Dinner at home! It had been so long!

My daughter cooked dinner recently and planned to again the next night. I have to admit, I love when someone else does the cooking! The first night she made breaded steak with broccoli and a cheese and broccoli pasta side. I so enjoyed that meal!! The next night we had pork chops with mashed cauliflower and broccoli with cheese. It turned out to be really good! She had a doctor's appointment that morning and that afternoon we went together to reschedule another appointment and pick up a few more things from the store. She also wanted me to invite my guy friend, so I sent him a message to let him know. Unfortunately, he decided not to join us.

If anyone wants to respond, I'd like to ask you if you always have dinner at home or if it's only once in a while? What kinds of dinners do you enjoy most?

Originally published on Bubblews.com in real time. Verb tenses have been adjusted accordingly.

Pork Chops and Green Beans

Imagine a dish like this combined with pork chops!

Years back, when I was still married, I used to buy pork steaks instead of pork chops because they were cheaper and meatier than pork chops. My husband was a lover of pork chops and didn't seem to mind (or notice) the difference. They look very much the same.

One of the ways I would cook the chops would be to score them, pan fry them and then pour stewed tomatoes over them in the pan to finish cooking. I wasn't the best cook, but he seemed to like them and ate them without complaint.

Another dish we would eat (and I still do) was cooking hamburger and adding green beans and tomato sauce. We would serve that with fried potatoes and everyone enjoyed this meal.

Since moving back to New Jersey, I've enjoyed green beans served with marinara sauce in restaurants. I don't like them with garlic, but if they have marinara, I'll order them.

So, this leads me to today's meal choice. I was actually looking for hamburger patties I was sure I had in the freezer when I saw a pack of bone-in pork chops I had frozen in November. Nice ones, very meaty. I took them out and thought the pint of green beans I'd frozen would be a perfect accompaniment. Except, I decided to take it just a bit further. I added a can of diced tomatoes and a sprinkling of diced onions I also had frozen recently.

First, I placed the green beans in the bottom of the baking dish. Then I laid the pork chops on top, sprinkled the onions over them and poured in the diced tomatoes. I topped it off with steak seasoning and a little salt, turned the oven on to 350, put the dish in the oven and set the timer for an hour. When the timer went off, I took the dish out and let it rest for about 10 minutes before taking the first chop out. 

Other than being a bit peppery because I'd used a tad too much steak seasoning, it was really really good. The chops were perfectly cooked, tender and moist, the beans were overcooked the way we like them (if you start with fresh, you probably won't overcook them) and the tomatoes added the perfect additional seasoning to the entire combination. This was all in addition to the fact that the chops were still frozen when I placed the dish in the oven.

Now, the image I used here comes from a blog about Southern cooking and green beans with stewed tomatoes is apparently a favorite. Although my dish didn't include sugar like theirs did, the concept is the same as is the look, other than mine also had pork chops in it. I have linked back to that blog so you can enjoy what they have to offer. I think her beans look divine, personally!

So, here you have another meal I've put together that combines what we have on hand with the fresh vegetables my daughter has brought home from work. Actually, quite a low carb meal, if you happen to be looking for that kind of meal. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but it's good for me because it keeps my blood sugar from spiking.

I'd love to hear some of your ideas for pork chops, tomatoes and green beans, if you've done anything different from what I did. I'm always looking for new ideas to try that are simple and easy.

Still here, still behind, but not giving up!

Hi, everyone. Here I am again. I'm so behind, but I am getting better. I have posted several things on my creative writing blog in the past couple of weeks, but haven't been cooking much lately, so didn't really have much to say here. Money is tight right now, so I haven't made anything requiring more than a few ingredients. I made tacos two days ago - I had tortillas and shells on hand, had plenty of hamburger and a pack of taco seasoning in the pantry. I had also bought some cheddar on sale recently, so had the cheese, too. I sent a message to my daughter so she'd bring home lettuce and tomatoes. I put some French fries in the oven (I know - they don't really go with tacos, but I wanted something else) that I had seasoned with Parmesan cheese and steak seasoning. I haven't made tacos in years, if ever, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the taco seasoning, but it wasn't at all what I had expected (I expected something sharply bitter from the chili powder). I was happy with it. I was happy I had the fries, though, because it just didn't seem like enough. My daughter, though, was happy with just tacos. 

The original recipe from Plain Chicken blog

Right now, I'm thawing chicken broth to make another batch of mac-n-cheese from the no-boil recipe I posted a while back. I love it!! I never have creme cheese on hand, but have had sour cream that I used instead and it turned out perfectly fine. This time is no different, other than I'll have to shred the cheese myself. That's OK. It's really good cheese. I'd like to get some sharper cheddar, but I'll use what I can afford to buy and this was on sale for $.99 for 8 ounces. That's $2/pound - a good price by any standard.


