Pork Chops for Mama (yes, there's a recipe!)

“Say what?! We get pork chops and Les isn’t here?!”



This is Ryan & my beautiful,
tiny Mommy

Yeah… that’s what Leonard said the other night when I cooked pork chops. I bought this pack of pork chops from the grocery store for like $10 and there were like 10 good sized, thin sliced pork chops in it. I already had rice, eggs, bread crumbs & seasoning. I bought it on Monday, not knowing my Mom & brother were coming down for dinner. If I knew they were coming, I would've prepared an all out feast! I love cooking for my Mom! When Leonard made that statement, my mom didn’t understand what he was saying, so he explained: “When Les is here, she always cooks him the good stuff.” Then he mocks me in his lame (but cute) girl voice impression, “Oh baby, what do you want to eat? I’ll cook you whatever you want.” Good thing my mom has a sense of humor and knows that Leonard is always joking around. On the bright side, I guess now I know Leonard loves my pork chops! And the best thing about it, it’s so easy to make and you can serve them in different ways!

 

Mommy liked it… I hope you will too!

 

Crispy Panko Breaded Pork Chops

Ingredients:

4 thin pork chops

3 cups Panko bread crumbs
1 large egg
Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning

This stuff right here is AMAZING!
I use this ish on almost errythang!

Preparation:

Rinse off you pork chops, then pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.

In a large bowl, scramble egg with about 3 tsp of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. Set aside.

In another large bowl, mix bread crumbs with about 1 tbsp of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning.

Start heating a frying pan with oil over medium high heat.

While oil is heating up:

Dip your pork chops, one at a time, in the egg wash, then place in the bread crumb bowl. Using a meat tenderizer (If you don’t have one - the hammer looking thing you use to beat the meat to make it soft- use your fist) to pound the bread crumbs onto the pork chop.

Kayfletch's Crispy Panko Breaded
Pork Chops

Cooking Directions:

 

Once oil is heated, start frying your pork chops. Do not over crowd your pan. Cook pork chops until golden brown all around. Since I use thin pork chops, it only takes about 3 - 4 minutes on each side to cook thoroughly. Thicker pork chops take a little bit longer.

When pork chops are done frying, remove from oil and allow to drain on a paper towel lined plate. And BOOM! You got yourself some comforting, delicious pork chops! I serve these up with rice & veggies. I like eating my pork chops with ketchup mixed with sriacha or tabasco. You can use some katsu sauce, bbq sauce, etc. :)

Enjoy & God Bless!

 

XOXO, Kayfletch

Cooking with The Littles (recipe included!)

After feeling unmotivated all day, I was determined to take a night off from cooking. I wanted to just lay on the couch and take a nap. Leonard and Ryan had baseball practice, so I was thinking "what a great opportunity to just order some pizza." Plus, for lunch I went with a couple ladies from the office to this burger place nearby and inhaled what they call their "Ultimate Burger". When it was time to go home, I escaped my food coma and started feeling determined again. As soon as I picked up Marley from daycare, I had an epiphany! I miss spending time with The Littles (Les and Ryan are the "Bigs", Lucas and Marley are the "Littles"). How can I incorporate cooking dinner and spending time with them??? Of course! Have them help make a surprise dinner for Leonard and Ryan! Now, mind you, I have always tried to get them to cook with me. But the Littles fight over silly things sometimes, causing me to stress out in the kitchen. Here's a guilty confession: One time, I "fired" Marley because she was mixing some brownie batter made a huge mess on the dining table. I guess I was impatient that day. Extremely impatient. But, I have since "rehired"  and apologized to her. Now, Marley will occasionally peel the carrots for me, mix batter, put toppings on or scramble eggs. Lucas will help, but most of the time he's busy playing with Ryan or drawing. I think it's really important to teach my kids how to cook, because years of watching my Grandma and Dad cook has taught me more than just cooking. It taught me how to provide my family with meals, and spend quality time with them.

