Lots of Meaty Dinners!

We're definitely meat lovers at our house and we've been having some yummy meaty dinners! First off some pork chops braised in a sauce made with a combo of Mango Pineapple Salsa and broth. It's so simple yet perfect for summer. Don't you just think of mango and pineapples when the weather gets warm?

We received some Stonewall Kitchen gourmet jams and jellies as a gift and one of the jars was Hot Pepper Jelly which I found is perfect with lamb. So I made some grilled Lamb Loin Chops and served the jelly on top. AMAZING!

We also had some huge chicken legs braised in a Coconut Curry Sauce. The sauce was just curry powder, ginger, garlic and coconut milk with LOTS of red chili peppers! So simple yet so flavorful served over rice noodles, hubby favorite!

Next we have some pork chops simmered in a spicy pickled jalapeno sauce. Our favorite brand is Embasa and it comes in a can with pickled carrots as well. SO perfect to add a Mexican twist to anything!

I found a recipe for Greek Braised Chicken Thighs and thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did! We don't eat a lot of Feta but we're definitely gonna start! I just love the texture and saltiness!

AND last but definitely not least, I made the most amazing Pepper-Stuffed Pork Chops! Yes the filling fell out a bit but who cares? :)

Meaty Dinners

My hubby is definitely a meat and potatoes kinda guy so most of our dinners tend to center around some type of animal. We had these lamb loin chops on a Sunday night and I could not have been happier! I marinated the lamb in a mixture of Greek yogurt, oregano, garlic and rosemary for a couple of hours. Then I grilled them in my grill pan for about 5 minutes on each side and served them over couscous. Simple and quick!

Another meaty dinner we had were pork chops and peppers served over stuffing. I braised the chops in my Dutch oven and added bell peppers and onions along with canned tomatoes. YUM YUM!

A LONG Fun Weekend!

I hope everyone enjoyed their long Memorial Day weekend as much as we did! I got out of work early on Friday and we had planned on going somewhere outdoors for happy hour but the weather was just NOT warm enough. Instead, I made us a beautiful cheese and crackers platter at home to enjoy with some drinks. Can't beat that even with happy hour prices!

For dinner I decided to get all fancy with Prosciutto-Wrapped Lobster Tails! Yes, they were as good as they sound! No real recipe here. I just cracked open the lobster tails, wrapped them in a piece of Prosciutto and then poached them in butter. It doesn't get better or easier than that!

For a sweet treat, I made Cookies with PB Oreo's in them inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction. I left out the chocolate chips and sprinkles and doubled up on the Oreo Cookies. The batter ended up being pretty stiff so I didn't even have to chill it. These cookies are amazing and so full of Oreo's!

We ended the weekend with one of my favorite go-to recipes, Campbell's Super Moist Pork Chops. I love how simple these are to make and I always have Cream of Mushroom Soup on hand. I added fresh mushrooms and onions for more flavor and it never fails!

Weekend Eats and Bakes!

It's been a fun weekend with lots of baking and eating! I ended Saturday night after our Mother's Day dinner with some Cookie Chip Bars. These are made healthier with whole wheat flour and high fiber cereal but taste just like regular cookie bars. I did bump up the chocolate factor by adding more chocolate chips because I felt that 1/4 cup was just not enough!

We were feeling snacky Sunday afternoon so I made some Meatball Tortilla Cups. How cute are they right? No recipe required. I just filled Tostito's Scoops with pre-made meatballs, salsa, sour cream and cheese. Perfect bite-size nibbles!

For dinner, I made mini burgers inspired by Giada's Lamb Sliders. I used beef instead and added sliced tomatoes, which were hiding under all the cheese!

We had to end the weekend on a sweet note, so I made some mini Orange Cranberry Muffins. Super easy to make and super easy to eat!

Ingredients: (24 mini muffins)

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c milk
1/4 c orange juice
1/4 c dried cranberries

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until well combined. 
3. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Add to the stand mixer. 
4. In a measuring cup, stir together the milk and orange juice. Pour into the stand mixer. 
5. Add cranberries to the stand mixer and mix until everything is combined but don't over mix.
6. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the batter into the muffin pan, filling all the way to the top.
7. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until the muffins are light golden brown.

