Weekend Cooking: Autumn Glazed Pork Chops

Straight from Jillian Michael's online weight loss program, I give you a delicious, healthy meal:

Autumn Glazed Pork Chops

How To:

Ingredients

• 4 pork, boneless loin chops, 3/4-inch thick
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, black ground
• 1/4 cup(s) apple cider, or juice
• 1/2 cup(s) cranberry sauce, whole
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoon orange juice concentrate, frozen
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger, ground
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, ground

Preparation

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick coating. Heat over medium-high heat.

Sprinkle both sides of chops with pepper. Brown chops on each side in hot skillet. Add apple cider. Cover tightly; cook over low heat for 5-6 minutes or until chops are just done. Drain off juices.

In a small bowl combine cranberry sauce, honey, orange juice concentrate, ginger and nutmeg. Pour over chops. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until heated through.

Seriously folks, it's delicious. Just don't overcook it like I did.

forgot to take a picture and this was the only one I could find online in the five seconds I had to look to be honest my plate looked much better than this :)

Change it Up: I made almost-but-not-quite doubled the sauce which worked out really well. What can I say? I like it saucy. I do wonder if this would be a good meal for the slow cooker....

Pair it With: I took Jillian's advice - baked sweet potato and roasted cauliflower - and it was absolutely delicious. Even the hubby and the daughter liked it, so this was a real winner for my family.

Weekend Cooking: Sausage and Spinach Pasta

How To: This recipe came about due to a bag of spinach and some left over chicken broth sitting in the fridge about to expire. I stared at the two unused items and wondered what I could do with them; I really hate throwing food away. A closer look at my random leftovers revealed a half an onion and three garlic cloves. Immediately images of pasta swirled in my head.

Step 1: Cook some noodles. I used medium shells as that's what I had on hand.

Step 2: Cook 1 pound of ground Italian sausage in a large skillet. When almost done, add in some chopped onion.

Step 3: Pour in 14 oz of chicken broth along with a good sprinkling of dried basil, an even better sprinkling of garlic powder, and a 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes.

Step 4: Bring to a boil, let reduce a bit. Add 8-14 ounces of chopped spinach. Cover and let the spinach steam on a med-low heat until done.

Step 5: Mix noodles and sauce. Mix in a solid 1/2 cup of Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese.

Change it Up: I put this together with what I had on hand, so there are definitely a few changes to be made. First and foremost, use real garlic cloves, 4 or 5, and add them in to the sausage at the same time as the onion. Second, a can or two of diced tomatoes may be tastier than the stewed; just a thought, not a fact. And finally, kale or a mix of spinach and kale is a good variation.

Pair it With: Bread. Seriously, can you eat pasta without buttered bread? My preference is for a nice, crunchy loaf of French Bread, but even buttered sandwich bread works.

Weekend Cooking: Grilled Squash Medley

How To: First chop up some zucchini, yellow squash, and asparagus and place it on a piece of foil. Then you simply, brush with oil and cover with any of the following:

1. Parmesan cheese
2. Shredded mozzarella
3. Salad Supreme
4. Italian Seasoning

You can put pretty much anything on this veggie mix. Use a second piece of foil to cover the mix and fold the edges to create a pouch. Grilling time varies depending on what type of grill you have and on how you like your veggies. Personally, I grill the pouches on medium-high heat for 15-25 minutes. If you like your veggies softer, cook longer (about 40 minutes).

I tend to make at least four pouches with different seasonings in each pouch. What can I say? I like variety.

Change it Up: You can also bake this dish at 450 for 20-30 minutes. And of course, you can add any other veggie you so desire. Red peppers and tomatoes work really well as an add-in - if you can swing it past the husband and children, which I can't. :) Eliminations work too - especially the asparagus as I really have to be in the mood to eat it.

Pair it With: Burgers (preferably of the not-cow-variety). I think brat burgers are the best, closely followed by potato-based veggie burgers, and then pork burgers. I'm a big veggies-with-burgers girl as I think adding in a potato is strange.... Burger, veggies, and pickles. All you need.

Weekend Cooking: Corn and Feta Pasta with Meatballs

Michael Symon's 5 in 5 cookbook is how I began my cooking journey three years ago, and the first recipe I tried was the Angel Hair with Corn, Feta, and Tomato. Delicious. Then I coupled it with Symon's Lazy Meatballs, and a family favorite was born. Here's the recipe, straight from the book:

Personally, I was a bit concerned with the pasta-corn combo as it seemed...well, weird. And it is a bit weird in thought. But it's awesome in practice. I have fresh-frozen corn all winter (I married a farmer), and it is delicious in pasta. Who knew?

Now then, making the recipe straight-up according to the directions equals a delicious meal, but here are a few variations that I think work really well:

• Cut down on the amount of pasta - or more likely, increase the amount of the other ingredients, especially the corn
• Add zucchini and/or squash, simply cook it with the corn in step 2
• Eliminate the red pepper flakes if you have spicy-resistant eaters or increase if you are all spicy-lovers
• Just put the feta on the table so everyone can add as much as they want

My vegetarian days are long behind me, and my husband has been an avid meat-eater his whole life, so I tried pairing this recipe with Symon's Lazy Meatballs. Definite winner. The meatballs are simple enough - buy some mild Italian sausage, roll them into meatballs, and grill.