So, the game plan was set. We made a quick trip to the supermarket for our ingredients, and spent $26. It was a little pricey, but for a last minute dinner idea it was money well spent. I got to spend time with the Littles, and hear them say silly things to make each other laugh. They were talking about how Daddy and Ryan are going to be so surprised! They took turns and worked together. They put almost all 2 lbs. of mozzerella cheese on 3 half loaves of pizza, but I fixed it and spread it evenly. I heard them tell each other about their day at school. $26 made more than enough dinner for the 5 of us and we had a great time. When Leonard and Ryan came home from practice, the pizzas were done and my little niece, Kay, came over. The boys were surpised and excited! :) I had a great night!

Per the request of one of my friends (and a follower), here is my recipe! Make some memories with your Littles!

French Bread Pizza

(Makes 6-8 Servings)

Ingredients:

 

3 loaves of Supermarket Bakery French bread

1 jar of Marinara Sauce (I used Prego Traditional sauce)

2 lbs of shredded mozzarella

Desired toppings (I used pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage, & fresh mushrooms)

Butter to butter the bread

Garlic Powder

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°

Slice each French bread in half (the long way) to make 6 pizzas. Slice off the bottom of each half loaf to cut off all the hard crust. Place on cookie sheets. Spread butter on top side of each half loaf and sprinkle with garlic powder. Place in oven at 300°for 10 minutes to slightly toast.

 After bread is slightly toasted, remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 400°, Allow the bread to cool off, then spread Marinara sauce on each half loaf. Add light layer of cheese and desired toppings to pizza. Top with more cheese so other toppings won’t fall off. (If using Italian Sausage, remove sausage meat from the sausage skin and sauté in a pan until brown & crumbled. Cook sausage thoroughly.) Bake pizzas in oven for 10 – 15 minutes until cheese is melted.

 

Remove from oven and enjoy! :)

 

XOXO,

Kayfletch

 

 

My Sweet Husband (And a Sweet & Sticky recipe)

On the way to work today, the side of my right shoe snagged on something and tore. I texted Leonard "My shoe ripped. :(" and he called to ask which ones I want him to bring. I told him, "It’s okay. You don't have to. But if you can, the black closed toe heels would be good." An hour later, he shows up at my work with my shoes. The elevator door opens up and I see him, using my shoes as laser guns, shooting me & making "pew, pew, pew" sounds. Granted, he was working in this area, but he still had to get my shoes at the house. Ah, the little things he does for me. He always goes out of his way to make things happen for me. I love him bigger than the sky! And he says he “loves me as much as God loves me.” That’s a whole lotta love! And, I no longer have to be paranoid about my baby toe sticking out of the side of my shoe while I’m working in the office, all because of my great husband.

This handsome guy right here is
my handsome, loving, crazy, awesome,
amazing husband, Leonard.
 

He doesn’t do all this without getting anything in return! Let me give you an example of what I do for him.

 

Yesterday, Leonard was working in an area that didn’t have very many places he wanted to eat. He ended up only eating a snack before having to pick up our youngest son, Lucas, for baseball practice. I had to hook him up. This is my husband and he needs to get fed or else he’s going to be grumpy! The kids and I don’t really like the grumpy dad. He needed something hearty for dinner! So, Marley asked me to cook some ribs. I decided to cook up some Sweet & Sticky BBQ Pork Spareribs, served with a side of peas & carrots (Leonard bought me like a 5 lb. bag of carrots and I had to cook them) and my awesome loaded smashed potatoes (mashed potatoes, but I say “smashed” because it’s more fun. He bought a 10 lb. bag of potatoes and they needed be used). So, using what we already had (seasoning, milk, butter, cheese, veggies, bbq sauce, honey) and spending only $8 on the ribs, I was able to hook him up with this:

These ribs were so simple and it only took 1 hour and 15 minutes (prep time included) to cook. I thought I should share with you. You could serve it up with salad, pasta, or pretty much anything! You’re not a fan of BBQ sauce? No problem! Replace it with Teriyaki sauce and sprinkle some sesame seeds & chopped green onions on them! Like them spicy? Add some sriracha sauce to the BBQ/teriyaki sauce and then brush it on the ribs. The possibilities are endless!

