Cinnamon-Apple Pork Chops

I have only ever cooked with apples 1 other time, and I wasn't thrilled with it, so when my mom wanted to try this recipe (from Taste of Home), I jumped at it. I have to say, I became a fan! The cinnamon and brown sugar combination created a syrup that coated the apples and tasted excellent on the pork chops!

Tip about meat: Something that I have learned in the kitchen is that I don't always have to use the exact type of meat that the recipe calls for. For example, the recipe calls for boneless pork chops. If you prefer bone-in because it has more flavor, or it's more fun or messy, you can use a bone-in pork chop, and vice versa.  This also works with chicken, such as chicken breasts/thighs. Time of cooking the meat might have to be adjusted, but always cook meat until no longer pink. My mom had bone-in pork chops (and a lot of them), so that's what we used.
Personally, I am not a fan of bones. I'm the girl that gets weird about touching a raw turkey or hate to take the meat off a rotisserie chicken. I'm better now, by force I think.

I fully cooked the pork chops, and once I pulled them out, I turned the heat down because grease was spatting everywhere, even on medium heat. I was afraid the apples would burn because no additional liquid was to be added. I kept it at the low heat until the apples released their own juices. Then I turned it back up to medium heat.

One thing the recipe did not mention was how long it took to cook the apples. I cooked them for at least 10 minutes before they were my preferred softness. At this point, I also felt I had to pull it off the heat, because the brown sugar mixture had created a syrup that continued to thicken the longer it was on the heat, and I didn't want it to get any thicker.

If you make a lot of pork chops to have for left-over meals, I would suggest peeling the apples, as the skin on the apples became rubbery after a few days in the fridge. The syrup and pork chops tasted just as delicious, though.

The apples and its saucy-syrup tasted amazing on the pork chops, however I learned for this recipe, boneless is really the best choice. I had to cut the meat off the bone, which meant I had to take off the apples. I think it would have been a lot easier without having to deal with the bone. Perfect example of living and learning!

Cinnamon-Apple Pork Chops
2 Tbsp butter, divided
4 boneless pork loin chops (4 oz. each)
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
4 medium tart apples, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp chopped pecans (I did not use)

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add pork chops; cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 145°. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

2. Remove chops; keep warm. Add apples, pecans, brown sugar mixture and remaining butter to pan; cook and stir until apples are tender. Serve with chops. 

Yield: 4 servings.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

My husband and I first had this dessert at college, and thought it was fantastic. So when I started seeing recipes on Pinterest, I had to make it. I didn't try more than one recipe, just because the one that I did find (Strawberry Pretzel Salad) was, in my tastebud's opinion, perfect, so why take that chance? But that's not to say there isn't another recipe that is similar that doesn't taste just as good! The main reason I decided to write about this recipe is because I've already had someone ask me about it who attempted to make it and it did not go so well. I have also made it 2 times within a month, and made some slight alterations. It really is a simple recipe, but has a few steps that could make it go wrong. 

The first step is the most fun, because you get to smash things! The first time I made it, I personally thought I kept the pretzel pieces too big, so this time I smashed them up into smaller pieces. I also added over 2 cups of crushed pretzels (I used a 2 c. glass measuring cup and filled it up just over the top of the cup) because 2 cups did not cover the bottom of the pan very well. 

Tip for smashing things: Don't dirty another dish or clutter your already-tiny counters with more utensils. I used the measuring cup that I was measuring the pretzels with to smash the pretzels in the bag! It's also a great way to release some stress :) 

I stuck the crust into the fridge for a bit to cool off faster while I whipped together the filling. One lesson learned from a friend who made it was to make sure the filling goes all the way to the sides so there is no way the liquid topping can seep down to the pretzels. Guaranteed it will make those pretzels soggy and will not turn out right. 

Both times I made this recipe, I did not have time to wait for the filling to set for 2 hours and do the topping right after. So I let the filling in the fridge overnight or during the entire day, so it was, no question, set. 

For the topping, I loved the idea of a bit of pineapple in this to add liquid juice and a different flavor. 
I did have to spread the strawberries out once it was poured on the filling, because they all clumped together. It really does fill up a 9x13 pan almost to the top. I also made sure it was level while setting in the fridge. The first time, I also tried to put saran wrap on top instead of the plastic lid, thinking the lid would hinder the gelling process. This did not work out well, because the saran wrap immediately was suctioned to the liquid. The second time, I stuck to the plastic lid :)

One lesson I learned the hard way, and luckily it was with the left-overs for my husband and I, was that the topping is not stuck to the filling. So when traveling, I had to tip it for a period of time to fit in my cooler, and all the topping slid off! It was easy to spread back over, but I would be very careful when traveling with it. 

All the topping slid to one side!