Super Stuffed Pork Chops!

My hubby LOVES pork chops so I'm always looking for new ways to make them. I came across this recipe for Stuffed Pork Chops and just knew it would be awesome! I had picked up a couple of HUGE thick pork chops over the weekend that were just perfect for stuffing. The only thing I changed was leaving out the ham because I thought it was just overkill. I mean...pork inside pork? Anyway, the pork chops came out really yummy! I served them with stuffing and it was a great meal to get over the hump of the week!

When Life Gives You Lemons

Or in my case, when a coworker brings in a huge bag of Meyer lemons from her lemon tree, I just couldn't resist! I mean, who passes up on free food right? I grabbed a few to make a yummy dinner of Meyer Lemon Chicken. I loved the addition of the capers and frying up some lemon slices to go on top was just genius!

Then, since she kept bringing more lemons in and I was afraid they'd go to waste, I decided to make a special treat for the office, Meyer Lemon Cardamon Crinkle Cookies! They were a HIT! I mean who doesn't like cookies dipped in sugar right?

Not Ready for Fall to be Over Yet!

We've still got a couple of weeks of fall left and I'm definitely taking advantage! First up, Orange-Glazed Pork Chops. Any recipe that includes stuffing is all good in my book!

Next up, super simple Red Curry Meatballs using store-bought meatballs. You really don't need to make them from scratch when you add amazing flavor with Red Curry Paste and Coconut Milk!

More meatballs went into this yummy sliders! Just heat them up with some Marinara Sauce and add a slice of cheese. PERFECT football-watching dinner!

Finally a sweet treat, M&M Pretzel Cookies using Fall-colored M&Ms. Such a perfect combination of salty and sweet!

Lovin' Me Some Porkchops!

I've been on a porkchop kick lately probably because the weather is getting cooler and I'm craving comfort food and what's more comforting than some big O porkchops right? Braising is definitely the only way to make moist chops and it's the simplest using my Dutch oven. (Thanks mom!) First off it's Giada's Porkchops alla Pizzaiola. The way she describes them is that they taste just like pizza and it's so true! I mean, how can you go wrong combining 2 of our favorites right?

Next up is a meal made for fall, Porkchops with Pear Chutney. OMG SO delicious! The kitchen smelled amazing from the Madras Curry and the sweetness of the cranberries was just the perfect addition! Both of my porkchop dinners were served with stuffing because what's more appropriate for fall right?

Finally the perfect meal for football-watching, leftover shortribs served slider-style on Hawaiian sweet buns. PERFECTION!

And I can't end the week without cookies! These are Heath Toffee Bits Cookies, AMAZING is the only way to describe them!

More Fall Eats and Treats!

First off, some treats! Pumpkin Pie Pudding Cookies! Instead of the Cinnamon Chips, I actually found Pumpkin Pie Chips. (I just LOVE seasonal baking ingredients!) They came out soft and tasted just like Pumpkin Pie but in tiny cookie form.

A perfect weeknight meal of braised porkchops topped with dried fruit and pineapples served over Couscous.

More Crockpot goodness with Martha Stewart's Spiced Chicken Stew. We LOVED the raisins in this dish and perfect over stuffing.

A Sunday night feast of Apple and Sage Porkchops served over, what else, STUFFING! It feels like Thanksgiving already!

Since we had the day off for Veteran's Day, I decided to bake some 7-Layer Magic Bars. These had a combination of chocolate, white chocolate and peanut butter chips along with coconut and walnuts. A definite hit at the office and super easy to make too!

It's Finally Fall!

I LOVE everything about Fall! The weather starts getting cooler, the leaves start turning pretty colors and of course, it's the official start of the HOLIDAYS! In our house, it only means one thing...COMFORT FOOD! I just love all the flavors of fall especially pumpkin so I decided to make Pumpkin pasta with sausage. It's just Pasta Roni Shells and White Cheddar with some canned pumpkin and spicy sausage stirred into the sauce. SO EASY and SO YUM!

