Smothered Pork Chops a la Mike & Sarah

So the folks were in town this weekend. They had some things that needed to be done at the house and so between Mike and I we helped make that a bit easier for them. Help that we don't mind giving at all.

It's always fun to see Mike's folks. I always get a good laugh and have a great time.

So for dinner the other night Mike decided he wanted to make dinner rather than go out. That was fine, but then he remembered the roomie was sleeping. Well poo poopie doo. Then we found out around 5 that the roomie was awake and moving around. It was Mexican Monday and so she goes out on a double date gathering thing with friends and her boyfriend. Ok, sweet, we can now dominate the kitchen!

So Mike called his folks and let them know we could do dinner at the apartment now and then he and I rushed out to Walmart to collect ingredients and hurry back home to cook before the arrival at 6:30. (we left shortly after 5:00) So we have a list and are running through the store like we are on an episode of Bobby's Dinner Battle. Running to find the ingredients needed and figuring up a side dish and then having little time to make dinner in.

We finally figured out a side dish, we could do crostini (which have been done before - see here) but we changed it up and bought some Philadelphia dinner creations Italian herb flavored and then bought mini ciabatta breads and planned to cut them into quarters.

So we rush back home and begin prep work. Turning the oven broiler on and starting the veggie work. I pull out a pan and start arranging the peppers on them to place under the broiler. We bought the mini peppers rather than full bell peppers. They taste great too.

Then I began prepping the ciabatta bread, cutting the little squares into quarter triangles.

Drizzled with olive oil.

Then oiled the pan and popped under the broiler. However, I did burn the first set and had to start over with the other half of the bag. :( Oopsie!

While I was working on toasting my ciabatta bread triangles Mike seasoned the pork chops and seared them in the cast iron.

He then cut up the remaining mini yellow and red peppers, sliced up some onion, garlic, and popped open a small can of peas. After he seared the pork he took the meat out of the pan, placed on a plate and set aside while he sauteed up the onion and peppers. Then made a roux and added everything back into the pan and made gravy. Adding the peas last so not to mush them up any more. So we ended up with delicious and tender smothered pork chops (sadly I forgot to photograph my plate or even the pan! What kind of blogger are we? It was my job this time to take pictures, I failed. But I did get a picture of the finished crostini.

The folks liked it. Though Mike went a little crazy on the seasoning. He used Tony Chachare's Cajun seasoning, which in small doses is great. He seasoned the pork separately from the gravy and so combined it created quite a bite. More than planned but still delicious.

The recipes are simple.

Pork Chops - thin cut - boneless (however many you want to use, I think we had 6 or 8)
1/2 bag of mini peppers sliced and seeded
1 small onion
1 small can of peas
Cajun seasoning of choice
water or some stock to create gravy
and a roux to thicken which is just flour and oil or butter seared in a pan until desired darkness of roux (we usually do a blond roux - even though I prefer slurry's - corn starch and cold water).

-Season meat, sear on both sides in hot skillet.
-Set meat aside.
-Saute onion and peppers together and some chopped garlic
-Set veggies aside when just tender
-create blond roux, add some stock/water
-everybody back in the pan, add peas and cook until warm

Serve with delicious crostini and mashed potatoes.

We bought Betty Crocker Loaded Mashed for a side and it was pretty darn good.

For the crostini

1 small loaf French Baguette (the thin rod kind for bite size pieces)
2 Tbsp ish of extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup cream cheese creations by Philadelphia (Italian herb blend)
1/2 bag mini peppers

Roast peppers either on a gas stove top over the fire or under your oven broiler until the skin is charred. Place in zip lock bag or in a bowl covered with plastic to let the skin steam off.

Cut your bread and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and oil the top side of your bread with a drizzle of olive oil. Pop in the oven under the broiler until golden on each side, careful to watch them as they will burn FAST.

Once your bread is done pull out of the oven and take a garlic clove cut in half and rub on each toast (only on one side). Then top with cream cheese.

Now, get your peppers, the skin should just flake right off when rubbed gently. Slice up into strips and top your crostini.

And serve. These will go fast, they are delicious.

Mike and I have a lot of fun figuring out new things and new ways of doing things. He suggested using the ciabatta bread since the store didn't have a small baguette to use. Then we decided last minute to use the mini peppers rather than the big bell peppers just because. Also, initially Mike had suggested using cream cheese and just mixing it with Italian herbs. Well I went to get some and found that new recipe creations and was all over it.

Just get creative  how can you change a dish? Can you make it better? Can you change the flavor profile from Italian to Mexican, or just tweak to your taste? You can do just about anything with the right seasonings and a little thought. And don't be afraid to high five in Walmart, make life fun. :)


Also while at Walmart this week I found this. Gooey Butter Cake - in Kansas! That doesn't happen often if at all. It's by Paula Deen. Since we have this slight obsession with gooey butter cake I bought it to try it out.

The gooey part was good but I can't say the "yellow cake crust" was great. To me it was too salty. But on a scale of 1 to 10. I give it a 7 because when in a pinch and not feeling like making it, this would suffice. Just definitely is NOT St. Louis traditional. But not bad.

 Now go out and cook!

Let hunting and holidays begin!

It's that time of year again where we all get terribly busy. Mike and I haven't been cooking much - if anything we have become lazy and been eating out - even I, the penny pinching queen has come to only want to break out a box of cereal and call it a meal.

