quick and crunch breaded Pork chops

	1 5 oz box melba toast, crused coarse OR PANKO BREAD CRUMBS salt/pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoons minced fresh or 1/2 t. dried thyme 1/8 teaspoon sugar 6 Tbs mayonnaise 4 boneless pork chops, 1" thick 1 Heat oven to 425° and adjust rack to middle position 2 prepare crumb coating: mix the crumbsk salt, garlic and onionj powderk paprika, thyme, and sugar in shallow dish. Add 2 T. of mayo and work evenly into crumbs 3 Season and coat chops: Pat chops dry with paper towel and season with salt/pepper. cover chops completelyl with remaining 1/4 cup mayo and dredge thoroughly with crumbs including sides. Press on crumbs to make sure they adnere. Transfer breaded chops to wire rack set on rimmed baking sheet. 4 Bake Pork Chops: Bake chops until coating is golden brown and center of chops register 140° on instant-read thermomenter, 18-22 minutes. Remove chops from oven and let rest on rack until center of chops reach 150°° before serving, 5-10 minutes

Pan Roasted Chicken Breasts with Potatoes (and baby carrots, if desired)

	from The best 30-minute Recipe...cook's illustrated. 4 chicken breasts salt and ground black pepper 6 tbs olive oil 1-1/2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1" wedges (I added baby carrots) 2 Tbs fresh lemon juice 1 clove garlic 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme pinch red pepper flakes 1 Heat oven to 450°. adjust rack to the lowest position. 2 season and brown chicken; Pat chicken dry with paper towels and seasonj with salt and poepper. Heat 1 T of oil in 12" nonstick skillet over med-hi heat til just smoking. Brown chicken well 5 minutes. While chicken browns cut up the potatoes 3 microwave potatoes: meanwhile toss the potatoes with 1 T oil, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper in microwave-safe bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high until potatoes begin to soften, 5-7 minutes, shaking bowl (without removing plastic) to toss potatoes halfway through 4 Bake chicken: transfer chicken, to baking dish and bake until thickest part registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermoments, 15-20 minutes. 5 Brown Potatoes: While chicken bakes, pour off any grease ijn skillet, add 1 T of oil, and return to midium heat until shimmering. Drain microwaved potatoes, then add to skillet and cook, stirring occasionaloly, until golden brown and tender, about 10 minutes. 6 Make Drizzling Oil: Whisk remaining 3 T. oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes together. Drizzle oil over chicken and potatoes before serving. Cooking Tips Preheat oven before assembling your ingredients. If the split breasts are of different sizes, check the smaller ones a few minutes early to see if they are cooking more quickly, and remove them from the oven if they are done.

Philly Steak Wraps

I was hankering for soemthing new today. As luck would have it, this simple recipe has ingredients that I buy regularly.  YUMMY!

1 T beef bouillion granules
1/2 c. water
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/8  t ground black pepper
1 boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick (1 pound)
1 small green bell pepper, cut into 1/4 strips
1 small onion cut into 1/3 inch slices
veggie oil
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
4 (9-10 inch) flour totillas

1. Combine the boulliuon granules, water, garlic, black pepper in a bowl.  Marinade the steak in it for 1-3 hours in the refridgerator, turning occasionally. 

2.  Remove steak from  marinade and cool in the grill. 

3.  Put some veggie oil into a pan and cook up the veggies on the stove top.

4.  Slice the cooked beef into thing slices.

For each wrap, sprinkle cheese onto the tortilla.  Add peppers, onions, beef. Fold over.  Place in hot, oiled pan over medium high heat.  Brown 2-3 minutes on each side.  Serve immediately.

This was a pampered chef recipe, but I simplified it for the blog.

