Pork it up!

So I can't "count" this as my new recipe - as my mom actually made this for us....BUT it was so tasty and so easy to make that I couldn't resist putting it on here!!

Basically, all you need is pork chops and some sort of "sauce".  We ate this with asparagus, brown rice, and carrots!  Oh and don't forget your little food "decorations" to stick in them :)

Take pork chop and brown them in frying pan - lightly sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper and place into crock pot.  Pour "sauce" (you can use cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, BBQ sauce - depending on what flava you want)!  Then just cook on low in crock pot for 6-8 hours and serve!!

Wedding Ideas

Ahhh weddings – planning one is my calling!!  I had so much fun planning our wedding, and putting a personal touch on our special day!!  Here are some easy  / cute ideas!

Card Box

What you need:

Hat box / cardboard box (Found mine at Michaels for like $3.00)

Favorite Ross & Lisa pictures

Mod podge

I cut a slit in the top of the box that would allow cards to slip in.  Then all you do is cut the pictures and fit them around the box to your liking.   Mod podge those bad boys in place – and “Ta Da” = the perfect card box for your wedding day!!

Table #s

Since Ross and I have known each other since we were 15 – I thought it would be fun to do our table #s for the years that we have been alive…..I put years on one side or the card stock – and matching pictures of both of us on the other.  It was a fun way for people to mingle amongst the other tables – and get some great laughs over our pictures J

Wedding Favors

Since Ross likes to fish – I decided to central some of our stuff around that.  So our wedding favor / name card holders were made out of fishing bobbers.  I put a slit into the top – and slid the name cards right in there.  Then if you have lots of leftover bobbers for those Non-fisher guests – I basically hooked them all together and have that as our garland on our Christmas Tree!!  It will be a part of our lives forever :)

Keeping with the theme – I did a welcome sign when you walked in that said “We’re Hooked” – and put fishing line with a hook to hold our pictures in place….get it??  J

Wedding Cake

Last but not least – I had a real live fish in our cake!!  Check this out J 

Don’t worry – I didn’t kill the little fishy…I made sure the bubble vase that the cake topper was resting had little air holes so the fishy could breathe!!  Another nice little treat that made its way back to our house!

Another fun idea we did for our cake table - was to put pictures of both of our parents cutting their wedding cake!!  It was cutie - and meant a lot to us!  Both our parents are great role models as to what marriage / love really stand for!

Pesto Crostini

We had appetizer night at cookbook, so we tried this out.  It's probably less time consuming to just buy your own pesto dip - but this was SUPER yummy and you can say you made it from scratch :)

Serves 1 cup

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts 

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Baguette

Cream cheese

METHOD

Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor.  Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Toast Baguette – and put cream cheese and pesto on top and serve

Crab Toasts

So this isn't the "healthiest" appetizer out there - but it is soooo good!!  They lasted about 5 min at cookbook club :)

Yield: 24 appetizers

Ingredients: 

1 (5oz) jar Kraft Old English Cheese (kind of like Velveeta cheese – not stored in “cooler” but next to dairy section – found in-between eggs and cream cheese at EP rainbow)

½ c butter, softened

½ teaspoon Lawry’s seasoned salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise

1 (6 oz) can crab meat, drained

8 slices Master bread English Muffin Toasting Bread

Remove cover from the jar of cheese, heat in microwave until warm, but not melted, approximately 1 minute.  Stir in butter until smooth.  Add the seasoned salt, garlic powder, and the mayonnaise, stirring until blended.  Fold in the crab meat.

Stack and using a long knife, cut the bread into thirds.  Spread the crab mixture generously on each bread strip then place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in 375 degree oven about 15 minutes or until bottom of bread is golden brown.

Serve immediately

To prepare ahead, freeze crab toasts for a few minutes on the baking sheet – cover with aluminum foil.  Heat from frozen, adding a few additional minutes.

Double Tomato Brushetta

Really easy to make - and doesn't take that much "prep" time.....but it tasted very professional like  :)

6 servings

3 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped

¼ c sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons (or 8 leaves chopped)  fresh basil, stems removed

Salt and pepper

½ French baguette

1c shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven on broiler setting

In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper.  Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes

Cut the baguette into ¾ inch slices.  On a baking sheet – arrange the baguette slices in a single layer.  Broil for 1-2 minutes, until slightly brown.

Divided the tomato mixture evenly over baguette slices.  Top the slices with mozzarella cheese – then broil for 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Greek it up!

So we had Greek night at cookbook - so below are the 2 recipes we made.  The dip was SUPER easy and SUPER yummy!  We just ate it with crackers - but you could do pita bread too! 

The Briam was really easy prep - but takes an hour to cook.  Half of us thought it was really good (feta cheese on top made the meal) - makes WAY more than a side dish for 5!  You could have this as the main course too -- and we thought eggplant (as well as zucchini) would have been really good too.  The other half of the group thought it didn't have much flavor - so feel free to add more herbs that would give it a little more kick.

Greek Dip

Serves 5

Ingredients:

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

8 oz package cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato pesto (found in the tomato sauce aisle)

Blend the feta cheese, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, and sun-dried tomato pesto in a food processor/hand mixer until completely mixed.  Serve immediately or chill overnight.

Briam - Greek side dish

servings : side dish for 10 / main meal for 5

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more dor drizzling

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloes garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 cups tomato sauce

1 pinch of dried mint

1 pinch of dried basil

1 lb zucchini, sliced in thin rounds OR eggplant

4 large tomatoes, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Crumbled feta cheese

Peel and boil the potatoes in generously salted water until nicely tender.  Slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds and set aside.

heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a sauce pan and saute the onions until translucent.  Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.  Add the 1/2 cup wine and saute a few minutes more.

Add the herbs, tomato sauce, and about a 1/2 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat the over to 425 degrees.

While the sauce is simmering, drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of a rectangular baking pan.  Layer half the potato slices on the bottom of the pan.  Season them lightly with salt.

Top the potatoes with the tomato slices.  Season lightly with salt / pepper.  Next add the remaining potatoes.  Season lightly with salt and top with half of the tomato sauce.

Next add the zucchini/eggplant and top with the remaining sauce.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 1 hour or until the veggies have cooked through and are tender.  Top with feta cheese to serve.

BBQ Flatbread Pizza

So I've never made pizza before, but this was super easy (if I could stop talking for 5 min to actually put together the ingredients!) You could always use regular BBQ sauce if you are in a mega hurry - but the sauce was tasty and relatively easy to make!

Ingredients:
Pizza crust
Chicken
2 pears
Chopped walnuts
Feta cheese
Sauce below


BBQ Balsamic Sauce
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.

I basted the chicken with some of the BBQ sauce - and just grilled it till it wasn't pink.  Then spread remaining sauce on the pizza and apply whatever toppings you'd prefer.  I used 2 cut up pears (we cut them the long way so they looked like "French Fries" - per Dale - ha ha) walnuts, and feta cheese.

 Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.