Quick and Simple Pork Chop Breading

I have a vast collection of old cookbooks. I actually have one from right around 1910 that I dearly love, but most of my cookbooks are circa 1930's - 1980's. About half of them are church and school fundraising cook books. One of the things they love to put in them are little quips and poems and sayings on each page. Although I don't remember the whole verse, tonight there is one on my mind and the end of it goes like this;

... but what makes a housewife's hair turn gray
is "What to cook?" each blessed day!

I'm not sure what all the corresponding factors might be but when we moved here four years ago it coincided with my enthusiasm waving for cooking big meals each night. I suspect it was a mixture of a move to a kitchen that never was 'just right' to me, (the drawers aren't deep enough, there is no storage space and nothing felt 'right' about the layout) and I also returned to the workforce to help out with the family bills. With the kids being starting high school our schedules went from merely crazy to simply insane and well... therein lies the answer I think.

So today after arriving home from work an hour late, I looked in the refrigerator and the little prose that I typed above came to mind... 'what to cook each blessed day......' Well, today is pork chops. And not in the mood for making a huge dinner out them I opted for a simple breading.

Here is where my regular readers will be thankful I've preached to them to always, always save 'extra' bread. The heels of loaves, day old bread you know you won't eat. The last bun in the package. The bruschetta and baguettes left over from Thanksgiving... get them out of the freezer and run them through your food processor!




To a pile of about 2 cups of bread crumbs add;

1 dry package Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1-2 garlic powder or a mixture of garlic pepper seasoning





Lay each pork chop into the breading mixture and press the mixture into the chop to seal. I flip mine two or three times and press firmly.

Place in a pan (I like to line my pans with foil for easy clean up) and either spray heavily with cooking spray or add about 2-3 T oil of your choice. I like to use the oil because it forms a nice crust on the pork chops.

Here they are, ready for the oven! Bake at 400 degree's for approximately 35 minutes or until done in the centers. Serve with your favorite side dish. I served them tonight with cooked cauliflower and baby carrots with a simple 4-cheese sauce. Enjoy!



*can be used on chicken breasts too!!