FYI: the crust does start to get soggy after 2 or so days, but not a mushy-soggy. I still thought it was absolutely delicious to the very end, 5 days later!

Delicious!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups crushed pretzels (you want small pieces, but don't pulverize them in a food processor)

3/4 cup melted butter

3 Tbsp + 3/4 cup sugar

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese

1 8-oz container whipped topping

2 3-oz pkg strawberry gelatin dessert mix

2 cups boiling water

2 10-oz pkg frozen strawberries

1 8-oz can crushed pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. For the crust: Grab a medium bowl, add the pretzels, butter and 3 Tbsp sugar, and mix together. Press this mixture into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. For the Filling: In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar. Fold in the whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until well chilled.

4. For the Topping: In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pineapple, and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time. 

Chicken-Pasta Skillet

Although I love food, I have a confession. I am not the biggest fan of anything tomato. When I was younger, I didn't like tomatoes, ketchup, marinara sauce, or anything tomato-based. I ate pasta with butter and cheese, and lived on it. As I got older, I started to like it more and more, but still am not a fan of tomato soup or pasta drowned in sauce. So I was a bit hesitant to try this recipe, but the picture did not look too saucy, and it looked like I could actually control how much sauce goes into the meal. So I took a chance.
Let's just say I'm glad I have some intuition in the kitchen! This was a very easy recipe, but it could very easily have gone wrong.

I decided to double the recipe so we would have lots of leftovers. I cooked the chicken, which always takes longer than the recipe says (it took about 10 minutes). I then added green pepper and onion, chopped, just because it would cook faster, and I am not always a fan of strips of floppy onion and peppers unless it's in a fajita. 

 The recipe calls for 2 cups of uncooked pasta (doubled 4 cups), and a whole box of rotini is approximately 6 cups. As with most pasta meals, I added the whole box of pasta, because you can never have too much!

I was skeptical to add the pasta into the meal uncooked, because it takes a lot of liquid to cook pasta, and the recipe had very little liquid in it. But I wanted to go by the books. 

Before adding the additional cup of pasta

I checked the pasta about every 5 minutes while cooking, because I was afraid the liquid would cook away, and I'm glad I did. After about 10 minutes, it started sticking to the bottom of the pan. I then added an additional 1 cup of water, hiked up the temp for a minute to get it boiling again, and then turned it back down to simmer. Even with the extra water, when it was finished, there were some pieces of pasta that were a bit brown from sticking. 

I will say, if I did not lift the lid to check it so often, more liquid might have stayed in, maybe not causing it to stick so fast. But I didn't want to take that chance and ruin the whole pot. It also might have taken a bit more liquid because I added more pasta, but I don't think it should have made that much of a difference. 

Tip for pasta: You could also cook the pasta separately, and then add it to the pan. You would not need to add the water at all, although I would suggest taking a bit of the water from the pasta and put it in the mixture. To quote my favorite talk show host, Rachael Ray, "It’s the magic liquid that marries the sauce to the pasta itself." Once you add the pasta, mix it in, and then add the sauce.

For the sauce, due to my not-so-fondness of it, I did not double it to include 2 jars of marinara sauce, and I am glad I didn't. For some, maybe you would want to, but as you can see, there was plenty of sauce to go around. 

The end result was a delicious chicken, pasta and cheese delight. And the moral of this meal: go with your gut, and don't be afraid to check to make sure it's not burning. 

Chicken-Pasta Skillet
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups rotini pasta, uncooked
1 jar (24 oz.) traditional pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook and stir chicken in large skilled sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 5 minutes. Add vegetables; cook and stir 5 minutes. Stir in water; bring to a boil.
2. Add pasta; stir until completely covered with water. Cover with lid; simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in sauce.
3. Sprinkle with cheese. Cook covered on low heat for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted or pasta mixture is heated through, stirring occasionally.  

Glitter Bottle

The glitter bottle/time out bottle is the newest fad in therapies and with moms. I first thought to use it with my music therapy clients, because a lot of my clients are attracted to visual stimuli. In addition, I have a few clients who take breaks throughout the session, and I think it would be much more beneficial to have a timed visual that they can understand so they can tell when the break is over. So I pinned a few pages on Pinterest, and bought the materials. 

I loved this page because another mom described her troubles in hope to prevent her readers from having a mess of a project. Her tips helped a ton, but I had different problems. 

I have currently made 3 different bottles, and none of them are exactly what I wanted. Putting it together couldn't be more simple, but I thought it would be a lot easier to control the time. 

Initially, I used a Smart water bottle, however, I found that for my littlest clients, this bottle would be too big for them to hold. So I found a Sparkling Ice drink that is skinnier, but just as tall. I first filled it 3/4 full of water (just about 2 cups), and then poured the water into a glass measuring cup. The first time I used a 5 cup measuring cup. I found out that because the water was more spread out, it was deceiving as to how fast the glitter falls. So use the tallest glass cup or bowl that you can still easily stir in to get the most accurate timing.