Not only do the hubby and I adore this meal, but Madison is also a fan, and this is a wonderful way for her to get her servings of veggies.

Healthy Cooking: Weeks 1 and 2

Here are the recipes for our healthy homecooked meals over the past two weeks:

Meal #1 :: Roasted Chicken Breast with Herbs, Carrots, and Red Potatoes

1 lb stir fry chicken
2 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, chopped
1 T poultry seasoning
4 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 T extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line a 10x12 inch pan with aluminum foil.
2. Use the tip of a sharp boning or paring knife to cut 3 small slits into the side of each chicken breast; insert a slice of garlic into each slit.
3. Mix the rosemary and poultry seasoning together and sprinkle evenly over the chicken.
4. Arrange the breasts close together on the foil-lined pan. Place carrots and red potatoes in a bowl; toss with olive oil until evenly coated. Place in a single layer around chicken and fold up edges of foil approximately 1 inch.
5. Cover and cook in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and vegetables are fork tender. An instant-read thermometer should register 165 degrees.

The recipe actually called for chicken breast, but I'm not a fan of thick chicken and that's all I can find outside of Market Day; hence, I used stir fry chicken. Also, I think 1 tablespoon of olive oil is plenty; although you do run the risk of the vegetables burning.

Very tasty

Meal #2 :: Rainbow Trout with Yogurt Sauce and Broccoli Pasta

The Trout...okay, so I used Tilapia....

1. In a medium bowl combine 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1 shredded cucumber, 2 T chopped dill, 1 whole lemon juiced and zested, and 1 T extra virgin olive oil.. Mix well and set aside.
2. Turn oven broiler on. Coat a broiler pan with non-stick cooking spray.
3.  Broil for about 8 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. To serve spoon yogurt sauce over fish.

So, the husband and I are not a fan of the sauce. We are plain old tartar sauce kind of people. Fish, however, I always love.

The Broccoli Pasta

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Stir in the linguini pasta and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still al dente. Drain.
2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 T extra virgin olive oil and 1 T unsalted butter. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook 30 seconds. Add 2 lbs. broccoli pieces and stir. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Toss gently with pasta and serve topped with grated parmesan.

Delicious. The hubby and I even ate this on its own the next night; and Brian never eats a meal without meat, so that's impressive.

Meal #3 :: Chicken Stir Fry and Rice

1. Slice (or dice) 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 stick of celery, 3 carrots, 1/2 onion, 10-15 edamame (no need to cut these, just remove the beans (or not)), and anything else you want. 
2. Slice chicken breasts into strips.
3. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the chicken and veggies.
4. Add in 2 T soy sauce, 3 T lemon juice, dash of pepper, and a dash of chili flakes. 
5. Cook for about 14 minutes - or until veggies and chicken are done. 

As for the rice, I just used Uncle Ben's Wild Rice which is beautifully contained in a microwavable bag, ready in 90 seconds....yeah, that counts as cooking....

Yet again, very tasty.

There was no meal #4 as Thanksgiving came up and slapped me in the stomach - right after the flu slapped me in the stomach for two days of no fun. But hey, I lost 9 pounds (yeah, that really doesn't count, does it).

I'm going to try to remember to take pictures of the meals - just to make these posts prettier.... :)

 

Healthy Cooking Challenge

This week marked the beginning of my Healthy Cooking Challenge. The idea is simple: Twice a week I will cook an actual dinner that is healthy. For some, this would not be a big deal, but for me, oh-sweet-mary-the-pain. Cooking a healthy dinner is a challenge for me for two reasons: 1) I don't like cooking and 2) I'm terrible at preparing to cook. I consistently forget to defrost, and I always procrastinate on grocery shopping.

I wish I could say that getting healthy was my only reason for completing this challenge, but alas, another motivation is what really got me going: Madison. Since she is starting to eat more table food - practically never eating baby food anymore - I thought learning how to cook healthy dishes would be an appropriate pursuit. I'm pretty sure putting her on mommy and daddy's typical diet is a seriously not good parenting strategy.

On a typical night, I suddenly realize that I am getting hungry around 5:30 and then I scramble around trying to figure out what to eat with nothing defrosted and no vegetables in sight. This usually ends in one of four ways: 1) Some sort of frozen meat/fish with a side dish of frozen french fries; 2) Ordering or making pizza; 3) Ordering Chinese food; or 4) Eating random crap in an attempt to get full while my husband eats whatever left-overs are in the fridge. Bad eating. Bad, bad eating.

When you combine this sort of unhealthy eating with an under-active metabolism and a serious lack of exercise, well, we all know what you get....

As such, the challenge. As with any non-cooker, one of our biggest problems is figuring out what to have, so I am down on my knees, ladies and gents, begging for healthy recipes. Email them to me, snail mail them to me, post them in the comments, heck, you can call me if you'd like (or better yet, stop by my house and show me how to cook the dish).