BBQ Pork Chops and Lima Beans over Saffron Rice

I'll tell you, sometimes it's tougher than you'd think to come up with good meals that your whole family will enjoy. Thank goodness when I went shopping last time, I had the forethought to buy some pork chops. I'm not really much of a "pork" gal, but my husband loves a good chop.

Earlier in the day today (around 2p), I took out a pack of boneless pork chops. I also decided that we'd cook up some lima beans, since it's been a while since I've made them. They are so easy and absolutely wonderful tasting if done right!
Some quick facts: 1-3oz. boneless pork chop roasted in the oven is 175 calories. 1 cup of white rice is 205 calories. 1/2 cup of cooked lima beans is 105 calories. Beats fast food! :)

Here's what I did: I took a 1lb bag of large lima beans, cleaned out any partial beans and rocks and added 8 cups of hot water, brought it to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, then took it off of the burner and let it sit, covered, for an hour. Forget the days of soaking beans overnight!! This works just as well! After an hour, (closer to dinner time), I drained and rinsed the beans. I then added 6 cups of fresh, hot water and set them to cook on low/medium for about 40-55 minutes or until the beans were tender to taste. I added 1 teaspoon cumin (for a meaty, smoky taste), 1/2 tablespoon onion powder (I am liberal with this since my husband does not like actual onions in his food), a dash of garlic powder (or you can use some crushed fresh garlic if you really like garlic), a little celery salt, and of course Caldo de Pollo - almost 2 tblspns. The wonderful thing about lima beans is that as they cook, they make their own delicious juice/sauce and if you season it right,...it's fantastic!

Next, we got some rice cooking. Remember to always add 1/2 more water than cups of rice used for perfect rice everytime. So if you're cooking 2 cups of rice, you should add 2 1/2 cups boiling water to it. (Always add boiling water, the rice cooks up faster and you won't get hard rice.) We added a touch of olive oil (to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot and from clumping), a heaping tblspn of Caldo de Pollo and 1 small saffron packet. Set rice to boil. Once rice is boiling, turn heat to med., cover the rice and let cook until the water is gone and little holes form. (See below). Once holes form, turn heat to low and let the rice continue to cook for 15 minutes or so.

While rice was cooking, we seasoned the pork chops with McCormick's Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple (a new FAVORITE of ours!), a little salt, pinch of pepper and let them brown up in the oven on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Because they are so lean, I used a paper towel, put a little olive oil on it and rubbed the bottom of the glass dish so the chops won't stick.

Once it was all done, we cut up pieces of the pork chops and mixed it with ranch dressing for the kids (as the BBQ sauce is a little too tangy for their tastes), added some rice and lima beans, and a little fruit cocktail in light pear juice (not syrup!). I'll admit, at first my son gave me a little push-back on the lima beans, but once he tried one, he said they were: "really, really good mom!"

My husband loves this dish so I gave him more chops (see 1st picture), as they were actually pretty small and thin chops. I was happy because not only did my husband enjoy it, but the kids did too! This dish takes a little more cooking time, but it's worth it. And...there's leftovers, which means tomorrow's lunch is already made! ;) Eat and be well!

Cornflake Chicken Sliders w/buttery Bowties

(Chicken Sliders w/cornflake breading)

So, yesterday I worked during the day and didn't get home until about 6pm. I needed to find something easy and tasty to cook that wouldn't take much time. I had some ground chicken sliders that I thawed earlier that day. I had made them once before and the kids loved them, so I decided that would be dinner!

(The kids' plate: bowties, sliders cut up and ranch dressing for dipping.)

I mixed regular seasoned bread crumbs with crumbled up cornflakes. I used an egg/milk wash and dipped the slider patties in that first then coated them with the bread crumb mixture.

I tossed them in the frying pan and browned them for about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. I had the heat on medium so the outside and inside would cook evenly.

While those were cooking, I boiled some bowtie pasta with a pinch of salt, and a drop of olive oil (to prevent the pasta from sticking together.)

Once the pasta was ready, I drained it, tossed in about a tablespoon of butter, some of the Badia seasoning (get some! It's sooo good!), a dash of salt, and sprinkled generously with parmesan cheese. I let that sit while I finished the sliders.

After they were all done, I plated everything. This was a simple, yet really filling meal that is quick and very tasty!

Chicken Nachos

How much easier can lunch or dinner get than chicken nachos? I had boiled chicken for Sunday Soup (which I will post the recipe for soon. It's a wonderful dish for you soup lovers!) and shredded some up. I took an aluminum pan layered nacho chips in there with fat-free sour cream, fat-free refried beans, topped it with the shredded chicken and finished it off with shredded cheese. Pop it in the toaster over for 10-12 minutes and VOILA'...lunch or dinner is served! Add some green chilis or jalapenos to spice it up! This is finger food so it's already fun for kids and it's hearty enough for an adult. Try it next time your pressed for time or for cooking ideas! Enjoy!