These are the materials I used. 

The blog suggested to use clear tacky glue, glitter color of your choosing, glitter glue (not washable) and hot, almost boiling water. I could not find glitter glue that was not washable. The consequence is seen a bit later. I heated up the water in the measuring cup until it was slightly boiling. I then poured in the glitter glue, mixed it up, and added the glitter. The first two bottles I made ended up being thick with glitter, so for the third bottle, I actually measured the amount, and used 2 tablespoons of glitter. 

For the first two bottles, I then added tacky glue about 1/4 of the bottle at a time, mixed it, and then timed it to see how long it would take for the glitter to settle down. The first time, I used an entire bottle. The second time I used 3/4 of a bottle. Each time, it didn't quite seem long enough. However, it took me until the third bottle to discover that while it is still hot, it will settle faster. When it cools, it just about doubles the time. For my first 2 bottles, it took them 6-8 minutes to settle which is way too long. So the third time I put in only about 1/4 of a bottle. When it was still hot, it only took over 2 minutes to settle. When it was cool, it took just over 5 minutes. 

Once I was done adding glue, I then mixed it up one more time, poured it in the bottle so all the glitter would pour out with the water, put the top back on, and shook it to see how it looked. Again, if it is still hot, it will double the time to settle when it is cool. 

This is the final product, just after I shook it. As you can see, on the top, the suds are a result of the washable glitter glue. It does not hurt it, but it doesn't look as nice. I tried skimming the bubbles off on one of the bottles, but they re-appeared to no avail every time. 

I left the lid off until it was cool, then superglued it on so no little hands could open and make a mess. 

This is about 2.5 minutes when cooled

This is after just over 5 minutes when cooled

 If you try this project, I hope you can get it where you want it faster and easier than I did! 

How Many Potatoes Do I Use?!

One side dish that I have avoided in the past is mashed potatoes. One reason is that there are so many varieties of mashed potatoes that everyone likes, I never know what type to make. My husband loves his mother's sour cream mashed potatoes, my mom makes my grandma's light and fluffy potatoes, and then there's the double baked, casseroles, and just plain baked. So I often just resort to making homemade french fries or only using potatoes in a recipe where they are roasted with other vegetables. 
Then, let's not even get into how to measure how many potatoes to use when a recipe calls for, lets say, 4 cups of mashed potatoes. 

While at my mother's house for the weekend, her recipe called for jambalaya on top of mashed potatoes. So we were determined to figure out how many potatoes it takes to make mashed potatoes, and how many people that would serve. The only way to do that is to measure the pounds of potatoes that we washed and cooked (not the size), and then measure the amount of mashed potatoes it made.

We used 5.87 pounds of small red potatoes (but remember, it shouldn't matter what kind or size of potatoes if we go by pounds). When cooked and mashed, it made exactly 11 cups of mashed potatoes, which is approximately 1 pound of raw potatoes to 2 cups of mashed potatoes. 

What does this mean for how much to make per person? If it's just a side dish at a typical meal, the average person could take between 1/2 and 3/4 cup. This means to serve 2 people at one meal, you would need 1 to 1 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes. Most people make mashed potatoes around thanksgiving to serve to large groups of people. If there will be 10 people at the table, and let's face it, we all take more than 1/2 a cup to eat with our turkey, gravy and corn, I would suggest making approximately 10 cups just to feed each person one time. 

Here's a chart to help you decide how much to make.

Note: I don't know a single person who takes only 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes at any meal. I would say a more realistic serving is 1 cup, so that's what I based the serving size on. Remember, all numbers are approximate. 

Raw potatoes  =  Mashed potatoes  =  Servings 
                                                              (1 cup per person)
1 pound                2 cups                         2 servings
2 pounds               4 cups                        4 servings
5 pounds              10 cups                       10 servings
10 pounds            20 cups                       20 servings   

To give you a visual of how much this is, we put the mashed potatoes in a 2 quart casserole dish. Yes, the potatoes are pink! We used home grown red potatoes that are red all the way through. 

4 cups

8 cups

11 cups

I hope this helps you decide how many potatoes to use and make to feed your family this thanksgiving!

Sausage Tortellini Soup

This was another recipe I made while at my mother's house. I didn't realize it until this meal was complete, but this is a one-dish meal that is easy, delicious, and different! My husband loves sausage, and we have access to some great sausage in the area with a variety of flavors. 
The recipe says to use bulk sausage, which I found out for the first time meant ground meat. 
Embarrassing confession: I just started cooking with sausage this year for my husband (I wasn't a huge fan until now), and had to ask him the first time I cooked it whether or not I was supposed to take the casing off. Every time I've cooked sausage so far, I have only needed to cut it and fry it up, so I have not taken the casing off. Whenever I saw 'bulk sausage' in a recipe, I thought it was suggesting you buy it in bulk (high quantity) and use some of that. Apparently not! So if you only have links, you can just take it out of the casing to make it ground. 

