Sunday, September 19, 2010

Mini Pizzas

So we were watching football, and I was hungry, but didn't feel like cooking. I checked the freezer, and those blasted kids ate all the chicken nuggets. During my search I found some salami in the freezer, so I decided I would make something with that. Here's what I came up with:
Photobucket

Ready? Let's begin:
You will need some type of bread product-I have found that bagels, English muffins, or sourdough bread work best. Whole wheat seems to fall apart.
Some type of cheese-depending on my mood, and what's in the fridge. I used Sargento's Italian low fat 4 cheese blend. Why? Because it was on sale, duh. Did I mention how many people I feed?
Some type of sauce-this time I used marinara, but feel free to use pesto, alfredo, or BBQ.
Some stuff you like to eat on top!
For my pizzas I used Bagels, marinara, the Sargento cheese, salami, Kalamata olives, and sun dried tomatoes.
Take your bread and toast it, once that's done put it on your baking pan (I lined mine with foil because I'm really lazy). Spread your sauce on the bread, then top with cheese. Now I put the smaller toppings on like my chopped olives and sun dried tomatoes, then I put the salami on top. That way my delicate toppings don't dry out and burn, plus when you're eating them the toppings don't fall off. Stick them in a 350 oven for 10 minutes and you are ready to eat!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Stuffed pork chops

This was a deliciously easy dish that impressed my family, and people used to pay me to cook this for them. Go figure!
First you need some thick pork chops-I get the boneless ones from Costco, oh so tender and lean.
Boxes of stuffing mix-I told you this was easy right?
Cream of whatever soup-I use mushroom or celery
Chicken broth
Corn starch
Seasoning-I used granulated garlic & Pappys. Pappys can be found in many places and  many varieties. I just use the original. http://www.pappyschoice.com/
Start with making your stuffing according to package directions, you can add cranberries, apples, pears or raisins to this if you want.
While that is happening you want to butterfly all your chops. Don't know what that means? To butterfly pork, slice down length of chop without cutting all the way through; spread and flatten out to form a butterfly shape. Sprinkle your seasoning all over it, and fold it back together. Stick it in a frying pan drizzled with olive oil over medium high heat. Cook it until it's a little browned on the outside, at this point you're not cooking it all the way through. Pull them out and put them in a baking dish. Open the pork chop & stuff it with about a heaping tablespoon of stuffing. Throw them in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes uncovered.
While that's happening, toss the soup, broth, & corn starch into a pot and let it boil for about 2 minutes. At the 20 minute mark spoon it over the chops, let bake another 10 minutes. Pull it out and you're done!

I paired mine with some sauteed green beans. I took fresh green beans, salt, pepper, garlic, red onions, and a couple slices of chopped smoked turkey, put them in a pan with some olive oil and cooked them to the texture I liked.

Let me know what you think!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

About me

Does cooking a home made meal every night sound difficult? Well it's not. This is basically how you can be lazy at cooking, but still make some impressive dishes. I'm a mom of basically 6 'kids' ranging from a 10 year old girl to 3 boys ages 14, 17, & 19, a nephew who is 21, and a husband. Plus every other night I cook for my ex & his family (they live across the street), yeah I know it's weird, but it works for us. Every time I make something people are 'oh so impressed'. Whatever, it took 5-10 minutes of prep time. I'm tired, my house is a zoo, I work every day, and take care of everything in my house. If I can do it, you can too, but I'll still do it better.