I have gone out a couple times with friends recently and had some pretty good food. A week ago, a friend from Utah was here for a brief visit and we all went to a local diner. They were impressed by the quantity of food that came for the price. I'm pretty sure they ate their leftovers for breakfast since their flight was scheduled for the next morning. But, I had ordered "steakhouse" chops because it sounded pretty good. The kitchen instead cooked breaded pork chops, but that was OK since I like them, too. And, they were really quite good, not at all greasy, and definitely moist inside. I couldn't eat both of them, so I brought one home that my daughter ate.

An example of Vegetarian Thali

Earlier that day, my guy friend and I had eaten lunch at an Indian restaurant next to the Starbucks he likes. Because their lunch specials were close to ending, we ate before getting coffee and I had the non-vegetarian Thali (a "sampler" meal that gives a little taste of several different dishes all on one tray). My meat choices were Chicken Tikka Masala (a creamy tomato curry) and Lamb Curry as well as Dal Mahkani (lentils), Basmati rice, Raita (a yogurt cucumber sauce that reminds me of Tzatziki sauce), papadam crisps and Naan bread. Other than the Raita, I love all of it!


Then, this past Wednesday night, the same friend decides to go to another Indian restaurant where he had seen a sign for AYCE buffet for $9.99. He stopped by after his class, which is unusual, so it was at least 9PM when we got there. They were pretty busy, too, because that day was the Hindu Festival of Lights and many families stopped by after they attended whatever services or festival they attend for the holiday. The main waiter told me they hadn't expected many customers because of the holiday, and he was apologizing for how noisy it was (kids running and playing, one screaming, which I can live without), but it was interesting how apologetic he was. Then he explained how he used to work for a restaurant in Florida and most of his customers were non-Indian, where up here in New Jersey, most of the customers were Indian. I kind of got the feeling that he thought that bothered me, which it didn't. It just means their food is genuine when those who grew up on it flock to enjoy it. It was more the decibel level I had a problem with and that wouldn't matter WHO was causing it. But, I enjoyed the food and will be looking forward to going there again for their weekend buffet sometime in the future.


At the moment, I am straining the chicken broth that is finally thawed to remove the bits of seasoning and vegetables my daughter had added to it when she made her soup. I don't think they'll work well in the mac-n-cheese. At the very least, they'll alter the appearance, I think, to something not so pleasant to look at. Not that I have the proper strainer. I'm using a colander lined with paper towels. LOL Ya gotta do what works!


That's about it for today. I hope to be posting more often, even if not every day. I know I've said that before, but honestly - I mean it! They've predicted snow (IN OCTOBER) for the weekend. As much as I hate the summer heat, I'm definitely not ready for snow! LOL Stay warm!!

Jersey Girl's Italian Pork Gravy - A Great and Easy Recipe

I tried a new recipe today. I can't remember what I was doing when I found it, but I know that the blog's title drew me in. A Jersey Girl Cooks. That got my attention because, you see, I'm a Jersey Girl,too. I have fine-tuned it a bit geographically. My other blog is called A South Jersey Girl Writes. That's where I post my writing efforts that aren't food related. So, I just had to take a look at what she had to offer. That's when I found Mama's Sunday Pork Gravy. 


It looked fantastic and oh so easy (something very important to me, of course, being the lazy cook that I am). I have never been able to make a decent pasta sauce from scratch. I could "doctor" the jarred stuff, but without it, my efforts were lacking significantly. Initially, I thought I'd use a couple of my chicken leg quarters, but then I remembered some pork chops I had in the freezer. I thawed them and this afternoon, I began to make this recipe. I'm so glad I did.

Lisa's end result

The recipe calls for one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of tomato puree. I didn't have it, but I did have two cans of crushed tomatoes, so I used both of them. Instead of six cloves of garlic, I used three teaspoons of garlic juice. I didn't have onion powder, so I used dried minced onions instead. So, I was as true to the recipe as I could be and it turned out really well.

My end result, not as dark and rich

The pork chops provided additional flavor and depth to the sauce (or gravy, as Lisa calls it in her blog. I like her explanation - gravy contains meat or is meat based while sauces do not). I may have used a bit too much red wine in de-glazing the pan, but the sauce (er, gravy) still turned out wonderful. The meat was tender and fell off the bone. The cats, of course, were thrilled to have the bone when I was done. I can definitely say that this is a recipe I will be using again!

