I had to share this recipe as I really don't care for Pork Chops...but these are really good.  Even I liked them and very simple to make.  

Apricot Pork Chops

Ingredients

Cooking spray
4 (4-ounce) boneless loin pork chops
1/4 cup prechopped onion
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sliced green onions

Directions

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add prechopped onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in preserves, soy sauce, garlic, and salt; cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Add pork to pan, turning to coat. Sprinkle with green onions.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop and 1 tablespoon sauce)

Happy Eating!!!

 

September 13 - September 26, 2010 

Meals last week that were well received were the following:

Cheese Beef and Bean Tacos
Lemon Honey Chicken
Twice Baked Potatoes

 

As you can see, last weeks pantry challenge did not completed empty out my freezer, but hopefully after the next two weeks it will be.  At least it is now empty enough so I can see everything I have in there and plan meals around that. 

Here is what is on our menu this week:

Monday - Chicken Salad Roll-ups/Potato Chips/Grapes  (E-Mealz A-342)

Tuesday, 14th - Club Salad, Swiss Cheese Bagels, Grapes (E-Mealz P-338)

Wed, 15th - Broccoli & Potato Soup/ Garlic Toast ((E-Mealz P-340)

Garlic Bread

• 1 loaf ciabatta* or Italian bread
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

Slice bread in half length-wise. Mix butter and garlic well. Spread each half with half of the garlic butter mixture and place halves together on baking sheet. Bake at 350° until bread is crusty and butter mixture is bubbly.

Thurs, 16th - Cheese Stuffed Shells, garden Salad, Garlic toast (E-Mealz P-340)

Fri, 17th - Fajitas / Spanish Rice

Sat, 18th - Pork & Cabbage Dinner

Sun, 19th - Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes/ Veggie

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!  Just remember that a bit of planning will sure make your week go smoother, giving you more free time and saving you money!  For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie and participate in Menu Plan Monday.  Weekly over 400 bloggers share what they have on their menu. 

Happy Eating!!!

September 13 - September 26, 2010 (Late Edition)

Meals last week that were well received were the following:

Tilapia Almandine/ Veggie Mix - (P-337)
Grilled Shrimp Teriyaki

The school year has started and it is even more important for us to have a menu.  It saves us time and money!  We have more things to do each evening, so saving time on supper is a must.  

 

Monday - Chicken Salad Roll-ups/Potato Chips/Grapes  (E-Mealz A-342)

Tuesday, 14th - Club Salad, Swiss Cheese Bagels, Grapes (E-Mealz P-338)

Wed, 15th - Broccoli & Potato Soup/ Garlic Toast ((E-Mealz P-340)

Thurs, 16th - Cheese Stuffed Shells, garden Salad, Garlic toast (E-Mealz P-340)

Fri, 17th - Fajitas / Spanish Rice

Sat, 18th - Pork & Cabbage Dinner

Sun, 19th - Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes/ Veggie

 

Mon, 20 - Lasagna Roll Ups

Tues, 21 - Easy Cheeseburger Pie/Fries - (E-Mealz A-334)

Wed, 22 - Crockpot Chicken & Rice Soup/ Cheese Biscuits (E-Mealz A-342)

Thurs, 23 - BLT's/ Jello (E-Mealz A-336)

Fri, 24th - Teriyaki Chicken Wings/ Frozen Pizza

Sat, 25th - Ribs/Oven Fries/ Broccoli - $5 mom pg 172

Sun, 26th - Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin/Baked Rice/ Veggie

 

 

 

September 7 - September 12, 2010 (Late Edition)

Meals last week that were well received were the following:

Tilapia Almandine/ Veggie Mix - (P-337)
Grilled Shrimp Teriyaki

The school year has started and it is even more important for us to have a menu.  It saves us time and money!  We have more things to do each evening, so saving time on supper is a must.  

This week's menu is a pantry challenge!!  I decided to delay getting groceries by one week.  I am planning my meals around just what we have on hand.  Truthfully, I could probably do this for two weeks.  We have only gone to the gas station for milk.  This is a great way to build up your grocery budget and save money!   I only needed to spend less than $5 of our budgeted $100 this week, so I can bank this week's money to stock up on meat when I find it on sale.  I try to plan a pantry challenge menu at least every other month. 

Here is what is on the menu this week at our house. 

