Late recipe (pork/slow cooker)

Slow cooker pork chops

2 T. butter (I use Smart Balance)
4 pork chops
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup flour
1 large onion, sliced
2 cans cream of mushroom
2 cups milk

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip pork chops in beaten egg, then dredge in flour. Cook in hot skillet, turning once to brown both sides.

Place pork chops into a slow cooker, and arrange sliced onions over meat. Pour soup and milk over the meat and onions.

Cover, and cook on high 4 to 5 hours, or on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Very yummy with whole grain rice or mashed potatoes (lots of leftover gravy/sauce in your crockpot), and with steamed vegetables.

Weaning Question

My daughter is 10 1/2 months old and I have just weaned her to formula. Prior to my weaning her she seemed to want less milk (she has been at 4-6 oz feedings for several months). She eats quite a bit of "solids" these days and enjoys drinking water from her sippy cup. Should I be concerned if she drops a bottle or reduces the amount she is getting? Any advice you have is wonderful, I always appreciate hearing your input.

Kindred Revisited

Hey ladies! If you read February's book, Kindred, but missed the brief conversation, don't forget to check it out!  It was a great book that Claire suggested and those who commented seemed to enjoy it! I did!

And don't forget to get started on Life of Pi! I spent a few too many late nights finishing it recently and I can't wait to talk about it!  (And I may do it a bit early since I'm moving at the end of the month!) Oh! And I tag aubreydoll for the April book!  She always has great suggestions on her blog for books!

Google Reader

I know some of you use Bloglines to get your blog fix in one fell swoop.  I recently discovered Google Reader.  I LOVE it!  Since I have a google account for blogger and email, there was no additional set up and no additional accounts or passwords. I get so bogged down with all the accounts and passwords, so I love this!  So, I type in reader.google.com and it pulls up a list of blogs I read on a frequent basis and highlights the ones with new posts! It's soooo easy! I used to spend so much time clicking back and forth between blogs, and I never spent enough time to figure out how bloglines works (even though I assume it's the same way).  But this is a wonderful time saver!

My Super Late Recipe Posts

So...I'm pretty much the slowest person ever on getting recipes posted...but I figured better late than never. So...without further delay:

Slow Cooker Recipes:
Chicken and Corn Chili
4 chicken breast halves
1 (16 oz) jar salsa
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 can corn (or the equivalent of frozen corn)
2 cans black beans
1 can diced tomatoes

Place chicken breast halves and salsa in your crock pot or slow cooker. Season with spices. Cook 6-8 hours on low setting.

About 3-4 hours before you want to eat, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Return the chicken to the pot and continue cooking. Stir in the corn, beans and tomatoes and simmer until ready to serve.

Entrees with Chicken:
Caramelized Baked Chicken
3/4 c. ketchup
3/4 c. honey
1/2 c. soy sauce
3-4 cloves minced garlic
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
6 chicken breasts

Cook ingredients (except chicken) on stove until boiling and reduce heat. Pour on top of chicken and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. (I like to save a little of the sauce to pour over my chicken and the rice that I have with it after its cooked.)

Soup/Chili:
Blue Ribbon Chili
1-2 lbs. ground beef or turkey (depending on how meaty you like it)
1/2 onion chopped
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz.) jar salsa (medium or hot is best)
4 T. chili seasoning mix
2 cans kidney beans
corn (frozen or canned) to taste (opt.)
water to taste

Combine the ground meat and onion and saute for 10 minutes or until the meat is browned and the onion is tender. Drain grease. Add all of the ingredients to a large sauce pan. Mix well. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for at least one hour. Serve with sour cream, cornbread, cheese and chips!

Food Storage Recipe:
Okay...so this is actually a corn bread...but we recently got a wheat grinder that we like to make cornmeal in...so I figured that it sort of counts as a food storage recipe. Also...we use freshly ground wheat for the flour. My husband and I CRAVE this its so good!
Golden Sweet Cornbread
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil*
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

*It's good to use a little more oil for less flaky cornbread.

**I got all of these from allrecipes.com. I love that place! I just search for ingredients and only use 4.5 star recipes or better. It's great! Enjoy!

Baja Fish (or Shrimp) Tacos

You can use fresh or frozen fish.  My Mom wasn't more specific on the type of fish! :)

Over medium high heat, cook fish in Pam.  Sprinkle one package taco seasoning on fish, turn and sprinkle other side.  Juice 1 lime over fish and cook until it flakes apart easily.

Fill small flour tortillas with fish, shredded cabbage, salsa, tomatoes and fish sauce.

Fish Sauce

Equal parts of mayo, sour cream and low fat/non fat plain yogurt. Add 1-2 Tblsp. taco seasoning, 2-4 Tblsp. cilantro, and juice of one lime.

Watermelon Salsa

3 cups diced watermelon or cateloupe/honeydew

1/2 cup red or orange bell pepper, diced

3 Tblsp. fresh lime juice

1/4 cup sweet onion, diced

2 1/2 Tblsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

1 medium jalapeno, if desired

1/2 tsp. salt

2 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cob

Combine and serve

Mango Salsa

1/2 or less medium onion, minced

1 3/4 cup mango, diced

3 Tblsp. fresh lime juice

1/8 tsp. salt

1/6 tsp. cayenne pepper

red or green bell pepper, if desired

Combine and serve

Wednesday Weekly

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