Quick Cooking Ideas

It’s “Q” day and as I was thinking about what I could write about for the letter Q, I realized I was eating something that fit perfectly into a Q concept – quick cooking. I was supposed to go shopping this morning, but my ride called and said they couldn’t make it until this afternoon, so I decided to cook something to eat. I didn’t want it to take too long because I was really hungry. So, I threw a handful of tater tots into the pan with some oil, put some hot tea in the microwave, got two eggs out to scramble and sliced some thin pieces of cheddar. When the tots were done, I smashed them into the hash browns they used to be and poured the scrambled eggs over them. When the eggs were set, I put the cheese on top and put a lid on the pan to help melt the cheese while I was getting my tea and getting the tortillas out of the fridge. I put my newly cooked eggs and potatoes into a bowl, set my tortilla on top of the bowl (the steam from the eggs helped to soften it) and came in the dining room to eat. Less than 10 minutes and I was ready to go. Having eaten a perfectly quick meal, I realized it was the perfect Q topic for today’s entry.

And, here I am.

I was reading my current copy of the Food Network magazine (really, you didn’t think I’d subscribe??) when I saw what I thought was the perfect pasta salad in its “Fun Cooking” section. The concept is Mix & Match Pasta Salad and the first salad just grabbed me. It consists of medium sized pasta shells, small slices of steak, bell pepper, green beans, bacon and creamy Parmesan dressing and it looks WONDERFUL! In fact, they lay out a formula where you can you can make any number of pasta salads in five easy steps: 1) Choose a Pasta; 2) Pick a Protein (optional); 3) Pick the Vegetables; 4) Pick a mix-in and 5) Dress the Salad. With all the choices in each of those areas, you could theoretically have a different pasta salad every day for over 56 years (assuming my math is correct). And, pasta salads are very easy to make. I’d provide a link, but this issue of the magazine is not online yet. But, here’s the link to the last issue: Food Network Magazine. I’m sure the one I’m looking at will be online soon.

Speaking of Food Network, here’s a quick recipe for Chile-Rubbed Pork Chops that looks pretty good (if you like to kick up your chops, that is). One note, though – New Mexico Chile Powder is NOT the same as the chili powder you use when you make chili. Do not use regular chili powder in this recipe. This would be great served with a salad and maybe some fruit.

Then there’s this Honey-Mustard Chicken and Apples recipe that really does look pretty spectacular. I’m not overly fond of honey because of how sweet it is, but I think this would be a good meal. In fact, when I do get to the store today, I’m planning on picking up 10 lbs. of chicken quarters for $5 on sale at our new local grocery and I may have to make this with some of them. This is another Food Network recipe.

Giving both chicken and Food Network another nod is this Broiled Lemon-Garlic Chicken recipe. Holy cow, does this look good or what? And, your total time for prep and cooking is only 40 minutes. (Of course, that doesn’t include my forgetting to open windows and turn on fans to keep the smoke alarm from going off, but you understand.) Even though this calls for half-chickens, I think those chicken quarters would work great in this. Add some boiled new potatoes or baked with a green veggie and you’ve got a meal.

Beef needs to play a role somewhere in this quick cooking roundup, so here is one from Guy Fieri that even I should be able to do. If you like beer and coffee, this’ll be right up your alley (although I’m sure you could leave out the stout and use another sauce if you chose). It is Java Crusted New York Steak with Stout Sauce. It calls for reducing the stout in a saucepan and then adding the juices from the cutting board, but I’m wondering if you couldn’t also reduce the stout in the pan you seared the meat in to add even more of the meat’s flavors to the sauce.

Finally, there is a recipe by Rachael Ray that should satisfy both meat eaters and vegetarians alike. That is Rachael’s Three-bean Chili. This one has a five-star rating with 137 reviews, so it must be pretty darned good. That doesn’t mean everyone will like it, but a very substantial number of people did. Even I would enjoy this one. It incorporates refried beans into the blend (as one of the beans) as a thickener, so you can’t get any beanier than that! She suggests serving in a bowl on a plate and surrounding the bowl with tortilla chips and having shredded cheese and other condiments available. I think this would be good served ON the tortilla chips, myself with sides of cheese, guacamole and sour cream like having dinner nachos. Make sure you have a green salad to go with this; or shredded lettuce like they serve in Mexican restaurants. It just seems to go together to me.

That’s it for Q’s quick cooking ideas. You might have noticed that everything in today’s post is Food Network related. I am nothing if not a dedicated foodie fan. And, yes, I also subscribe to Rachael’s magazine! But, rest assured, if I don’t like the looks of something I share or don’t think I’d want to be bothered making it myself, I wouldn’t share it. I like real food that tastes good and is easy to make. I try to share just that.