The cooler whether also means it's time to take out my slow cooker! I remember my mother-in-law gave us a slow cooker at our first apartment. (Thanks mom!) It was HUGE and I'd use it to make a dozen chicken thighs, which my hubby loved! I'd shred the meat and freeze most of it and it would last us months! Then I decided to get a smaller slow cooker for making less food and it worked out great. These are super easy BBQ Short Ribs and they were incredibly good! I just turned the slow cooker on in the morning and it did all the cooking while I ran errands. By the time I got home, our kitchen smelled like the best BBQ restaurant in the world! The meat just fell off of the bones and I served them over stuffing (another Fall Fav!). I cannot WAIT to make more slow cooker meals!

Another cold-weather fav at our house is pork chops! These are Rachael Ray's Pork Chops Smothered with Peppers and Onions. They were featured in an episode titled Man Food, so I KNEW I had to make them for my MAN! LOL. I served the chops over, what else, STUFFING! BEST SUNDAY NIGHT EVER!

Velveeta Eats and A Couple of Sweets!

Another week has flown by and it seemed to be centered around one very special item, Velveeta! First up, some Spicy Cheesy Mini Meatloaves for a quick weeknight meal. This was my first time using Velveeta and it was amazing!

Since I couldn't seen to get enough of the stuff, some Famous Queso Dip while watching football.

Next up, Ultimate Nachos (with chicken instead of beef) because we still had more Velveeta left. (Football makes us really hungry for cheese!)

Finally, Cheeseburger Pizza, which literally combined our favorite 2 items into 1!

Coming off of our Velveeta high, I made some simple hot dogs with grilled peppers and onions and spiced up with Jalapenos and Jalapeno cheese.

Now onto some sweets! I haven't posted many cookies recently because they haven't been that interesting. (Chocolate Chips have been a very reused theme!) On a recent grocery trip, I found Pillsbury's Maple Brown Sugar Cookie Mix and it just seemed perfect for the season. They were super easy to make and I added Butterscotch Chips for extra flavor. They turned out really yummy and no one knew they weren't made from scratch! Shhh....

For my manager's birthday, I made some Chocolate Cupcakes (using cake mix) topped with Pink Vanilla Frosting. SO pretty and sweet!

Some Recent Yummy Dinners

One Friday night, I decided to get fancy and made Chilean Sea Bass. Now this fish is super yummy on its own but poach it in some butter and it just melts in your mouth! Of course I had to go the extra few miles and drizzled some Hollandaise Sauce on top (super easy Blender Method and added a poached egg. Oh and don't forget it's all served on top of STUFFING! (Nope, it's not only for Thanksgiving!)

Next up, not so fancy but just as yummy, Chili Hot Dogs topped with lots of CHEESE! Can't go wrong with that! Hubby was watching baseball (sorry Dodgers!) and hot dogs just seemed perfect.

This is one of our favorite ways to serve anything Mexican. Not sure if you've ever seen these Perfect Tortilla Pans but unlike most As Seen on TV products, these actually work and they're amazing! On this particular night, we had refried beans and Mexican Mac and Cheese all topped with a fried egg because let's face it, everything is better topped with a fried egg!

Another baseball-themed dinner but this time our hot dogs were served Nacho Supreme style topped with cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, jalapenos and olives. YUM YUM!

Football Watching Snacks!

Now that Football Sundays are back, I can't wait to start making some Tailgating Snacks! (Hey, you can tailgate at home right?) Go 49ers!

Cheesy Garlic Herb Twists just like straight from the pizzeria!

Deviled Eggs, can't go wrong with those!

Not Forgotten!

Dear Blog, I'm so sorry I've been MIA for so long! Truth is, I've been dedicating myself to a new found passion, Skinny Snack Attack. Please don't hate me! Of course, I can't live off of Skinny Snacks so here are some yummy photos of some recent Not-So-Skinny Eats!

Cheesy Beef Nachos for Football Season Kickoff!

Trader Joe's Spicy Chicken Sausage turned into Asian-style hot dogs with fried eggs on top.

Emeril Lagasse's Mustard-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Stuffing.

Ham and Cheese Stuffed French Toast with (guess what?) Fried Eggs on Top!

Touchdown Taco Sliders for more football watching!