Parmesan Pork Chops

After our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday and eating the leftovers throughout the weekend, we needed a lighter meal on Sunday night. These were quick, easy, and tasty! We will be adding them to our menu rotation. It is perfect for a week night because it doesn't take long to cook or prep. I found this recipe on Delish blog and was glad to see how a Giada dish could be lightened up. We do not cook pork often, and this dish was a refreshing change from chicken and turkey! The one change I would make is probably to use grated parmesan next time. I used shredded tonight and it had some trouble staying on the chops when I added them to the pan. We ate this with the last of our leftover veggies.

You will need:
4 pork loin chops
garlic powder
4 Tbsp shredded/grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 400°F. Place Parmesan cheese on a plate. Season the pork chops generously with black pepper and use some salt. Sprinkle garlic powder evenly over the pork chops. Coat the chops with the cheese, patting to adhere.

2) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops to the skillet and do not move them. Allow the pork chops to cook until golden brown & crisp, about 5 minutes per side.

3) Transfer pork chops in skillet to oven and bake for about 8 minutes in your preheated oven. You want them cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

*You may use an oven safe skillet. That will make this even easier!

Fried Goat Cheese

One of my favorite meals is the goat cheese salad at Not Your Average Joes. As soon as I saw this recipe on the Novice Chef, I knew I would try to recreate my favorite salad at home. This came out great! I made this tonight while Dave was out, and he is sorry he missed it! Luckily, I have some leftover cheese balls that can be added to salad for lunch tomorrow. These fried goat cheese pieces could be used in any salad. I always enjoy having something hot in my salad when it is a dinner. It also helps transition salad main dishes during the cold weather months.

Fried Goat Cheese from the Novice Chef

You will need:
4 oz of Goat Cheese
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
1 egg
EVOO

1) Use your hands to mix the minced garlic, Italian seasonings, salt, and pepper into the goat cheese. Form the goat cheese mixture into 1 inch wide balls.
2) Beat the egg in a bowl and in another bowl place the bread crumbs. One at a time, dip each goat cheese ball into the egg and then cover in the bread crumbs. Repeat the process to make sure the goat cheese is fully covered in the bread crumbs.
3)Heat your non-stick skillet and add the olive oil. Fry the goat cheese balls until they are golden brown.

For the salad I used:
baby spinach
raspberries
pecans
and a Raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

I made this to bring to dinner at my parent's last night. It was super easy to make and relatively low in fat. I have seen numerous Weight Watchers recipes that suggest mixing a can of pumpkin with spice cake or devils food cake mixes. This was delicious. I think I will add this to our Thanksgiving dessert menu. It tasted almost like a pumpkin bread more than a cake. I think that means you could enjoy this guilt free at any time of day!

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Apple Cider Glaze
From Splash of Gourmet

For the cake you need:
1 box spice cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 egg white
1 tbsp vanilla
splash of water

and for the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp apple cider

1)Preheat oven to 350. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2)In bowl, mix together cake mix, pumpkin, vanilla, egg white, and water. Pour into pan and bake for about 40 mins.

3) Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. When cool, remove the cake from the pan.

4) In small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and apple cider. Pour/drizzle the glaze over the cake and serve.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I have wanted to make these whoopie pies all fall. As soon at this yummy treat popped up in my google reader, I knew I would be trying to make them! There was a bit of a canned pumpkin shortage this season, and I had some difficulty finding pumpkin. Luckily the shortage seems to be over! The apartment smelled amazing as these were cooking. They seemed to be a hit at a birthday party that I brought them to. The cakes came out perfectly moist.
I have seen this recipe on many blogs recently; I followed the recipe I found at Lindsey's Kitchen.

Pumpkin Whoopie Cookies:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1⁄2 tsp ground fresh nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup canola oil
3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

-Preheat the oven to 350F.
-Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
-In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk two sugars and oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.
-Use a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to drop a heaping TBSP of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. (I cooked them for close to 15 minutes)
-Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling. They will probably look more like mini cakes than cookies.

Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling:
3 cups powdered sugar
1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

-In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps.
-Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.
-Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.
(Be careful not to overbeat the filling)

To Assemble:
Turn half the cooled cookies upside down. Pipe filling (about a tbsp) onto that half. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spread to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoppie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.

Greek Pizza

We love Boboli individual sized crusts. BJ's Wholesale always has the large packs and they freeze really well. This was a great dinner for a night like tonight-we did not even get home until 7pm and then were tired and starving! This is why I love keeping things like these pizza crusts on hand.

To make our version of a Greek pizza, you will need:
-Boboli crust (or some dough if you prefer)
-spinach
-minced garlic
-shredded mozzarella
-feta
-olive oil
-toppings-olive, mushrooms, onions

Preheat the oven as instructed by your shell/pizza dough.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and add in some minced garlic. Add the spinach and saute to your liking.

Put the spinach onto the pizza shell first, and then continue adding your toppings. Sprinkle a light amount of feta cheese, and top it all off with the shredded mozzarella.

