Pork Chops

This is one of Paula Deen's recipes, and it really turned out good!! It is definitely a low cost meal too! For two people, I spent less than 10 bucks! You can't beat that!! :)

Ingredients:
Pork Chops ( I like the thick boneless pork chops)
Chili Seasoning
Salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
olive oil/canola oil/ vegetable oil

Mix a handful of chili seasoning and about a tablespoon salt together, and rub it on both sides of the pork chops. Toss them in the skillet with some oil and cook on both sides until done. In a saucepan put in vinegar and bring to a boil. Let the vinegar cook down to become a syrup consistency. Add chicken stock and maple syrup and let cook down for about 10 minutes on low heat. Pour over pork chops for a sweet and savory meal! I served it with mashed potatoes and peas, and Ian could not get enough of it. This is definitely something I will be making again. Sorry no picture.

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken

As you can tell from my plate... I love asparagus!! :)

I got this recipe from my brother, and it turned out really good. However, when I make it again I'm going to use mozzarella cheese instead of feta.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Italian breadcrumbs
olive oil
feta cheese
whole leaf spinach


Start off with butterflying your chicken breasts. Take a knife and cut all the way through the chicken breast so that it is very thin, but still held together at the end. Open it up and pound it out on a cutting board (I just used a rolling pin to pound it!) Then place chicken in breadcrumbs and brown on both sides in a skillet with a little olive oil. Take the chicken out and let cool. Take a handful of feta cheese and spinach and place in the center of the chicken breast. Roll it up and pin it with a few tooth picks. Place in a casserole dish and cook in the oven for15- 20 minutes on 350 degrees. This was really easy, and it looked mighty fannnncy too. :) Yumm!

Turkey meatballs

I got this recipe from Rachael Ray's Website, but I made some changes to it. Here is the recipe, and below are the changes I made.

Super-Sized Turkey Meatball Recipe

When I made it I left out the spinach and added some rosemary instead. It turned out really good!!

Smothered Sirloin Pork Chops

I just kind of threw this recipe together, and it actually turned out really good!

Ingredients:
1 package boneless sirloin pork chops
1 package onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
canola oil

There were three pork chops in the package, and a couple of Ian's friends dropped by...so I just cut each one in half to serve more people.
Start with putting each slice of meat in the beaten egg, and then the flour. Add a little bit of canola oil to a large skillet, and brown pork chops on both sides. Take the meat out, and set aside. Dump out the leftover grease. Add 1 cup water to skillet, and dump in one package of onion soup mix and stir together. Add one cup milk and a can of cream of mushroom soup to the skillet, and stir together. Add the browned pork chops to the gravy in skillet, and cover with a lid. Let cook on low heat for 35-40 minutes.

I served this with rice, but mashed potatoes would be good too!

Chicken and Veggie Casserole

I got this recipe from my mom, and it's pretty easy... tastes really good too!

Ingredients:
1 package boneless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 onion
rice
vermicelli noodles
2 can chicken broth
1 stick butter
1 package frozen vegetables

First make the rice pilaf (only with this recipe I add onion to the rice pilaf). Melt a stick of butter in a pan and add some chopped onion. Brown a handful of vermicelli noodles in the butter, be careful not to burn the noodles. Add both cans of chicken broth to pan and bring to a boil and then add 2 cups rice and cook for 20 minutes on low heat.
While the rice is cooking trim chicken and chop up into small bite size pieces. Cook chicken chunks in a skillet with some canola oil/olive oil (does not have to cook all the way through, because it will be baked in the oven.) In a large bowl mix rice pilaf, both cans of cream of mushroom soup, bag of thawed vegetables, and chicken. Bake in the oven on 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Tuna Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cans tuna
2 boxes kraft macaroni and cheese
milk
butter
onion
green pepper
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Dice onion and green pepper, and saute in a skillet with 1/2 stick of butter. In a separate pan make the two boxes of kraft macaroni and cheese like you would normally, only leave the butter out (because you used butter in the onion and pepper). Once macaroni and cheese is done, add both cans of cream of mushroom soup, and 2 cans tuna drained to macaroni. Add onion and pepper, and pour mixture into a large baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (can substitute ground turkey for healthier meal)
Lasagna noodles
Ricotta cheese
container Cottage cheese
Mozzarella cheese
2 jars spaghetti sauce (I use one Prego's Roasted Parmesan, and the other Prego's Italian Sausage)

Boil and drain lasagna noodles. In a skillet cook ground beef and drain excess fat. Pour both jars of spaghetti sauce into skillet and mix with ground beef. In a large bowl combine cottage cheese, and ricotta cheese (I use the whole container). Mix 2 cups mozzarella cheese into cheese mixture. In a large baking pan, layer your noodles, sauce, and cheese. I put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, then add noodles, and then the cheese. Layer it until you have used up all of the ingredients. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes on 350 degrees.