Oven- Barbecued Pork Chops

This recipe is super easy, quick, and calls for ingredients that are usually around the house. Goes great with rice or baked potatoes! Works with chicken breasts too -- just increase the cooking time a little.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2-1 3/4 pounds bone-in, 3/4-inch-thick pork rib chops, trimmed of fat
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
  

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add the pork chops and cook until beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil to the pan. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add orange juice and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in barbecue sauce. Return the pork chops to the pan, turning several times to coat with the sauce.
4. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the pork chops are barely pink in the middle and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 6 to 10 minutes. Serve the sauce over the pork chops.

Oven Roasted Meatballs

From the "Deceptively Healthy" Pass the Plate, here is the recipe:


Oven Roasted Meatballs

2 slices firm white bread, coarsely chopped
1 small (8 ounces) zucchini, shredded
1 large egg white
1/3 cups Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cloves garlic, crushed with garlic press
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 pound lean ground turkey breast

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In large bowl, with hand, mix bread, zucchini, egg white, Romano, garlic, salt, and pepper until evenly moistened. Add ground turkey and mix just until evenly combined.

With wet hands, shape turkey mixture into twelve 2-inch meatballs. Place meatballs in 15 1/2-inch by 10 1/2-inch jelly-roll pan and bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cooked through and lightly browned.


I serve them with pasta and pasta sauce. My husband loves them more than the last set of meatballs he swore were the best!

Stuffed Peppers

I don't usually crave foods that scream "healthy"---I'm much more into the comfort foods. But I found myself craving these one day and tried them out. Really easy, and really tasty, too!

Thank you, Betty Crocker!


Stuffed Peppers

6 large bell peppers (any color)
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 cup cooked rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozerella cheese (3 ounces)

Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover in a 4-quart Dutch oven about 5 minutes; drain. (Now, if you're like me and don't have a Dutch oven, just use a large pot.)

Cook beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in rice, salt, garlic, and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; cook until hot.

Heat oven to 350.

Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand peppers upright in ungreased square baking dish, 8 x 8 x 2 inches. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.

Cover (I used aluminum foil) and bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.


Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Healthy Chocolate Walnut Cake

8 eggs
1 c sugar, divided
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c toasted ground walnuts
2 t vanilla
6 T flour
1/3 c cocoa
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
3/4 c fruit jam
1 t powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil & flour 9-in spring form pan.
Crack 2 eggs into large bowl. Separate 2 more eggs, placing whites in 2nd large bowl, & yolks in 1st bowl. Separate remaining 4 eggs, adding whites to 2nd bowl (yolks not needed).
Beat egg whites on high til foamy. Add 1/3 c sugar, & beat til soft peaks form. Set aside.
Add brown sugar & remaining 2/3 c sugar to 1st bowl, & beat on medium speed til thick & light brown. Beat in nuts & vanilla. Beat in flour, cocoa, salt, & cinnamon. With rubber spatula, fold in 1 c beaten egg whites, til smooth. Fold in remaining egg whites very gently (some white streaks may be visible). Gently pour into pan.
Place pan in oven & reduce heat to 325. Bake til set, 40-45 mins. Cool completely on wire rack.
Remove pan's side. Release cake from pan's bottom with long, thin, metal spatula, & transfer to serving plate. Slice cake in 1/2 horizontally with long, thin knife. Lift off top, spread jam over bottom layer, & replace top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Green Chili and Chicken Enchiladas with Pink Sauce

It seems like just about every family has a recipe for Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas. They all have chilies, onions, soups, and so forth, and everyone loves them.

I love them too, but don’t make them often since they take a lot of work (I hate shredding chicken), so when I told Josh that they were on the docket for the week he was pretty pumped. What I didn’t tell him at the time was that I had a diabolical plan to try a new (and pink) idea for the enchilada sauce.


I’m glad that I did – changing up the sauce to be chili-lime cream was a stroke of pure genius (not that I want to toot my own horn, but seriously, I’m drooling just thinking about it).

Maybe I’ll start making these a bit more often.

Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas with Pink Sauce

• 3-4 c. shredded cooked chicken


• 2 (4 oz) cans green chiles


• 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup


• ½ c. non-fat sour cream


• 1 med-large onion, chopped very fine


• 8-10 medium sized flour tortillas (soft taco, fajita, gordita style)


• Grated cheddar cheese

For sauce:

• ½ c. non-fat sour cream


• ¼ c. milk


• ½ Tbs. chili powder


• 1 Tbs lime juice

In a skillet sauté onion and chilies in their own juices until just tender. In a large bowl combine onion and chili mixture with chicken, soup and sour cream. Mix until well combined. Spoon filling mixture onto tortillas and roll them up, placing enchiladas in a sprayed casserole pan. Once all enchiladas have been rolled and placed, combine the ingredients for the sauce in the same bowl that the filling was in. Mix until evenly blended then pour over enchiladas, smearing it around with the back of a spoon until every enchilada gets coated. Top lightly with cheese if desired. Bake at 350 degrees until heated through and sauce bubbles at edges (about 20-30 minutes).

Kim's Notes: This serves well with rice and corn. If you want something a bit more special than plain rice, add 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of chili pepper, and 1 Tbs of fresh chopped cilantro.

