I am certainly no Bettie Crocker, but Matthew and I have had very full tummies this week thanks to a couple of tasty home-cooked meals, a la recipes from Pioneer Woman and Young Married Chic. (Those are two blogs that I reference for inspiration regarding everything from photography to decorating to cooking.) So, I wanted to share said delicious recipes because they were simple enough that even I didn't screw them up!
For me, making anything from scratch is extra intimidating because of the added challenge of converting ingredient amounts and temperatures back and forth between the metric and English systems and the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales. Matthew usually does the calculations for me in his head because he is just that brilliant, but if he is not home, I pull up Google. Thank the Lord for the Internet. Anyway, here are the links to the awesomely easy recipes we used along with some pictures of the completed masterpieces. (Yes, we took pictures of the food in the hopes that the meals would be satisfying enough to deserve blog time. We were not disappointed. Please do not let the less than savory lighting and poor presentation in our photos deter you. The food tastes about 1,000x more appealing than it looks.)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=apple+pork+chops&submit=
The name of this first meal was "Pork Chops with Apples." The great thing about Pioneer Woman is that she puts a picture in her instructions for every single step, so you can tell whether your creation is turning out how it should from start to finish. I had to get creative, substituting items from our cabinets in place of her original ingredients, but I think the end result was still successful. For instance, I used brown sugar, cinnamon, and orange juice to mix with the apples instead of white wine, vinegar, and maple syrup. The sauce was still divine. PS - She made cheesy bacon grits for her side, but we just made mashed potatoes with shredded cheese on top. I would say the potatoes were a good salty/buttery compliment to the caramelized chops.
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/11/04/slow-cooker-chicken-chili-and-cornbread/?cmpid=cmty_email_Gigya_Slow_Cooker_Chicken_Chili_and_Cornbread
Secondly, the title of this recipe was "Slow Cooker Chicken Chili and Cornbread," which automatically made me feel warm and cozy and nostalgic. I cannot tell you how many times we used our crock pot to make various stews during the snowpocalypse in Stillwater last winter. The only ingredient we ad-libbed for this meal was the type of beans. Black beans are "permanently unavailable" at our supermarkets, that's literally what the grocery websites say, so we used chickpeas instead. And as scrumptious as the chili was, the highlight was definitely the cornbread. I could have eaten the whole pan by myself, no exaggeration. The best part is that you drizzle honey on top of it while it is still warm in the pan...heavenly. Exquisite. 100% worth the number of calories consumed.
I would highly recommend that anyone take a shot at whipping up these meals. I am not known for my culinary talents, but even Matthew "Mr. Food" Grant gave me an A+ for these two dinners. Also, if you look up the Pioneer Woman and Young Married Chic blogs, prepare for insane motivation and enthusiasm for all things edible. Family and friends who plan on coming to visit us, you may or may not experience these meals firsthand. We will be making them again.
Well, I'm off to book the hostels in Paris and London for the trip in January that I am taking with Jenna and Allison! Can't wait! Oh, and in other travel-related news, Matt's family is coming to visit us after my parents do at the end of December! Christmas and New Year's are going to be whirlwind travel-packed holidays, and I am super psyched! (I don't typically use the phrase "super-psyched," but I couldn't think of an equivalent saying that packed the same punch...extremely enthusiastic? Whatever.) I'm really looking forward to it...so much so that I have already bought and wrapped most of our family's Christmas presents. Now to make my tissue paper Christmas tree!
For me, making anything from scratch is extra intimidating because of the added challenge of converting ingredient amounts and temperatures back and forth between the metric and English systems and the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales. Matthew usually does the calculations for me in his head because he is just that brilliant, but if he is not home, I pull up Google. Thank the Lord for the Internet. Anyway, here are the links to the awesomely easy recipes we used along with some pictures of the completed masterpieces. (Yes, we took pictures of the food in the hopes that the meals would be satisfying enough to deserve blog time. We were not disappointed. Please do not let the less than savory lighting and poor presentation in our photos deter you. The food tastes about 1,000x more appealing than it looks.)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=apple+pork+chops&submit=
The name of this first meal was "Pork Chops with Apples." The great thing about Pioneer Woman is that she puts a picture in her instructions for every single step, so you can tell whether your creation is turning out how it should from start to finish. I had to get creative, substituting items from our cabinets in place of her original ingredients, but I think the end result was still successful. For instance, I used brown sugar, cinnamon, and orange juice to mix with the apples instead of white wine, vinegar, and maple syrup. The sauce was still divine. PS - She made cheesy bacon grits for her side, but we just made mashed potatoes with shredded cheese on top. I would say the potatoes were a good salty/buttery compliment to the caramelized chops.
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| Mashed potatoes on bottom, pork chop in the middle, brown sugar and cinnamon apples on top! |
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/11/04/slow-cooker-chicken-chili-and-cornbread/?cmpid=cmty_email_Gigya_Slow_Cooker_Chicken_Chili_and_Cornbread
Secondly, the title of this recipe was "Slow Cooker Chicken Chili and Cornbread," which automatically made me feel warm and cozy and nostalgic. I cannot tell you how many times we used our crock pot to make various stews during the snowpocalypse in Stillwater last winter. The only ingredient we ad-libbed for this meal was the type of beans. Black beans are "permanently unavailable" at our supermarkets, that's literally what the grocery websites say, so we used chickpeas instead. And as scrumptious as the chili was, the highlight was definitely the cornbread. I could have eaten the whole pan by myself, no exaggeration. The best part is that you drizzle honey on top of it while it is still warm in the pan...heavenly. Exquisite. 100% worth the number of calories consumed.
 |
| Honey cornbread on the left (slightly mauled by the fork I used to get it out of the pan) and chicken chili on the right. Matthew made fun of me for putting this on a plate rather than in a bowl. "It's chili! It goes in a bowl. Bowl, bowl, bowl..." He finally stopped giving me a hard time when his mouth was otherwise occupied by his BOWL of palatable pleasure. |
Well, I'm off to book the hostels in Paris and London for the trip in January that I am taking with Jenna and Allison! Can't wait! Oh, and in other travel-related news, Matt's family is coming to visit us after my parents do at the end of December! Christmas and New Year's are going to be whirlwind travel-packed holidays, and I am super psyched! (I don't typically use the phrase "super-psyched," but I couldn't think of an equivalent saying that packed the same punch...extremely enthusiastic? Whatever.) I'm really looking forward to it...so much so that I have already bought and wrapped most of our family's Christmas presents. Now to make my tissue paper Christmas tree!
You are just gonna be a little martha stewart pioneer woman thang when this england adventure is over with. All these new recipes and tissue paper christmas tree (had wondered what you would do for a tree but knew it would be something creatively cute). Anyway i will try these recipes and the corn bread sounds heavenly with the honey.
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Mom
Thanks for posting those delicious looking recipes!! I love getting them from other people because then I know they are good! Also, I think our parents missed each other by a week in Hawaii! My parents get there today! Miss you!
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