Cranberry-Pineapple Crockpot Pork Chops!

Seriously, you guys. I love pineapple. And I love cranberry.
And since I really, really also like pork chops -
This was the best discovery EVER.
Especially because I love my crockpot!

If I could use my crockpot every single day for every single meal, I probably would. And I wouldn't be ashamed of it at all... so I was totally excited to not only see a Crockpot Receipe Exchange Group on Facebook (which I joined and have been obsessively reading ever since!) - but that someone right at the top had posted this fantastic receipe.

Although it make not look that pretty, it TASTES amazing - so really, you should give it a chance. Especially if you have a love-relationship with pineapples, cranberrys and crockpots. And a like-relationship (or greater!) with pork.

INGREDIENTS
4 or 5 porkchops
1 (big) can crushed pineapple
1 (normal-sized) can cranberry sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbl spoon nutmeg
1 tbl olive oil
...and some salt. Whatever floats your boat.*

DIRECTIONS
Throw some olive oil in a pan and start to brown the porkchops. They don't need to be fully cooked, but give them a good head start. In the crockpot, mix the pineapple, cranberry sauce, chopped onion, nutmeg and salt together. Once mixed up really good, move the porkchops into the crockpot. (I would suggest making cuts into the meat before doing it, so the insides marinade a little more) Try really hard to cover the pork chops up with the juicy fruit mixture & throw the lid on the pot :)

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8.
However, I work longer than that - so mine simmered on low for over 10. I (personally) think it made them taste better, if anything. The juices are soo good with the pork. Promise!

*I posted "some" salt because I try to use only as much salt as needed. However, my mother always wants more salt (on everything!) and insisted it needed more. So you know. Do what you want. haha

My Friend's Husband's Award Winning Chili!

Not that yinz read this anymore... but this turned out so well I had to share!

My friend's husband won her work-chili-cookoff contest the first time he ever tried making chili, so I decided to make MY first attempt at chili with his receipe! And it turned out FANTASTIC. So I am posting to share... because what better way to deal with Snowmagedon & the awful cold than to make a big ol' pot of chili to enjoy? (And then freeze... so we can enjoy later!)

I hope you enjoy :)

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground turkey or 97% lean ground beef

(let's keep it a LITTLE healthier, kids!)
1 onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced (who doesn't LOVE garlic?)
3 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes - NOT drained.
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans - DRAINED
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans - DRAINED
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon hot sauce

(Any kind of hot sauce works! Plus, the more the better IMO...

....Okay, so I added lots more!)

DIRECTIONS
In a large stock pot lightly (or, you know - the world's biggest & deepest pan ever created - as purchased & used by ME in the inserted photos...) brown ground turkey/meat, and drain if needed. Set aside. Add the onion and garlic to pan and cook until onion is translucent. Move the meat back into the pan and cook for a little longer, fully mixing everything.

Add the (UN-DRAINED!) diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, kidney beans, pinto beans, chili powder, cumin, sugar, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes (although I simmed for two hours, because I'm like that) and then serve. I really feel the extra simmering helped with the final product...

I would say this serves about 6-8 :)

FINAL NOTES
Don't forget to make cornbread :( That was the ONLY disappointment with this meal - that I didn't think ahead enough! But it was still sooo easy and super delicious nonetheless. And I mean it, keep mixin' in that hot sauce!

Creamy Fettuccine with Shrimp and Bacon

Andrea do you like shrimp? For some reason this recipe made me think of you!

1 pound uncooked fettuccine
2 bacon slices
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 garlic clove, minced
1.5 cups frozen green peas, thawed
1 cup shredded carrot
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided


Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well; keep warm.

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 6 minutes or until crips. Remove bacon from the pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan. Crumble bacon, set aside.

Add shrimp and garlic to pan; saute over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Add peas and carro; cook 2 minutes or just until shrimp are done. Transfer shrimp mixture to a large bowl; keep warm.