Don't want to make the pink sauce? Try a green enchilada sauce or simply mix milk with about 1/3 of a can of cream of chicken soup.

Happy Cooking!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love this recipe. The cookie is SO moist, so soft, and SOOO yummy! Just try not to fall over dead when you read the ingredients.....

Ingredients
1 c butter
1 c shortening
2 c sugar
2 c pumpkin
2 eggs
2 c chocolate chips
4 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Cream shortening, sugar, pumpkin and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips, Bake until light brown (about 10 minutes). Bake at 350 for 10 min.

Amy's notes: I used mini chocolate chips, a full 12 oz bag. That way, you definitely get SOME chocolate on each cookie. Also, this cookie does not spread while baking. So, when usually you can get 12 cookies on a cookie sheet, you can get about 18-20 cookies or even more b/c you can space them together very closely. This entire recipe makes about 5-7 dozen (I stopped counting b/c I was eating them as I was baking.....)

Carmel Popcorn

Homemade caramel corn is buttery, crunchy, sweet and best of all it's naturally gluten free. And it's so buttery fresh, a quality hard to find in a can or bag!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 5 quarts fresh popcorn ( I used about 3 bags of microwave popcorn in Natural flavor, NO Butter)
• 1/2 cup agave syrup OR light corn syrup
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 250°

1. Pop 5 quarts of popcorn and place in a large roasting pan.
2. Put butter, sugar, agave syrup OR corn syrup and cream of tartar in a large pan. Over medium heat, melt the mixture, stirring to prevent burning.
3. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
4. Add vanilla and baking soda and stir to mix.
5. Carefully pour this mixture over the popcorn. Gently stir to thoroughly coat the popcorn.
6. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
7. Remove and pour on a large baking sheet to cool. Use a spatula to separate the warm clumps.

Graveyard Cake AKA Red Velvet Doggie Bone Cake

This recipe comes from the Ladies Home Journal. I think the bone's recipe could be used in many ways for different shapes, letters or fun decorations!

Prep: 30 min
Start to Finish: 2 hr

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 two-layer red velvet cake (see recipe center) **I added a package of instant pudding to the cake mix to make a more moist cake!**
  
• Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees F with two racks centered. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heat-proof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and whisk gently until sugar is dissolved, about 3 min. Remove from heat. With an electric mixer, whisk on medium-high until a stiff meringue forms, about 10 min.

2. Transfer meringue to a piping bag fitted with a #12 plain tip, then pipe 3-1/2- to 4-inch-long bone shapes on baking sheets. Bake 20 min. Turn oven off and let meringues dry in oven for 30 min more. Let bones cool before carefully removing from parchment paper.

3. Coat one cake layer with 1/2 cup frosting and top with second layer. Frost entire cake and refrigerate to set, 30 min or overnight. Decorate with whole and broken bones before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:In a mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and 1, 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened together until creamy, about 2 min. Stir in 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted. Add 1 lb (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3 to 4 tbsp milk and stir until smooth. Can be refrigerated up to one week; bring to room temperature and stir before using Makes 3 cups.

Pumpkin Muffins

2/3 c shortening
2 2/3 c sugar
4 eggs
1 16-oz can pumpkin
3 1/3 c flour
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t ground cloves
2/3 c chopped nuts (opt)
1/3 c chocolate chips (opt)

Mix together wet ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients. Mix in nuts & chocolate chips last. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full. Bake 20-25 mins at 350. Makes about 33 muffins.

Slow Cooker Swiss Pork Chops

Not wanting to relinquish my recent love-affair with pork chops just yet, I thought to myself - Why not try your Slow Cooker Swiss Steak recipe on them?I'm so glad I did - these might even be better than the beef.

They turned out so tender and subtly sweet that I think this is going to become a new favorite of mine. I'm sure my boys won't complain about that since they gobbled them up with as much enthusiasm as I did. I'm also really glad that I tried my idea to lessen the number of potatoes in the pot and make mashed potatoes on the side. We had a few roasted ones with dinner, but what we didn't eat saved well to go with Josh to work as leftovers.

Slow Cooker Swiss Pork Chops

* 1.5 lbs pork chops, trimmed of fat
* pepper
* 2 medium red potatoes cut into bite sized pieces
* 1.5 c. baby carrots
* 1 med onion, cut into wedges
* 1 can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
* 2 packets pork gravy mix
* 1 c. cold water
* mashed potatoes, if desired

Layer potatoes, onion and pork in your slow cooker. Sprinkle chops with pepper. Add tomatoes. Mix up one packet of gravy with 1 cup cold water and pour into crock pot. Top everything with the baby carrots.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender. I did 5 hours on low, then one more hour on high with great results.

Kim's notes: If you want to serve this meal with mashed potatoes, then make them near the end of your cooking time. Use the second packet of gravy for serving, or add liquid from the slow cooker to the package gravy and and then thicken it.

Never thickened your own gravy? It's easy as can be - add 1/4 c. of flour to 1 c. of water, shake until combined, or if you don't have a shaker of some sort you can use a wire whisk to get the clumps out. Add just a little of the flour mixture at a time to your gravy so that you don't over thicken it. Be sure to taste the gravy along the way so that you don't over flour it or so that you can add spices/pepper if desired.

Happy Cooking!