Tues - Roasted Chicken/ Angel Hair Pasta/Brussell Sprouts

Wed - Baked Potato bar

Thursday - Ham/Mac and Cheese/ Corn

Friday - Cheese Beef and Bean Tacos

Saturday - Lemon Honey Chicken/ Twice Baked Potatoes/Veggie

Sunday - Apricot Pork Chops/Buttered Noodles/ Veggie

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!  Just remember that a bit of planning will sure make your week go smoother, giving you more free time and saving you money!  For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie and participate in Menu Plan Monday.  Weekly over 400 bloggers share what they have on their menu. 

Happy Eating!!!

1st Day of School
3rd grade - 2010

First Day of School
2nd Grade - 2009

First Day of School
1st Grade - 2008

First Day of School
Kindergarten

 

First day of school today......................Tommy did make it into school.  He had an upset tummy, but eventually decided to head to school.  Hubby is staying home and will go get him if he feels sick.  We are thinking it might be an food allergy, so we will see.  

This is the first year that I am not home on the first day of school.  I am a bit sad by that, but hubby is home for the day.  I wonder if hubby will make Chocolate Chip Cookies, like I do on the first day of school???  

Tommy - 3rd Grade

My baby is in the 3rd grade!!  I hope he has a wonderful day!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful first day of school!!! 

Love,

 

The winner of the Back to School Giveaway is.............................Lou!

The winner was selected by use of the random.org - True Random Number Generator.  

Lou, please email me your mailing address and I will get your package into the mail.   My email address is jmcoyan@yahoo.com

Happy 1st Day of School!!!  

 

Labor Day, an extra day off...so we labored!!  It was harvesting day at our house.  Tommy was excited to get out to the garden and pick vegetables.  Then it was up to Mom and Dad to preserve all the vegetable.  That is where the real labor came into play!

Josh told me today that we were lucky I grew up in the middle of no where so I knew how to do things like canning.  Thanks, kid!  By the time I was born, my parents were no longer farming, but we did always have a garden.  We would also go to the huterite colony to get produce to can or freeze for the winter.  So as much as I complained about growing up in the rural area, I am truly blessed to have skills in sewing, gardening, cooking, canning and being very frugal!   Thanks Mom and Dad.  This way I can teach my city slicker hubby and son how to do all these things.  Just a family of urban farmers, ok...maybe not, but we do can food from our garden! 

The first wave of Roma Tomatoes and Green Peppers.

Hubby processing the pickles.  Don't drop them.....oops too late! 

The finished product...I used a mix for pickles this year.  I have never done that before, it sure saved time.  I hope they are good as it was easier to do.   

I cut up all the green peppers and flash froze them.

 

Then the peppers were bagged and vacuumed sealed. 

Time to process the tomatoes for canning.  Today we made tomato sauce.  Josh, hubby and I washed, cored and quartered all those tomatoes.

The end result.....16 pints of tomato sauce. 

Now a very tired couple is heading to bed after laboring all day on Labor Day!!  Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day.  We have a sick little guy this evening so I am not sure he will be making it to the first day of school. I am not sure if he is just nervous or sick.   We will have to wait and see how he is in the morning.

Happy Labor Day !!

 

Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp and Veggies

1-1/2 lbs large Shrimp
1/2 C teriyaki Sauce

Marinate shrimp in teriyaki sauce for 2 hours in refrigerator.  Remove shrmip from marinade and grill over med heat in a grill pan or on skewers for 5-6 mintues or until done. 

Grilled Veggies

1-1/2lbs summer squash and zucchini
1 large onion, quartered
Fat Free Italian Dressing

Marinate squash, zucchini, and onions in dressing.  Grill in a sprayed pan 10 min, until tender. 

 

Dessert.........Ice Cream with raspberries from the garden.  YUMMMY!!!!!

Happy Grilling !!

 

Grilled BBQ Ribs

Ingredients:

Country Style Pork Ribs
BBQ Sauce any brand
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Honey
Seasoning of choice  (Emeril's Essence Original)
Apple Juice

Take a broiler pan and fill the bottom section of the broiler pan about half full of  Apple Juice. On the top section (the part with the slits) lay out your ribs. Rub the ribs with Emeril's Essence Original seasoning.

Cover the pan with foil and fold edges under to seal in the steam as they cook. Place in a 300 oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours. Remove foil carefully as steam will be hot. Now all the grease is down in the bottom of the pan with the apple juice, the ribs are completely cooked and tender.

All you need to do is finish them up on the grill .  Add honey and brown sugar to any barbecue sauce. For grill place ribs on grill and coat with you favorite sauce. Grill on each side just a few minutes until crispy. 

**Recipe from Mommy's Kitchen's Blog

Happy Grilling !!