Baked Pork Chops

Did you know you could use instant mashed potatoes as breading? Well, I didn't know that...until today. Anyway, I did not use instant mashed potatoes in this recipe but I will make a recipe using it soon because I can't wait to try it.

Ingredients:
Thin cut boneless pork chops
flour (to coat)
eggs
bread crumbs (any flavor)

Notice I didn't add an amount to the ingredients? Well, it's because it will depend on how many pork chops your cooking. Rinse and pat dry the pork chops, coat with flour, dip in eggs and than coat with bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes.

Chocolate Pudding

I never knew chocolate pudding was so easy to make. I am was always buying those little pudding cups but they just aren't big enough to fulfill that hankrin you get for puddin'. Here is an easy recipe I found on Pinterest and it's do die for!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/8 cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups milk

Combine all of the dry ingredients into a sauce pan. Slowly mix in the milk and heat on med/high. Stir, stir, stir until it thickens. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract. Cool in the fridge. That's it...the hardest part is waiting for it to cool.

Strawberry Lemonade

I just love frozen strawberry lemonades from McDonald's. Before we moved we had a McD's in walking distance from our house. It was the perfect combination. I got my exercise walking to McD's and my strawberry lemonade fix everyday...it was my motivation. So just imagine my disappointment when we moved to a town that doesn't even have a McD's! I started having major withdraws, I had to do something so I went to the grocery store only to find out they don't carry strawberry syrup. So I Googled a recipe and this is what I found.

Strawberry syrup:
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix strawberries and sugar in a sauce pan. Stirring occasionally, cook on med/high heat until it begins to thicken (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and puree half of it (or mash it with a potato masher). Place it back in with the remainder and cool in the fridge.

Lemonade:
1 cup real lemon juice
1 cup sugar
add enough water to make 2 quarts
Mix in desired amount of strawberry syrup and enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

I make these with turkey bacon and turkey dogs but they can be made with regular bacon and hot dogs. There are several ways to cook them. They can be cooked on the grill or fried in a pan until the bacon is crispy or baked in an oven. I prefer to cook them in the oven but I can't wait to try them on the grill.

Ingredients:
hot dogs
bacon
BBQ sauce

Wrap a slice of bacon around each hot dog. Slather it in BBQ sauce than grill them, fry them or bake them. I bake them at 400 for 20 minutes.
Note: I have not tried to fry them in a pan but I would think that you would leave the BBQ sauce off while you cook them and add it later.

Leave me a message and tell me how you cooked your bacon wrapped hot dogs. Did you use turkey or pork?

Chocolate Chip Mousse

Recently I've been experimenting with coconut milk in my recipes after reading about it's health benefits. I came across this chocolate mousse recipe on Pinterest. That particular Pinterester (is that a word?) also uses this recipe as a cupcake frosting...mmmm. I haven't tried it on a cupcake yet but I will!

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Use a can of coconut milk that has been sitting (untouched) in your cabinet for a day or two ( you need the milk to separate from the water in the can). Open the can and place it in the fridge over night (this causes the milk to thicken at the top of the can). Scoop out the thick coconut milk into a bowl (save the coconut water for another recipe). Add the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and blend until it's the consistency of mousse. Top with chocolate chips and enjoy!

Note: It is very important not to shake the can. If the coconut milk did not separate and you decide to use it anyway than it will be more like pudding and less like mousse. And you will probably want to add more sugar.

The first time I made this it turned out wonderful and delicious but the second time I made it the milk did not separate. It could have been because I came strait from the grocery store and put the can in the fridge and it thickened before it had time to separate. Or because I used a different brand and some manufacturers use a thickening agent to keep the milk from separating in the can. I made the recipe anyway and to be honest I did not like it as much. The next time I get a can that does not separate I think I will skip the mousse and make a banana and coconut milk smoothie.

I bet you could use a can of coconut cream instead of the coconut milk (if you have tried it let me know). Did you try this recipe? Did your mousse turn out ok? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Ranch Chicken

This is a recipe I like to make from Betty Crocker. The only difference is I bake them instead of frying them in a pan. I try to avoid frying at all costs, not just because it's unhealthy but because I'm just not good at it. So it's safe to say that you will not find many (if any) fried foods on my blog. One of the things I like about this recipe is that you can use spicy mustard in place of the ranch dressing and it's just as good.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breasts (halves)

Ranch dressing (or spicy mustard)

bread crumbs (any flavor)

Parmesan cheese

Brush the dressing on all sides of the chicken and then coat with bread crumbs. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

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The taste will be mild so don't be afraid to slather it on. I used about a tablespoon of ranch dressing on each piece of chicken.

Coconut and Banana Smoothie

I recently started using coconut milk in my smoothies because of its health benefits and I like the rich and silky texture it gives the smoothie. One of my favorites is this simple coconut milk and banana smoothie:

Just blend together 1 cup coconut milk and 1 banana. It's that simple!
If you use canned coconut milk than you may need to add some regular milk to thin it out a bit.

Honey BBQ Popcorn Chicken

Every time I go into Walmart or Price Cutter my kids beg for some boneless BBQ chicken from the deli. But it can get expensive when I want to buy enough for the whole family to eat for dinner. So I decided to make my own. All it took was a bag of popcorn chicken (real chicken, not the processed nuggets) and a bottle of honey BBQ sauce.

Pour the honey BBQ sauce over the popcorn chicken, mix it together and then bake it according to the instructions on the package of chicken. If you cook the whole bag like I do than you may want to add about 5 extra minutes to the cook time.

Chocolate Milk Smoothie

I love this smoothie because its basically chocolate milk sweetened with a banana. I also love it because it's healthy for my kids and they don't get all the sugar and other additives that they would get from the store bought chocolate milk.

1 cup milk
1 Tbs cocoa powder
1 banana
1 Tbs peanut butter
Blend it and enjoy!

I  like to use dark chocolate cocoa powder because it contains the highest concentration of flavonoids which are a form of antioxidants (actually I'm just a sucker for dark chocolate). Peanut butter is high in protein and the banana has potassium...what more could you ask for in a Delicious smoothie?

Meatloaf Patties

Every single person in my family are picky eaters (including myself). My husband and son like ground beef while my daughter and I like ground turkey. This is a meal that works with both ground beef and ground turkey. My husband and son eat it like a hamburger with cheese on a bun while my daughter and I just eat the patty with Katsup.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 box Stove Top stuffing
1 cup water
1 egg

Mix all of the ingredients together and then form them into patties (makes 6-8 patties). Cook them like you would a hamburger patty. I cook them on my George Foreman grill and they are done in about 5 minutes. That beats waiting an hour for meatloaf in the oven!

You don't have to make this into patties on the grill you can also make a meatloaf out of it and bake it in the oven at 375 for 1 hour. I've even seen a recipe where you cook it in a crock pot. I will have to try it.

Leave a comment and let me know how you like to cook yours. Did you make patties or a loaf?