 

SWEET & STICKY BBQ PORK SPARERIBS

2 - 3 lbs. Pork Spare Ribs

1/4 cups vinegar

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce (I use Garland Jack's)

1/4 cup of honey/table syrup

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place pork spareribs in a baking pan. Rub ribs with garlic powder, paprika, ground black pepper, and salt. Slowly pour in vinegar without washing off the dry rub. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake for 45 minutes.

 

While your waiting, prepare your sauce. In a small bowl, mix 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce with honey/table syrup. Mix well & set aside.

 

When ribs are done, remove foil and drain excess liquid from pan. Coat ribs well with sauce and bake for another 15 minutes.

 

And BOOM! You got yourself some delicious Sweet & Sticky BBQ Pork Ribs! :)

 

Enjoy! And when you get a chance, please share! Follow my blog so you can get all the recipes i have to share! God bless!

 

XOXO, Kayfletch

 

 

 

 

 

Buffalo Chicken Strips

This weekend we had our 16 year old son, who lives with his Grandma about 45 minutes away from our house.  He’s heavily involved with his school band so we have him over like every other weekend. When we do have him, Leonard always makes comments to the other kids, like “Les is here… you know what that means! We get to eat the good stuff this weekend!” Hater. Just kidding. He’s probably right, but I don’t notice. It’s that motherly thing in me. I don’t really get to cook for him all the time, so when I can cook for him, I guess I like to make sure I’m cooking good food that he loves to leave him with a good, lasting impression. So, yesterday I made his favorite. Buffalo Chicken Strips! I thought I’d try to add content to my blog and share my recipe.

(TIMEOUT! Ok, I wouldn’t be a good mom if I didn’t get my brag on and give a little shout out in my blog for just a sec! Les is a junior in High School, and is enrolled in AP classes, and is pretty darn great playing the clarinet! He’s so smart! Sometimes he speaks to us and we’re just confused because he’s so smart and uses huge words. HAHAHA! We are so proud of him!)

I posted a picture of my Buffalo Chicken Strips on Facebook and there was some interest. I make everything myself, except for the sauce. I don’t doubt that I could make it, but I don’t know if I want to make more work for myself. HAHA! Besides, I heart Tony Roma’s Wing Sauce. It’s around $4-$5 a bottle and it’s just flippin’ amazing! It’s not that watery, flavorless, burns your mouth and leaves your nose & forehead sweaty type of sauce. It’s oh-so-yummy and has a powerful kick, but you can still taste the amazing flavors! I recommend you get some if you haven’t tried it yet. If you aren’t into spicy food, um, don’t try it. You can still use my recipe though! The sauce is just a bonus at the end… you can toss up the chicken strips with some BBQ sauce, or you could just dip them in ranch or sweet chili sauce. This recipe is to make 20 strips. You can adjust the ingredients to make less.

I spent around $16 to make 20 strips!

 

BUFFALO CHICKEN STRIPS

Ingredients:

5 large chicken breasts

4 eggs

4 cups of flour

2 tsp garlic salt

3 tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp salt
 

Directions:

Wash all the chicken, pat dry and slice into 4 strips each. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, make the egg wash with eggs, 2 tsp of garlic salt & 1 tsp ground black pepper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix flour with remaining seasoning. Set aside.

Preheat a large pan over medium-high heat with oil to deep fry chicken strips.

Take each strip and dip in egg wash, then into the flour mix, then dip again in egg wash and back into the flour mix. This will get the strips well breaded so they come out crispy.

 

Deep fry breaded chicken strips until golden brown.

When chicken strips are cooked, allow strips to drain the oil on a plate lined with paper towels.

 

Once all strips are done,  remove paper towel and toss with your favorite sauce or serve with sauce on the side.

ENJOY! and God Bless!

XOXO, KayFletch