Combine milk, flour, salt, and pepper, stirring with a shisk. Add milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thckened and bubbly, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat; add cheese, stirring until blended. Add milk mixture to shrimp mixture; stir until combined. Add pasta and 1/4 cup parsley, tossing gently to coat. Transfer pasta mixture to a platter, or divide evenly among each of 8 plates; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 cup parsley and crumbled bacon. Serve immediately.

Jamie's Tips:

- I used frozen shrimp but didn't thaw them before putting them in the pan. It caused a lot of excess liquid, so try to thaw the shrimp before hand. (Or add the shrimp before the garlic, and drain some of the excess liquid once the shrimp are thawed.)
- Also on the shrimp topic, we used medium sized shrimp instead of large. We find that we like smaller shrimp in pasta cuz it's more bite-sized.
- Extra carrots wouldn't hurt

It's very good! Many steps, but pretty simple overall. The recipes suggests pairing it with chardonnay :)

Stuffed Bell Peppers

For some reason, I have always considered stuffed peppers "out of my league." They have always seemed "fancier" than my usual taste in food. After coming across a few random stuffed pepper recipes the past couple weeks, I decided to go for it. They took about 45 minutes to make (ok ok, maybe an hour and a half, I didn't really pay attention, but the cookbook only said 45 minutes!) and I felt like the final result should win an award for appearance! Perfectly upright peppers, stuffed to the top and topped with JUST the right ammount of sauce and cheese to not run over the edges and give it a pretty little look.

Matt and I sat down with our peppers on our plates... and looked at it, poked at it... and realized we had no idea how to go about eating it. We can fake cooking out of our league, but can't fake eating out of our league! Eventually we decided a knife would be useful and we dug in. Amazingly FILLING meal. The stuffing was made out of rice, ground beef, some onion, diced tomatoes, pepper jack cheese and parsley... honestly the flavors were a little bland. After going back to some of the other stuffed pepper recipes I came across, I think I have a good idea of some different herbs and spices I am going to throw in next time we attempt stuffed peppers. Once it's really delicious, I'll be sure to post the recipe. :)

After we managed to figure out how to eat our stuffed peppers, we learned that for a "light main dish" they are quite filling. So we ended up throwing the two extras away. Such a waste, but they wouldn't have kept well. It wasn't too upsetting because they were fun to make and tasted pretty good! Recipe soon to come :)

I'd like to dedicate this one to Kari... :)

Well, I am back from my long absence...mostly due to not cooking over the summer! This little treat is courtesy of Wegman's, but you don't have to use the specific Wegman's ingredients if there isn't one of these stores near you. This recipe was given really good reviews and I enjoyed it when I made it!

Cheese Tortellini with Spinach, Roasted Cauliflower and Vodka Blush Sauce

Serves 8

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

1 head cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste
3 T basting oil
5 oz. baby spinach
24 oz. Vodka blush sauce, warmed
20 oz. cheese tortellini
Grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Toss cauliflower with basting oil in large bowl. Arrange on baking sheet in a single layer; season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast 25-30 minutes, until softened and lightly browned. Transfer to large bowl; set aside.

2. Toss baby spinach with cauliflower until wilted; season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Toss veggie mixture with warmed sauce and cooked pasta; sprinkle with cheese.

This is a really good fall dinner.

Schnetka Pioneer Woman Style

Ok, so last night I decided to bake. Don't tell my family, I'm surprising them with my little treat when I see them this weekend! This is a Kansas/Pauls family tradition: Schnetka. Pronounced "snet-cha." Some German raisin pastry. This is what 3 hours of my evening consisted of last night... (and for those of you unfamiliar with the "Pioneer Woman" style, check out http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ it's my, Katie, and Ashley's new obsession)



Work space ready to go. Recipe for the dough from my mom, recipe for the raisins from my great aunt:



Step 1: Prepare the raisins: Add sugar, baking powder and cinnomon to 2 cups of raisins:

Microwave to boiling, approximately 9 minutes in my microwave:

Now, prepare the dough. Use a knife to chop butter fine in flour:

Add other dry ingredients and mix, slowly add in 1 cup of milk until thoroughly mixed and nice and sticky!

