PORK CHOPS with PEANUT BUTTER GREEN CHILE CREAM GRAVY

I ran across a little blurb of a recipe in an old pamphlet and thought about trying it.  It was just weird enough that I figured it must really be good. I found it a bit plain when I first combined the ingredients and made some adjustments for us, but I’ll give you both versions (original in black with my changes in red) and let you decide.

PEANUT BUTTER PORK CHOPS
PORK CHOPS with PEANUT BUTTER GREEN CHILE CREAM GRAVY
6 large pork loin chops
1 stick butter
2 cups peanut butter 1/2 cups JIF peanut butter
seasonings to taste Hawaiian pink salt & fresh ground black pepper
2 cups milk 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup green chile verde sauce (Las Palmas or Old El Paso)

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • In a large skillet melt butter over medium high heat.
  • Season pork chops with salt and pepper.
  • Add pork chops to butter and brown, searing both sides. Remove pork chops to a prepared baking dish and cover.
  • Bake 30 minutes.
  • Add peanut butter to butter drippings, stirring to blend well.
  • Add chile verde sauce, blending again.
  • Add milk blending together until you have a creamy gravy. Add whipping cream gradually blending until you have a creamy gravy.
  • Pour gravy over pork chops. DON’T DO THIS! Instead make this gravy while pork chops are baking.  Gravy will be creamier and tastier without going into the oven.
  • Bake 30 minutes.
  • Enjoy.

RACING DIP aka KRAB ENCHILADAS, YOU CHOOSE

This is a great dip for ANY tailgate party. Serve it fresh out of the oven… hot and bubbly and served with tortilla chips.

RACING DIP 

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 clove garlic, minced
4-5 LARGE  green onions, chopped
1 can Rotel original tomatoes, DRAINED VERY WELL
2 tablespoons sour cream
8 ounces Flaked Krab, chopped small
15-ounce can black beans, rinsed & DRAINED VERY WELL
Frank’s Original Hot Sauce to taste
Sea salt to taste
1 cup Colby-Jack mixed grated cheese
tortilla chips for dunking
  • In a large bowl, soften cream cheese by beating until smooth with an electric mixer. 
  • Add garlic, green onions, tomatoes, sour cream, chicken pieces and black beans stirring by hand until combined. 
  • Add hot sauce and sea salt until you reach desired taste. 
  • Arrange ingredients in an oven safe dish and top with grated cheese.
  • Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese is brown and bubbly.
  • Serve with chips.
NOTE: Dip can be served cold but we like it best warm.

The leftovers are then perfect for making seafood enchiladas.  

  • Roll into tortillas. 
  • Top with chile verde sauce and more grated cheese.  
  • Bake and enjoy.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

It’s another Monday… you know what that means. It’s time to link up with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at home mom and Laurie at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Happy Homemaker and Menu Plan Monday.

I had a good and productive weekend thanks go to my wonderful physical therapist who is treating the “whole” person and not just my knee.  I’m getting more and more energy and exercise every day.

BREAKFAST AS I WRITE:

Oatmeal & Fruit – It’s cold this morning!


THE WEATHER OUTSIDE
THIS MORNING:
A tiny bit overcast, but with much promise of sunny skies mid morning, a rarity here at this time of year.  The nights have been clear and downright cold (24 degrees) though making it cold and flu season with a hint of ear infection!! Very misleading as it is only sunny and somewhat nice for 3-4 hours and then it’s bone chilling damp cold and miserable again. LOL the long term forecast has snow for next week and it has been a downright dry year with threat of wildfire in February all I can say is I’ll believe that when I see it.

  • … HARD FREEZE MONDAY AND TUESDAY MORNINGS…
  • DUE TO SEVERAL WEEKS OF UNUSUALLY WARM TEMPERATURES… MANY PLANTS IN SOUTHWEST OREGON VALLEYS ARE MUCH MORE DEVELOPED THAN NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. A COLD AIR MASS WILL SETTLE OVER THE AREA TONIGHT AND PERSIST INTO TUESDAY MORNING. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH CLEAR SKIES AND CALM VALLEY WINDS TO DROP OVERNIGHT LOWS WELL INTO THE 20S.

FOR THE WEEK:
Pretty much the same, but less and less promise of sun and more and more promise of dreary skies as the week progresses.