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes

So.
I will love you forever, Bisquick, but lately I've been straying a bit. I recently found an awesome recipe for coffee cake from scratch, which I will not post here because it hurts too much that Hank loves it more than Bisquick Conference cake. Then I came across this recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes and went for it because I was out of Bisquick, and because the photo looked good and THEY WERE DELICIOUS! Pouffy, fluffy little clouds of morning joy. Obviously, a few more steps are involved in making these than you'd ever have when making Bisquick pancakes, but even I, a very devoted and loyal follower of that certain Bisquicky-ness you can't get anywhere else, really loved this recipe. Oh yeah. We got our hands on some blueberries today and are going to try these out again in the near future, this time with blueberries. This concludes my dissertation.

Let the games begin!

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• ¼ cups Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 2 cups Buttermilk
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ¼ cups Milk (I used water. I'm pretty sure there's no need for buttermilk AND milk)
  

Preparation Instructions

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Melt butter and separate eggs. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Then mix in the butter, yolks, and vanilla with the whisk. Then stir in the buttermilk.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are just combined. Add milk as needed until batter reaches desired consistency.

Pour batter onto a hot buttered griddle using approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Flip when bubbles begin to form on top.

(Got this recipe off of tastykitchen)

m2

Peggy's Linguini Salad

This was served by Peggy at Carol and Al's 50th Anniversary party and it was so good. Apparently Peggy brings this to all the potlucks and is always asked for the recipe. And because there is never anything left, she always leaves a small bowl at home for her husband and herself.

1 pound linguini
Chopped celery
chopped green peppers
sliced green onions
2 large, diced tomatoes
Good Seasons Zesty Italian (dry Packet but mix as directions say with oil/vinegar)
Salad Supreme by McCormick...to taste

Cook the linguini and rinse.

Add the rest and toss.

Chill and serve.

Beefy Chili Dogs

• I happen to love hot dogs so tonight we had them with this topping...and man! was it good.
  
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• 12 ounces ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 4-ounce can diced green chili peppers- I cut up green and red peppers
  
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 10 frankfurters
• 10 frankfurter buns, split and toasted
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Finely chopped onion
• Yellow mustard

Directions

1. For meat sauce: In a large skillet, cook ground beef, 1 cup chopped onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, chili peppers, chili powder, 1 tablespoon mustard, sugar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, celery seeds, salt and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

2. Add frankfurters to skillet. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes more or until frankfurters are heated through. Remove frankfurters from meat sauce.Robert grilled the dogs.

3. To serve, place frankfurters in split buns. Top each with about 1/4 cup of the meat sauce. Serve with cheddar cheese and additional onion and mustard. Makes 10 servings.

Slow Cooker Directions: Brown ground beef mixture as above; drain off fat. Transfer mixture to a 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. Add the remaining sauce ingredients. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 2 hours or low-heat setting for 4 hours. Add the frankfurters to the slow cooker. Cover tightly; cook 30 minutes more or until frankfurters are hot. Serve as above or turn heat to low or warm and let stand up to 1 hour.

Garden Potato Salad

I made the following recipe yesterday for our Memorial Day Linner. And it turned out exactly as the picture that accompanied the recipe in the magazine...food network mag. I didn't have all the spices to boil the potatoes with but I made do by improvising.

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 5 or 6 sprigs fresh parsley, plus 2 tablespoons chopped leaves
• 2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• Kosher salt
• 4 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon whole-grain or dijon mustard
• 3 scallions, minced, whites and greens separated
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 small Kirby cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

Directions

Peel a 2-inch-long strip of zest from the lemon; tie into a bundle with the parsley and thyme sprigs and bay leaf using kitchen twine. Put in a saucepan with the garlic, potatoes, 2 tablespoons salt and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook until the potatoes are tender and the carrots are crisp-tender, about 5 more minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water, then drain the vegetables and discard the herb bundle. Let cool.

Meanwhile, finely grate 2 teaspoons lemon zest and squeeze 3 tablespoons juice into a large bowl. Whisk in the yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, scallion whites, chopped parsley, reserved cooking water, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and cucumber to the dressing and toss. Chill about 4 hours. Top with the scallion greens.