BBQ'd Chicken over curried Jasmine rice with mixed veggies.

This is a meal that takes about 30 minutes to make. Start off by getting the rice going. I used a rice cooker and used 2 cups of Jasmine rice. I seasoned the rice with Caldo de Pollo, onion powder, a little Badia seasoning, and of course sweet curry. Mix that with the rice and 2 tblspns. of light olive oil (keeps the rice from being sticky) and add 2 1/2 cups of boiling water. Then turn on the cooker and let it go! I'm very picky about my rice. I think it should be tasty on it's own, which is why I add the spices to the rice.
(Above is one of the kid's plate. We always try to find fun plates that they like eating out of.)

Next it's on to the chicken. I took a few chicken breasts, cut them up into chunks, used a touch of canola oil and browned them in a skillet. I added pepper, a touch of salt, and Bill Johnson's Hickory BBQ Sauce! It is DELICIOUS!!! My husband is a BBQ man and loves this one!

It was actually a little thick, so I added some of the boiled water to loosen it up a bit.

Meanwhile, I took some frozen mixed vegetables, boiled them while the rice was finishing cooking. Once the rice was done,...

I sprinkled parmesan cheese on the vegetables and plated the food. This is a quick, easy, really tasty meal. It's really geared towards my husband, but luckily the kids love it too!

I am fortunate enough to have a husband that will without me asking readily jump up and clean up any dishes. I clean as I cook, so it's really just the dinner dishes that he washes, but I'll tell you, it's such a lovely gesture and it makes the work and preparation well worth it! Hope your dinners are delicious and enjoyable! Eat and be well!

Breaded Chicken Scallopini

Tonight I made Breaded Chicken Scallopini! It's delicious, crunchy, moist, and simple to make. Here's how:
You'll need two containers (I used a split tupperware container). In one container you'll need two eggs (for 6-8 cutlets), or 1 egg if using less chicken. With a fork or whisk mix in some milk (I use 1%). In the other container you'll need breadcrumbs. You can use either seasoned (which I did), unseasoned, or Panko breadcrumbs, which are a Japanese style and are crunchier. I usually prefer Panko, but didn't have any on hand tonight. I seasoned my already seasoned crumbs with onion powder (a staple for us), and the McCormick's Smokehouse Apple (smells heavenly!)

I cut 5 chicken breast in half and dipped them first in the egg/milk wash, then directly into the breading.

I heated up some oil (about 1/4) cup in a high-sided frying pan. While that was heating up, I cooked some frozen peas that steam in their own bag in the microwave in 4 minutes. I used left-over beans from last night's meal and boiled up a little pasta (for my husband.) I fried each cutlet for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown. While the cutlets were finishing cooking I began to plate the food. For the kids, they got the chicken (of which they asked for seconds!), peaches, and some beans. I added a little fat-free Ranch dressing for dipping fun! (I didn't make them eat peas because they had eaten some a few hours earlier for a snack.)

My husband got peas, whole wheat pasta, beans and the chicken. (He didn't eat most of the pasta because he was full.)

This was a yummy meal and since I bought the family pack of chicken on sale, we have plenty of leftovers which incidently will be tomorrow's lunch! :) The whole dinner took about 45 minutes from start (cutting up chicken, etc...) to plating. Julia Childs said it best: "You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients." Eat and be well!

June 8th - Quick and Easy...Spaghetti with meat sauce, peas/carrots and breadsticks!

Sooo, it was close to 5:40p on June 8th and I had no ideas for dinner yet. So, I defrosted some lean ground beef in the microwave and cooked it up using a combination of onion powder, Badia Sazon, celery salt, pepper to taste, Lowry's season salt and a touch of cumin.

While that was cooking up, I started some vegetables to boil. This night we went with peas and carrots since I know the kids love them.

I sprinkled them with parmesan cheese and tossed some garlic butter bread sticks in the toaster oven while I boiled the spaghetti noodles. I added my favorite jar sauce - Rinaldi's meat sauce (since my hubby isn't a veggie fan), mixed in the ground beef, and put it all together for a quick, super-easy, tasty meal that they all loved! I think it is important to remember that quick meals don't have to mean unhealthy meals. It doesn't mean chicken nuggets in the microwave. You can still throw together a great, tasty, mostly home cooked meal in a little amount of time. This is a great "go-to" meal idea. Bon appetit!