TO DO LIST
TODAY:

  • Physical therapy
  • prepare for the visit to VA advocate (AGAIN)
  • Errands

THIS WEEK:

  • Laundry
  • A Little Spring Cleaning on the remaining kitchen drawers
  • Clean Ceiling Fans
  • Some weeding

CURRENTLY READING

TELEVISION & DVR

A couple of new or returning shows start this week and I’m still working off the DVR from last week.

  • Castle
  • Scandal
  • State of Affairs
  • Justified
  • Sleepy Hollow
  • Perception
  • Rizzoli & Isles
  • The Odd Couple – I think they are trying too hard – I really wanted to like this, but I think it will fail unfortunately.

PLAY TIME (If I can find any)

I tweaked the new framework for my weekly menu and recipe links.  The filled squares are actual links to tried and true recipes.  It is still not exactly what I’m looking for, but I’ll keep working on it. I also designated Tuesday as “EXPERIMENT NIGHT”.

And for those that were wondering what those acronyms you often see on my menus are:
C.O.R.N. = CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
Y.O.Y.O = YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN

 Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie
BREAKFAST
DINNER
DESSERT
MONDAY
Oatmeal with Fruit
C.O.R.N. or Y.O.Y.O.
TUESDAY
Bagel & cream cheese
EXPERIMENT NIGHT
WEDNESDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
THURSDAY
Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast
FRIDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs & Scrambled Eggs

LAST WEEK’S RECIPES I TRIED and their RECIPE LINKS

NEW RECIPES I FOUND THIS WEEK OR CREATED AFTER BEING INSPIRED BY OTHER RECIPES TO TRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE

  • Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Bake
  • Navy Bean Dip
  • Chicken Durango
  • Peanut Butter Pork Chops
  • 14 Carat Cake
  • Lemon Strawberry Pie
  • Pineapple Raisin dessert tamales – there used to be this little mom & pop bistro near where I worked that had the greatest dessert tamales and I have been craving them so thought I would try to recreate them.

MY FAVORITE PHOTO FROM LAST WEEK

LOL I honestly didn’t take anything but food pictures this week until I was on facebook Friday night and Min said something about the moon.  I ran outside and this was fantastic. According to a friend of ours this is the moon waxing, the lower planet is Venus and the middle one is Mars.

BLOGS TO CHECK OUT

I keep looking for new and inspiring blogs, but honestly so many have huge ad sections or pop ups nowadays that just annoy me!

HOMEMAKING TIP / PRODUCT REVIEWS

I’d been debating about buying the ball herb keepers and then they went on sale so I thought I’d give them a try.  I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised how much I like them.  They will save me so much time when I’m in a hurry. All the prep and mess is done all at once, and I used the entire package of fresh herbs so there is nothing left to go bad waiting for a recipe to use them in.

You can also use an ice cube tray and then transfer the cubes to a ziploc bag after they are frozen, but I really love the lids and bright green that makes these easy to use and see readily.

ON MY MIND LATELY

When I was young we had a rule, well we had several, but we had a rule about food.  The main rule being that we had to AT LEAST TRY a food once before we were allowed to say we didn’t like it.  And even then, we were encouraged to try it several times.  The one way out was if mom wouldn’t eat it, we didn’t have to either after at least trying it once.

The other big rule was that you ate what was put in front of you.  NO ONE was your short order cook unless of course we were eating out which when I was young was reserved for special occasions only and you still ate what was in front of you. No playing with your food, whining or complaining.

So all this said, I have a real problem with the new KFC commercial (as well as soooooo many others that use this same negative tactic) where they use children disrespecting their mother’s cooking.  The one question, “What have you been feeding us?” is what I take the most exception with.

Kids are so impressionable. I know it sounds silly, but SOOOOO many commercials today are using NEGATIVE advertisement and I just think it’s wrong.  Like so many other things, the longer it is allowed to continue the more things may change – an NOT for the better.  Children being allowed to be sarcastic, negative, disrespectful and catered to DOES NOT encourage or inspire them to be good positive adults in the future.

PRAYING FOR & INSPIRATION

I’m praying for a world at peace.

My grand daughter Carlie loves the infinity sign.  So this made me think of her and hope she’s doing well at her dad’s house.