I do suggest cooking this meal in the largest saucepan you have (not a stockpot). My mom's large saucepan is not teflon-lined, so I started with some oil. But even this did not prevent the bottom from getting a little brown. If you want to try to avoid this altogether, you could try cooking the sausage in a separate teflon-lined skillet and then transfer it to a pot.

She had some delicious Italian sausage that I used. Some people like to break their sausage up very fine, but I left them in bigger chunks, so that we could get some good bite-sizes of the good stuff. After the sausage is cooked, I added stewed tomatoes (cut up), beef broth, french onion soup and cabbage. This is a good meal if you have some left-over cabbage. The cabbage cooks down, so if it's a bit older, this is a good recipe to use it up. 

The recipe calls for 9 ounces of refrigerated tortellini. However, I had a 19 ounce frozen bag, and planned to use it all because my husband and I are huge tortellini fans, so you can never have too much. The instructions on the bag of the tortellini stated it should cook in 3 1/2 minutes, but I found it had to cook at least 5 minutes longer once the soup started simmering again. 

I tried the soup before I put on the parmesan cheese, and then added some on top. Honestly, I thought it was better without the cheese, and my mom agreed. Although I didn't try it, I think it would be better with some shredded mozzarella cheese mixed in rather than parmesan. It does give you that italian flavor, if that's what you love.

I think this is a recipe that you could experiment with different flavors of sausage and even add some other veggies such as carrots and peppers to add more color. If you have plain stewed tomatoes, I think it would probably work to add some italian seasoning with the tomatoes to cook in that extra flavor as well. 

Sausage Tortellini Soup
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 cups water
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 can (14 1/2 oz) Italian stewed tomatoes, undrained and cut up
1 can (14 1/2 oz) beef broth
1 can (10 1/2 oz) condensed French onion soup
1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large saucepan, cook sausage over medium heat until it is no longer pink; drain. 
2. Stir in the water, cabbage, tomatoes, broth, and soup. Bring to a boil. 
3. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 8 minutes. Stir in tortellini; cook 7-9 minutes longer or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle with cheese. 

Yield: 10 servings (2 1/2 quarts)

Butterscotch Pudding

While I was at my mother's this weekend, I found in her recipe pile a recipe for butterscotch pudding. I have never made pudding before, a bit afraid of the process. But I also have never seen a more simple recipe before. This has all basic ingredients you already have in the kitchen and is not complicated! I only used 1 pot, which is always a bonus!
The only downside is you have to constantly be stirring it. But it does not take too long to cook, so if you have a solid 15 minutes, it can be done.

Because the pudding cooks so fast, I got all of my ingredients ready before I started so I wasn't running around trying to get them together as I was trying to not let it burn to the bottom of the pan.


Tip for egg yolks: An egg separator is one kitchen gadget that I believe is worth its money. It makes for flawless separation, especially if cracking eggs neatly is not a strength. I originally started by cracking them over a bowl, but my egg separator did not fit on the edges. I started to master the one-handed crack, until my mother told me about using a mug! It fits all 6 whites and I didn't have to use 1 hand (although I did like the challenge!).

The recipe is pretty straight-forward. I made sure that there were NO lumps of brown sugar by crushing them with the whisk. The part that took the longest was waiting for it to come to a simmer, because I wanted it to take its time so it didn't stick to the bottom. With the cornstarch, it could very easily get out of control.

This is what it looked like after whisking in all the milk.

I do not have a fine-mesh sieve, and don't even know what it is used for. So, that is another reason I made sure there were no lumps in the first step of mixing.

Not everyone has custard cups. I happen to have a few because I stole them from my mom when I moved out, otherwise I would have none. The custard cups are only useful if you will be serving them for guests within a day, but would take up too much room in my fridge. So I tried using 2 custard cups (to follow the recipe) and the rest went in a glass pyrex bowl (much more practical).

The bigger bowl took just as long to set as the small cups, so if it's just you or you and 1 or 2 people, and you aren't concerned with looking fancy, putting it in a glass bowl to chill works just as well.
It didn't have a very strong butterscotch taste, but did have a vanilla taste, and was the perfect consistency of pudding after letting it set for over 4 hours.
I hope you enjoy!

Butterscotch Pudding
6 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp coarse salt
3 cups milk, divided
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan (off heat), whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and 1/4 cup milk until completely smooth; very gradually, whisk in remaining 2 3/4 cups milk.
2. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Simmer, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla.
3. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl (or spouted measuring cup, for easy pouring). Divide evenly among six 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.