Cook for about 10 minutes (or as directed by your pizza dough)

Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

I need some practice at improving my photographing of food!

It doesn't help that it just keeps getting darker earlier.
Thanks for bearing with me!
**Thank you to Jessica at the Novice Chef for helping me edit the above photo!**

I tried two new crockpot meals this weekend. Saturday night I made a buffalo chicken lasagna and it was a fail. It just didn't have the taste we had hoped for, and it burned a bit to the sides of the crockpot. Although a bit hesitant, I continued with the plan to try another new chicken recipe on Sunday. This Cream Cheese Chicken came from A Year of Slow Cooking. I am glad we did try this becauseit came out much better! It was tasty served over whole grain pasta. I think next time I will try to incorporate some vegetables into the mix.

You will need:
-1 can cream-of-something soup (I used mushroom)
-1/2 cup chicken broth
-frozen chicken pieces (I used about 2 pounds of frozen breasts I had)
-packet of Italian salad dressing mix
-2 cloves minced garlic
-block of cream cheese-to add later

1) Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot, and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred.
2) Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese.
3) Switch the crock to high and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted.
4) Serve over pasta.

My first quiche!

This is another great recipe from Stephanie Cooks (who adapated it from My Wooden Spoons). It was my first time making a quiche and we loved it! I am excited to try changing up this recipe with some different vegetables and cheeses in the future. The one change that I made was using skim milk. It still worked out great! I may also add a little more milk or egg next time to fill my crust a bit higher. I highly recommend this recipe and many others on Stephanie's blog!

You will need:
1 small zucchini, diced into small piece
6 thin stalks asparagus ( woody ends removed ) diced into small pieces
1 small onion
3 clove fresh garlic
3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
pepper to taste
salt to taste
frozen pie crust
1 tbs olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375.
1- In a large skillet heat the oil. Add the onion, zucchini, and asparagus. Saute for a few minutes. Add the garlic. Continue sauteing for a few more minutes.
2- Once the veggies are cooked add the salt and pepper, set aside to cool slightly.
3- In another bowl beat the eggs. Add the milk and cheddar cheese.
4- Spoon the veggies into the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over top.
5- Bake for approximately 45 minutes.

I think this could be enjoyed as a brunch item or for a lighter dinner option. We enjoyed eating it for brunch on Saturday with our morning coffee.

Pumpkin Crescents

So I had some pumpkin pie filling left from the recipe below. We were hungry and wanted a snack before we headed off to do the food shopping. I also had crescent rolls expiring soon, so I created this little treat. I only took a before picture, but I think you get the idea. They were a tasty treat!

You will need:
-crescent rolls
-pumpkin pie filling
-cream cheese

I just separated out the crescent rolls and dropped a dollop of the pumpkin pie filling on each. I then topped it off with a little bit of cream cheese. I cooked them about 10 minutes (as suggested from the crescent roll tube). Caution: filling is hot!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

We made this as a football appetizer yesterday. It was sweet and a bit different from the usual dips. We liked it and would make it again. I found this on A Year of Slow Cooking. Her blog is full of fabulous crockpot recipes!

You will need:
1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
chopped walnuts, for topping if desired

I used my Little Dipper that came with my crockpot. You could put a smaller dish inside a larger crockpot and alter the cooking time.

Here's what I did:

Add the cream cheese to the bottom of the Little Dipper. Add the sour cream, and then pour in the pumpkin pie filling.

Cover and cook for about an hour, then stir well. If the cream cheese isn't fully melted, cook a bit longer. (I ended up cooking it for about an hour and a half)

We served this with pretzels, TJ's ginger cats, and apples.

Poppy Seed Chicken

I found this recipe on Cara's Creature Comforts and I divided it in half since there were only two of us. I left the regular amount of poppyseeds though. This was simple and tasty. Because I used the FF Sour Cream and 98% FF cream of chicken soup, this was also a lower calorie dinner. We will be eating this dinner again! We enjoyed this dish with a side of green beans sauted with a bit of olive oil and minced garlic. I also had some acorn squash I wanted to use up. My recipe for a yummy acorn squash side is also below. This was a typical fall side dish made by mom when I was growing up. Enjoy!

Here's how I adapted Cara's recipe:
4 chicken breasts
1 cup fat-free sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (Campbell's Healthy Request is what I used)
25-30 Ritz crackers, crushed
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp poppy seeds
Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Cover the chicken with cold water in a medium pan. Cook on high heat until the water boils, then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
2)Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.Grease a 9x9 or 8x8 pan. Place the cut up chicken in the bottom of the pan. Mix the soup and sour cream. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
3)Mix the crackers and poppy seeds with the melted butter and then sprinkle over the chicken/soup. Season with salt and pepper.
4)Bake for 30 minutes.

Acorn Squash
Cut an acorn squash in half. Place in a greased baking dish with the cut side up. In each half, place 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of maple syrup. Bake at 350 for about one hour or until the squash is tender.