Homemade Triple Onion Dip

Homemade Triple Onion Dip

Yields 2 cups

Prep Time: 40 minutes; Total Time: 40 minutes
For a less sweet version of this dip, reduce the cooking time for the onions. I also suggest making a big batch of the caramelized onions ahead of time and freeze them. That way, you’ll be prepared to make dip immediately whenever the urge strikes! (Just thaw the onions and follow start at step 2.). For a vegetarian-friendly dip, look for Worcestershire that doesn’t contain anchovy. 

Ingredients

    • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
    • 1 Tablespoon Butter
    • 2 Yellow Onions, chopped
    • 1 Shallot, minced
    • 1/2 cup Vegetable Stock
    • 16 ounces Reduced Fat Sour Cream
    • 3-4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
    • 4 Green Onions, white and light green parts chopped
    • 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder, or to taste
    • Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preparation

  1. Add the oil and butter to a small sauté pan set over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion, shallot, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown – about 15 minutes. Add the stock. Cook another 15 minutes, or until the onions are deeply browned and all of the liquid has cooked off. Remove from heat and let cool.
  2. Add the sour cream to a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the caramel used onions, Worcestershire sauce, and green onions. Season to taste with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Chill until ready to serve.

TEX MEX STEW

I had such good luck with throwing together the Tomato Bean Soup that I’d try another round with different ingredients and was not disappointed!  Tonight’s offering I made with chicken, but it could easily be made with stew meat, cubed pork or chili grind beef.

TEX MEX STEW
2-4 chicken breasts (or meat of choice)
10 ounce green enchilada sauce
10 ounce Rotel original tomatoes and green chiles
1 large onion, chopped large
2 large celery ribs, chopped
1 cup baby carrots
1/3 cup white wine
1 package Taco Bell Seasoning (1/8 cup homemade)
2 cups egg noodles

  • Whisk together the wine, enchilada sauce and seasoning.
  • Spray crock-pot with non-stick spray.
  • Place meat in bottom topped by chopped veggies.
  • Pour sauce over.
  • Cook 4-6 hours on low. I started with frozen chicken breasts so did the first 2 hours on high and then 3 hours on low. During the last hour I added egg noodles.

I also found some locally made tortillas that are half flour and half corn that are excellent accompaniment for this stew.

TOMATO BEAN SOUP

Hubby had dental work the other day and I didn’t realize how much he was going to need a soft menu so I was scrambling to make a soup with what I had on hand.  This soup turned out so well that hubby asked for thirds!  The best part was how simple it was.

TOMATO BEAN SOUP
1 1/2 cups great northern (white beans)
1 can Bush’s seasoned black beans
1 can Hunt’s diced tomatoes (I used basil, oregano and garlic flavored)
1 KNORR beef gel
6 ounces Sprite
1 ham steak, cubed into bite size pieces

  • Whisk the bouillon with sprite until well blended.  
  • Add everything to crock pot.
  • Cook 4-6 hours on low.

BAKED KRAB DIP SPREAD

BAKED KRAB DIP SPREAD
2 cups minced krab
1 bunch green onions, minced
1-8 oz. package Sargento grated Sun dried tomato cheese (if you can’t find this used pepper jack cheese)
1-14 oz. jar sundried tomatoes, drained and minced*
1 small jar roasted red peppers, drained and minced
1 heaping teaspoon Frank’s hot sauce
1 package Knorr Spring Vegetable Soup Mix**
1 cup sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise
·         Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
·         Spray 9 inch stoneware round with PURE.
·         Toss together the krab, onions, red peppers and artichoke hearts.
·         Stir soup mix into sour cream and mayonnaise. Stir in cheese and hot sauce into soup mixture.
·         Fold krab mixture into soup mixture.
·         Spread into stoneware.
·         Bake 30 minutes until top is just golden.
·         Serve hot or cold.
I serve it with wheat thins.
*I sometimes trade for 1-14 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
**Mrs. Grass works well too.

SLOW COOKER LASAGNA – with tricks

I love my Lasagna Bolognese when I have time, but this slow cooker recipe is a nice change if you want it ready when you get home.

