Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork

I'm a little backwards, most people like to do crock pot meals on weeknights. Me, I like saving it for a Saturday. I usually have so many projects going on that I like not having to worry much about supper.

This is a family favorite, and once again, it comes from the Kraft website (link below). I buy frozen egg rolls as my side and you have a great meal and didn't have to dirty up the kitchen after it has had its Saturday cleaning.

One word of warning, you MUST use Kraft Sweet and Sour Sauce. I tried another brand one time and threw the whole thing out.


http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-sweet-sour-pork-65878.aspx

Yummy EASY Cherry Danish

This was a big hit yesterday at work. It is super simple-- one of those crescent roll recipes. I have gotten to the point that crescent rolls are a staple at my house.

The recipe came from the Kraft Website and can be found here:
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philadelphia-cherry-danish-dessert-70427.aspx

Pork Chops and Rice

One of my favorite recipes growing up turned into one of Andrew's favorite recipes after we got married, and Robert grew up loving it too. It is a family favorite and I kicking myself for not taking pictures. It takes a little longer than most of my recipes---1 hour total, but it is worth it!

Pork Chops and Rice
1 lb pork chops                   1/2 c flour
 salt and pepper                  1/4oil  
1 1/2 c regular rice              1 pkg. onion soup mix
1 can mushrooms               1 can cream of mushroom soup
 water

Spray a 9"x13" glass baking dish with Pam, put rice, onion soup mix (reserve about 1 1/2 TBSP), and mushroom soup in glass dish. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid in a 3 cup measuring cup. Add mushrooms to rice mixture. Fill the cup with the mushroom liquid to 3 cups with water, stir into mixture, stir well.

Coat chops with the flour, salt and pepper, brown in the 1/4 cup oil. When browned on both sides, arrange chops on top of rice mixture. Sprinkle remaining soup mix on top of chops and gentle press them down into the water to let the tops get a bit wet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This is such a classy looking meal, the pork chops get so tender and the rice has a wonderful flavor. I have been known to leave out the soup when trying to lower calories, it still works well and has a good flavor. My mom always put peas in it too, probably about a cup, love them in it but Andrew has diverticulitus so I don't add them anymore.

Super Simple Alfredo

One of my all time favorite recipes and really simple.

I found the sauce recipe in a Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook years ago and it has been a staple ever since. I add different things to make it different meals, shrimp, crab meat, Italian veggies; my menu tonight called for blackened chicken.

Philly Alfredo

1/2 cup butter
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Cut butter and cream cheese into chunks, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth, add milk and cheese, continue stirring until smooth.

That's it, takes about 15 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta. I used Penne tonight. Robert doesn't like fettuccine or spaghetti so I normally do shorter pastas, but that's a personal thing. You can also use light cream cheese as well as light margarine and Parmesan, I have done this when I am dieting hard and it is still good, not as good as using all regular, but good and really, the sauce is so rich a little goes a long way. (Serves 4-6)

My blackened chicken was a cheater thing tonight (hey, I AM on vacation). I normally buy bags of chicken breasts when they are on sale and cook one bag off the bat and cut them up and freeze them so they are quick, but I also buy the precooked chicken strips when I have coupons and I did a month or so ago so I had a bag of these in the freezer. I spiced them up with a little Cajun seasoning and threw them in a hot skillet for a few minutes. Then, to get the "TGIFriday's" effect, I chopped tomatoes for the edge, little parsley on top, pop a piece of garlic bread on the side and we have supper.