party, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Needless to say, we are all a little sunburnt!