So one evening some girl friends and I went out to Noodles & Co. for dinner - got the Med sandwich and a tomato onion salad thingy - quite tasty. My friend Kristy, who is 7 months pregnant, indulged in the most delicious looking bowl of macaroni and cheese I have seen in a while - so jealous LOL. Then went to Michelle's to hang out - we talked wedding since Michelle was getting married in the next week.

Mike and I took off to the wedding and Mike totally photo bombed in the car. I love this picture.

So Nov 10, 2012 my friend Michelle married her best friend Jake. They are cute, aren't they? Mike went with me, the sweetie. Neither of us are big fans of Catholic weddings and neither of us are Catholic - we don't judge though. Was a good wedding. Michelle was gorgeous and it was well done.Got a good workout with standing and sitting too.

So the best part about weddings is the party after the ceremony. Even better is when you go to a Catholic ceremony and then they have an open bar at the reception. God bless the Catholics :)

We enjoyed ourselves, the food was good, great mashed potatoes and veggies, the turkey and gravy to me were good too. Mike had the roast beef. He said it tasted good. They had hors d'oeuvres before the bridal party arrived, those were pretty tasty too. Little mini quesadillas and quiches. Yum, took forever to snatch any of the chicken skewers, but we got some.

He really is sweet...also has a sour side, kind of like a sour patch kid candy. :) I love him all the more.

So that is where Mike and I were that weekend.

We also went and saw the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall." Can I just say, AH-MAZE-ING! You must see this movie if you are any type of Bond fan. Of course I'm a bit fanatical and know too much, but in my opinion, it's better to be Bond obsessed than Twilight obsessed. Sorry ladies.

Then I was at Hyvee and found this magazine. DONE! Bought that and now know even MORE information about the movie than I did before.

So Mike also went hunting last Monday and got some delicious ducks. He does that a lot this time of year so that's another reason we haven't been blogging nearly as much. I should have him blog about hunting and share some of his pictures from the hunts here. Of course he told me one day, I was looking at dogs. LOL, yeah neither of us can afford let alone keep a dog at the moment. But I am all for getting a dog for pet/hunting purposes. We are dog people for sure. We both say, cats are evil. I mean really, think about it. At Halloween  cats are decorations. You don't see dogs being a scary decoration or considered evil. So yeah, dogs are better.

I have an armband for my phone,
this is what happens after 4 miles

While Mike hunts, what do I do? I run, run for what? For fun, health, and training for any and all upcoming 5k/10k/Obstacle races I have and will be signing up for. I'm excited for Warrior Dash in April - hoping I can sign up for Color Run in June, and then in September there is Tough Mudder and in October there is Rugged Maniac again, not sure I want to be that cold again though. Let alone go up that crazy hill at Snow Creek Ski Resort...that's insane!!!

So Mike loaned me his hunting hat one day for a run in the cooler weather. I think he prefers this look to my normal running hat (which can be seen in darker conditions at least ha ha, I'm not trying to hide on runs)

This is my normal hat, yes that's Tigger and it has ears. I love this hat. You can see it at night and it makes me and others smile. :) That's the point.

I finished running one day and this song started as I was walking to cool down, I felt pretty bad ass walking to this song. I love it. Makes you feel like you have accomplished something.

It is also hockey season for the CHL, at least. Since NHL is still in a lock out I have to get hockey somewhere and it's a good thing some friends of Mike and myself have season tickets that they are willing to share on occasion with us. :) I couldn't commit to season tickets this year. Just no. But I do enjoy a good game now and then.

We have cooked, at least a bit, we have to eat ya know. I have been making bread in my bread machine that I finally dusted off. That bread there is homemade, delicious, old school, white bread. Then I made eggs over easy with some spinach and cheese. Simple dinner but delicious and balanced. Then there was the frittata thing that sounded better than it tasted. Not by best attempt at dinner.

So then we have a beautiful sunset happening after work. Mike doesn't see the sun while at work due to working graveyard shift. So here is a beautiful sunset outside the office as I head home for a run.

Mike and I have cooked recently. Since neither he, nor I, will be really participating in Thanksgiving festivities (he has to work and I'm just not really participating) we made turkey breast and sausage stuffing the other night. OMG YUM YUM YUM!!!

Bought a turkey breast and Mike injected it with a jalapeno butter type sauce that kind of oozed out a bit but it definitely did linger in the meat. Then it was seasoned on the outside with seasoned salt. The stuffing was the Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing based with chopped celery, carrot, onion and mushroom and moistened with chicken stock. Then we got some Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage that was flavored with sage. We mixed up the stuffing, placed it on the bottom of the roaster pan, placed the turkey on top and roasted at 325 degrees F for about 2 hours, until the turkey was 165 degrees. Then we placed the stuffing back in for about 20 more minutes to crisp up. This was a delicious hit, totally hit the spot. Much like the sloppy Joe's and mac and cheese we had made Saturday. YUM!!

I looked at Mike at one point in the kitchen and said "holiday meals are going to be a big deal at our house aren't they?" He just kept cooking and said "Yes."

Man we rock at cooking. :)

I will end on an even warmer and fuzzier note. Mike and I are quirky, to say the least, and sometimes he does things that make me giggle uncontrollably in the car. Like this:

I am a bit nerdy, in comparison I guess. :) But it's the little things in life to be happy about and be thankful for.

So I know you all will go out and cook this week. Share what you will be having for Thanksgiving.

Are you trying any new dishes? Is this your first Thanksgiving cooking? Are you traveling? Share, we want to know.