Now let it chill for 30 minutes.

Now you will need lots of flour...

Roll out the dough nice and thin

Get the cooled raisins

And make a layer of raisins across the edge of the dough.

Now roll the dough over the raisins and cut into pieces.

Place on baking sheet. Can place them close because they don't expand much.
Now, bake at 475 for 10-15 minutes until dough is golden brown. Mmmm, hello, Kansas!

Here I Go Again On My Own...

Hello, friends who apparently never cook anymore because they never update. Ever. At all. Not once. Have you guys forgotten theres this thing called cooking? And that sometimes its nice to share that with your friends who are struggling to cook? (ie: me)

Maybe it's because it's summer. Maybe everyone is busy with rushing here or there - trying to enjoy as much sun and fun as we can, before we're trapped inside all winter. Thats the only guess I can make. I know I have cooked some things - but none of it has been overly worthwhile, I guess. Or so painful that I just HAD to blog about it so you guys could appreciate my struggles.

Well that will hopefully change soon. You know, minus the painful part.

Change is hard but change is good. Change is needed.

To sum up a really long story that really isn't necessary here - Jason & I broke up, and it was extremely difficult, so I haven't really had a huge desire to cook recently. It's not as fun when you do it alone (or so I've been telling myself.) Plus, its twice the work. And twice the memories. And really, I need to be..supervised most of the time. Honestly. I don't trust myself alone and so the thought of doing so much on my own is kind of... intimidating.

But since the breakup (and the weeks leading up to it) I've decided the wonderful philosophy we all go thru during breakups - where you start to focus fully on yourself. You stop worrying about someone else constantly and you start wondering what YOU need to improve your life.

So what do I need? To eat healthier. To eat fresher foods. To try to expand my tastebuds towards more veggies and fruits and you know, non-chocolate or Ben & Jerry's type things. But I also have less time (or so it seems) and less helps (how sad!) so that leads to..lack of motivation. So now I introduce to you my new partner:

The Crockpot.

Oh Crockpot. I love you so much. I can pre-cut and slice and arrange everything I need the night before, throw you into the crockpot in the morning before I leave for work, and come home to an apartment filled with amazing smells. You are such a wonderful little worker. Such a help.

My first crockpot meal, with the help of this receipe from my friend Pam, turned out so well I made it again just a couple weeks later. Now presenting...

Yummy Pot Roast!

1 can cr. of mushroom soup
1 pouch dry onion soup mix
6-8 small red potatoes, cut into quarters
1 bag baby carrots
3-4 lb. bottom round or chuck roast

Throw everything in the crock pot and cook for 8-10 hours on low. Ta-da!

And for those of you who don't enjoy a good can of cream of mushroom soup (or mushroom soup in general) this was ACTUALLY the last meal I made for Jason. And he HATES, HATES, HATES mushrooms and finds the thought of "cream of mushroom soup" vomit-worthy. So I may or may not have left out that ingredient when he asked what all was in the crockpot. And let me tell you, he LOVED it. He had no clue. I am just that sneaky. So if that scares you, have no fear - you honestly can't tell. It just helps make a really nice broth with the cry onion soup mix. Promise.

This has since inspired me to want to use my new friend, Crockpot, even more. And while at Barnes & Noble the other day in Morgantown, I stumbled across this little beauty. Which lead me to finding... THIS AMAZING DISCOVERY:

Yes. An entire receipe of healthy crockpot receipes. Including (but not limited to) main dishes featuring chicken, turkey, beef, pork, seafood, bean, soups, veggies, desserts, appetizers, snacks, spreads, beverages, breakfast dishes and breads. I mean, REALLY.

So next time I post (which will hopefully be soon) I will have made at least ONE of these amazing dishes. The hardest part is choosing between them! There is a Hot Crab Dip in there that sounds AMAZING. But I really want to try one of the meals first I think. We'll see!

And hopefully by the time I come back to write again... you all will have written too. Cough, cough, nudge, nudge. :)