Creating a yeast monster!

I can make fun of myself quite easily!  And I don't mind sharing.  I mean, who doesn't like a good "oops" moment in the kitchen!?

A few days ago I was going to start the yeast before adding it to my homemade dandelion wine.  I added some yeast to a cup with a little sugar and a bit of water, a quick stir and left it for a minute.  When I checked to see if it was foaming and reacting, it was not.  No worries.  I didn't recall how old my yeast was and although I keep it in the refrigerator I thought maybe it was old and wouldn't work.

I grabbed the container, added a couple more teaspoons of yeast to the cup and left the room to work in the office for a bit.  About 10 minutes later I came into the kitchen to find this little monster on my counter.  Yes, my yeast was fine!   Ooops!

A Comfort Food: Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy

I originally posted this particular recipe and photo in September of 2011. I reposted it because I made it again this week so it was on my mind. What makes me smile is when this was posted we were in the middle of a horrible, crazy, difficult relocation across the country. Life was insane and I wanted (needed) a comfort food that night. My husband isn't a big fan of pork in general, but he also does not like sauces or gravies so I rarely make this food that was a staple of MY childhood. But I made it this week for my birthday dinner (yes, I opted to cook and told my family I didn't want to eat out that night). It's from my childhood, made with canned soup just like my Grandmother and Mom used to make it.


From September 2011;

When life is full of ups and downs, sometimes you just start craving 'comfort foods'.   Typical comfort foods might be homemade chocolate chip cookies, hot macaroni and cheese, rice pudding, roast and potatoes, grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna casserole...  things typically from your childhood that somehow make you feel better when you eat them.

This week I craved a food from my childhood that I almost never make anymore as my husband is not a fan of pork (outside of bacon, which he loves!).  Since he was currently working 1000 miles away and I could have anything I wanted for dinner without anyone else chiming in their opinions, I made myself pork chops with mushroom sauce... the same way my mother used to make them; with canned soup.

It was hot.  It was delicious.  It was exactly what I needed and wanted.  And the way this week is starting out?  I think I better go buy another can of soup and see if we have more pork chops in the freezer.  I think I might be in need of a lot more comfort food!

Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

2-4 pork chops (bone in or out - up to you but bone-in has more flavor)
1 can mushroom soup
salt and pepper
oil
water*

Heat about a tablespoon or two of oil in a pan over medium high heat and brown both sides of the pork chops, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.  When they are golden brown with bits of dark brown, place them in an oven safe dish or pan.  Turn off the heat and immediately add about 3/4 c water to the frying pan to deglaze the pan.  As you scrape the bottom of the pan and stir the water it will make a wonderful sauce.  Add 1 can of mushroom soup to this mixture and pour over the pork chops.  Bake at 375 until the pork chops are done;  typically for my oven and meat it's about 35 minutes.  This pairs well with potatoes.

Deglaze the pan while hot

*use more water if the sauce is too thick. You can use up to 1 1/2 cups of water to a can of soup. When I make this for the whole family I double the soup and sauce and serve with mashed potatoes with the sauce as a gravy. Delicious!

Quick and Easy Breaded Pork Chops (Italian Seasoning Mix and Bread Crumbs)

This morning I have pork chops in the refrigerator to use for dinner tonight. I wasn't sure how I would make them, but I came to the computer this morning and as I sat down in my chair, a little snippet of an old housewife's poem came to mind;

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

Just for the heck of it, I typed it into the search box and found I had mentioned this same poem back in January of 2009.  Ready for the irony factor?  It was on a post about what to do with.... pork chops!  

Here is a repost from January 9, 2009;

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!

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!!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you dandelions, make dandelion wine!

Rinsing freshly picked blossoms

Although I don't enjoy drinking wine, I have enjoyed making it in the past.  Albeit a quick, easy recipe that includes using a can of grape juice as a starter.

This Spring I got it in my head I wanted to make dandelion wine. The problem was that when researching many (many) different versions and recipes, they all called for basically the same amount of dandelion blossoms; a half gallon.

Most of our yard was treated in the Fall for weeds but we have a large lot so we don't treat the right side (mostly woods and over growth) nor do we go down the slope to the creek area.  I eagerly waited to see if any dandelions would grow.  Sadly, I was thrilled to see these little pesky weeds had indeed found a foothold in those areas.  But, when life gives you dandelions, make dandelion wine!

If you read my website often you know I never really follow recipes... but I do like to find at least 3 (or 4 or 5) versions and then wing it and make my own.  It's going to be a few days process;  starting with picking the blossoms this morning, rinsing them, cleaning the yellow blossoms away from the green parts and finally, immersing just the yellow flowers in boiling water to steep for 3 days.  

More details (and photos) to come!

SUGAR FREE! Easy, Quick Cake Mix Cookies (I used Pillsbury Sugar Free Cake Mix and Frosting)

I've featured Cake Mix Cookies many times since 2006 - you can search to the right - but this time I used only sugar free products.  We aren't overly concerned about using sugar right now but I tend to think; why add more sugar to our daily diets when and if we don't have to?  I used a yellow sugar free cake mix, sugar free frosting and sugar free 'sugar' (Just Like Sugar brand) for these.  I actually made two kinds of cookies from the one mix.

Half I made into sugar cookies and frosted.  The other half were made into Snicker Doodles.


Cake Mix Cookies;  Sugar Cookies and Snickerdoodles

1 dry cake mix (regular or sugar free)
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg
*1 t vanilla (optional - but I like to add it if I'm using a yellow cake mix.  Not needed with a white cake mix)
*1-3 T coconut milk or regular milk MAY be needed if too dry

For snickerdoodles you'll need a little sugar and cinnamon mixture to roll
For sugar cookies, you can frosting with sugar free or regular frosting (links below post)

In a bowl, melt the butter in the microwave, add the cake mix, butter and if you are choosing to use any, the vanilla.  Mix with a wood spoon until completely blended.  Add a bit of milk by tablespoon if you need it to bring the dough together.  

For sugar cookies, form balls, place on parchment lined or greased cookie sheet and bake about 10-12 minutes at 350.  For Snickerdoodles, roll the balls into a mixture of sugar and cinnamon (I don't measure but use about  1/4 c sugar to 3/4 t cinnamon and I keep it in a shaker jar in my cupboard for toast, etc.)  

Bake as usual.  Cool and eat!  *note* if you accidentally pour in too much milk, add flour by tablespoons to get it back to dough consistency.  If you use additional flour your cookies will stay puffy and not fall to a flat cookie, but you can gently press on the tops when they are hot out of the oven and they will flatten to a nice shaped cookie.