SLOW COOKER LASAGNA – with tricks
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup slivered carrots
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups Bolognese Sauce or your favorite jar sauce
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
30 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup fresh, chopped basil leaves
1 box Barilla oven ready lasagna noodles
4 cups grated mozzarella cheese

  • Cut strips of heavy duty foil about 3 inches wide and long enough to extend about 3 inches over on each side making 2-3 slings.  Press into the edges of your crock pot and then coat with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Brown beef in skillet until no longer pink.  Drain off fat and set aside.
  • Add onions, garlic and carrots to skillet.
  • When vegetables are tender add meat back in and mix well.
  • Add sauce, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.
  • In a mixing bowl whisk eggs.
  • Add in Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and basil.
  • Spread 1/2 cup of meat sauce on bottom of crock pot.
  • Add a layer of lasagna noodles breaking to fit as necessary.
  • Top with 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce followed by 1 1/2 cups of Ricotta cheese mixture followed by 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
  • Repeat layers 2 more times.
  • Set crock pot for low and cook 4 hours.
  • Let rest 30 minutes.
  • Using Foil slings, remove the whole lasagna to platter.  Foil slings will slide out easily.
  • Enjoy.

 **I love the oven ready noodles – no pre-cooking and so much less breakage.  No one can tell the difference after you bake it!

OATMEAL FRUIT BARS

Even though this is triple layered there are only two components to make because the crust ‘dough’ is split in half and serves as the topping too. The bars go in the oven three times: first to cook the crust then to cook the crust with the filling then one last time with the crumbs on top to bring it all together. Three times a charm.
At first glance, this recipe didn’t look very promising. My expectations were low. When I’m wrong I admit it. I was wrong. I’m excited now over the possibilities and can’t wait to make them with cranberries, cherries or figs for a seasonal treat… and wonder how chocolate chips would work out. Reasons enough to make them and eat them again and again because. . .
I heart sour cream raisin oatmeal bars!
These unassuming bars become unforgettable after only one or two bites.
Just long enough to reel you in hook, line and sinker. Resistance is futile.

Sour Cream Raisin Oatmeal Bars
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: 1 (9×13) pan
This old-fashioned favorite starts with an oatmeal crust followed by a cooked sour cream and raisin filling that ends with buttery crumbs gracing the top. Three-layers of irresistible decadence.
Ingredients

 

2 cups golden raisin

 

1 cup coconut rum

 

1 + 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking)

 

1 + 3/4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup room temperature butter
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 + 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups sour cream (regular or light)

 

  • Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover them with the rum.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper.
  • In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, and baking soda. Blend the butter in with a pastry blender or fork until small crumbles form. Measure out 1 + 1/2 cups of the topping into small bowl and refrigerate. Pat the rest of the topping evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Meanwhile in a sauce pan over medium heat combine yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and sour cream. Cook over medium heat about 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened, the mixture should simmer slowly, if needed turn heat down. Some of the mixture may stick to the bottom of the pan – don’t scrape it up. Remove from heat. Drain the raisins and stir them into the sour cream mixture.
  • Pour the raisin mixture over the baked crust and bake for another 15 minutes until the edges are set but the middle is still very jiggly.
  • Crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture evenly over top of the bars and bake for another 15 minutes. The bars may still wobble a bit in the middle but will set up when cooled.
  • Allow to cool completely then refrigerate until well chilled. Remove bars using parchment to a cutting board and slice into squares or triangles with a chef’s knife wiped clean after each cut. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

BEEF RAGOUT with SALAD & ONION BACON VINAIGRETTE

The definition of Ragout is well seasoned meat and vegetables cooked in a thick sauce.  Translated it means YUMMY, flavorful and perfect for a cold winter’s night.

BEEF RAGOUT with SALAD
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 pounds quality stew meat cut into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons Classico Sun-dried tomato pesto
1 large can pureed tomatoes
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, seasoned (I used basil, garlic & oregano)
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil

  • Coat crock pot with non stick cooking spray.
  • Stir together all the ingredients until well mixed.
  • Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours or 4-5 hours on low.
  • Serve over pasta.

*Original recipe called for Pancetta, but I find it a bit too salty and expensive so just used quality bacon from my butcher.

ONION BACON VINAIGRETTE
4 slices bacon
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup Tarragon vinegar
3/4 cup cream sherry
1/4 cup Avpcado oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste

  • Cook bacon until crisp.
  • Drain bacon on paper towels.
  • Add green onions to bacon grease and cook until tender.
  • Add vinegar, simmering 5 minutes.
  • Add cream sherry, simmering another 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and whisk in oil.
  • Fold in thyme leaves and bacon.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Serve warm.
  • Refrigerate leftovers.