Apple stuffed Pork Chops

FREAKIN YUUUUM!!!!

We had very little in our kitchen, so I made these on a whim and they came out terrific!  I found pork chops that were in my freezer, and found some apples that were slightly bruised. This is one of the easiest recipes EVER! It was great to make on Valentines day and goes great with a red wine, we had Cabernet Sauvignon... TRUST ME!!!  Oh and about the crappy pictures, it's all about the presentation-which I am horrible at...

INGREDIENTS:

4 nice cuts of pork chops
2-3 big apples, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
few tablespoons of olive oil
garlic paste- a good amount

to make the garlic paste:
4-5 big cloves or garlic
2 tbsp of olive oil

put in food processor or blender and mix

OKAY!!
preheat the oven at 375 degrees

1. season the pork chops with salt and pepper
2. cut a little slit into the side of the chops (about an inch into it)
3.  season the inside with salt and pepper and stuff them with apples
5.  Pan sear them for about a minute or two on each side
6.  in a baking dish, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom and place the chops. Any remaining apple chunks can go around the chops
7.  put the garlic paste over the chops
8.  bake at 375degrees for about 30 minutes

Comments

I just fixed it!!! FINALLY!! And there I was, thinking no one loved me out there...

My kind of Crock Pot Chili!

It sometimes makes me sad that I'm on this low carb diet because the chili I made today would have been GREAT on a nice jumbo hotdog.  I've started to notice a pattern with my cooking: baked chicken.  Today was different.  Since I had to study all day, I decided to do something easy.  I started around 2PM prepping the meat for it's slow-cooking bath.  It was amazing!  It came out juicy and tender, and sooooo savory!

 

I promise it tastes A LOT better than it looks

Here's the recipe for my Slow-Cooked Chili!

Ingredients:
1 lb of ground beef
3 sausage links (I used spicy Italian)
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp of tomato paste
salt & pepper
tbsp dried basil
tbsp oregano
2 cloves garlic- crushed
1 chopped onion
1 bag of frozen succotash (corn and beans)
2/3 cup of water
**spice it up with peppers of your choice or hot sauce

1. Chop the sausage links into small pieces.
2.  Put all the ingredients into a crock pot.
3.  Cook on high for 6 hours.
4.  Stir occassionally.
5.  ENJOY!!

New Year, New Recipes!! Fake Chicken Parm.

First and foremost, I am sorry it took me so long to jump back on the diet.  In my defense, I had to finish ALL the food my mom sent with me after Christmas break.  It was a lot of food!! My mom stuffed a cooler full of yummy goodies found only in Miami, from pastelitos to arepa mix (which I haven't gotten entirely rid of). However, today was my first official day back on the Bunny Diet!

Anyway, tonight, I made a low carb version of chicken parm.  I nixed the flour altogether and grilled the chicken before baking it.  I then served it over a bed of steamed veggies that I cooked with the remaining olive oil from the chicken.  here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 pieces of chicken breast
salt & pepper to taste
about 1/2 cup of grated GOOD Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (or less if you don't want so much) of cheddar
a good handful of spinach
a can of diced tomato
tbsp of dried (or fresh if available) basil
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
**Preheat the oven to 350 degrees**
1.  Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper and a dash of basil.
2.  Grill the chicken in a skillet until it's a nice golden brown.
3.   While you're grilling the chicken, strain the tomatoes.  KEEP THE JUICE.
4.  Mix the remaining juice from the tomatoes with the balsamic vinegar.
5.  When you're done grilling, place the chicken in a casserole dish and top with spinach, tomatoes, and both cheeses.
6.  Add the tomato/balsamic juice.
7.  Bake for 20 minutes and serve!

ENJOY!

I really like lots of cheese, so I made sure to pile it high.

Pan seared chicken with cherry glaze

I took some of this recipe from foodnetwork.com, but I decided to make it my own by creating my own glaze.  YUMMY!!

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
salt, pepper
poultry seasoning
2 or 3 sprigs of rosemary finely chopped

glaze:
half a jar of marachino cherries and the juice
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
3tbsp of orange marmalade

1.  Pat the chicken dry.
2.  season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning
3.  pour 3 tbsp of olive oil into a pan, and sear the chicken 3 minutes on each side. (be careful not to burn it) When you turn the chicken over, add the finely chopped rosemary
4. Finish it in a 350degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
5.  pour the glaze over it and enjoy!

to make the glaze!
1. In a saucepan, pour the cherries, juice and balsamic vinegar.
2. Let it reduce to about half, until it becomes a nice glaze

Italian style Pork Loin

It was amazing!!! At first, I had no idea what I was going to do.  Since I'm going home for the holidays, soon, I haven't gone grocery shopping in a while and my food inventory at home is really thin.  I had pasta sauce, pork loin and broccoli to play with, so my creation for tonight was to be Italian.  Now, usually I make my own pasta sauce, but since I decided to use what was on hand, I did it this way:

INGREDIENTS!
2 loins
1 medium sized jar of pasta sauce
fresh rosemary
dried thyme
fresh oregano
salt & peppr
olive oil

1.  Butterfly the loins.  Keep them looking like a boat, so the sides are up and not flat.
2.  Rub them with salt, pepper, olive oil and oregano
3.  Liberally rub oregano, thyme and rosemary on the inside, and let it sit for an hour.
4.  Pan sear the loins for 2 minutes on each side
5.  In a baking dish, pour about 2 tbsp of oil, then place the loins.
6.  Pour all the pasta sauce all over and around the pork.
7.  Bake at 425degrees for about 40-45 minutes.
8.  Let it stand for about 15 minutes after you take the pork out of the oven.
9.  ENJOY!

Pork Loin for Moi!

This was the first time I ever made pork loin. MAAAN IT WAS YUMMY!!! What I really like about this diet is that it forces me to think outside the box.  I have to come up with new things to make.  Unfortunately, I once again forgot to take a picture of my yumminess.  I promise, though, it was great,  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 pork loins
complete seasoning (or any other kind of rub)
salt & pepper
balsamic vinegar
olive oil

GLAZE:
1/2 jar of jelly (any kind, I used strawberry)
2 rounded tbsp of dijon mustard

1. rub the loins in complete seasoning, salt and pepper, and balsamic.  Let marinate for an hour.  DON'T TOUCH IT!
2. In a baking dish or casserole dish, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on it and a few more tablespoons od balsamic over and around the meat.
3. Pop it in the  oven at 425degrees for 20mins PER POUND!

To make the glaze:
In a saucepan, heat up the jelly and the dijon.

*Pour the glaze over the meat while it's cooking in the oven when there's 30 minutes left for baking.

ENJOY!

I made sauteed spinach on the side with cream of onion.  (That, I cheated, my boyfriend made those)