Toothwhale

Corn flake pork chops with seasoned cabbage

As grocery stores go, we're a Publix family. One of the things we like about the super market -- and our store in particular -- is the way it feeds us while we shop. There are cookies for kids at the bakery, meat and cheese samples at the deli, fruit samples in produce, and crackers and shrimp dip at the seafood counter. If you arrive at the right time, you even can luck into small helpings of the featured Publix Apron's meal.

I stopped by the Publix Apron's Simple Meals in-store display on Friday when I was shopping by myself (oh, the luxury!) and picked up a recipe card for Corn Flake Pork Chops With Seasoned Cabbage. The oversized, binder-ready recipe cards make things easy. They include a shopping list, a list of needed kitchenware, ideas for additional sides, and of course, the ingredients and directions. Corn Flake Pork Chops With Seasoned Cabbage caught my eye because I like pork chops but often haven't had good results cooking them, and because I like cabbage but don't know what to do with it besides boil it or turn it into slaw.

Apron's advice is to serve the pork chops and cabbage with macaroni and cheese, but I went with brown rice and I thought it was a perfect complement. As my  husband said, my picture doesn't do the Corn Flake Pork Chops justice. We agreed we'd both be happy to eat the delicious pork chops again, and I absolutely loved the Seasoned Cabbage. The kids mostly skipped the cabbage but ate the pork chops well. Henry said, "This pork chop looks sort of weird, but I sort of like it."

 

Corn Flake Pork Chops

Ingredients:

2 cups corn flakes cereal

1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

4 boneless pork chops (1 1/2 lb)

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

4 tablespoons herb garlic butter*

*I used about 2 tablespoons plain butter.

 

Directions:

Place cereal in large zip-top bag and crush, using fingers.

Place egg in medium bowl.

Sprinkle pork chops with seasoned salt.

Preheat large saute pan on medium 2-3 minutes. Coat pork chops by dipping in egg; let excess drip off and add to zip-top bag. Seal bag; shake (or press with fingertips) to coat pork chops.

Place butter in pan and then add pork chops; cook 6-7 minutes on each side or until 160 degrees (for medium)*. Serve.

*After 7 minutes on each side, I thought my chops needed more time to cook through but my corn flakes were burning. I took the chops off the stove and popped them into the oven for about 10 minutes. You may not run into this problem, but if you do ...

Seasoned Cabbage

Ingredients:

1/2 cup roasted red peppers

2 tablespoons herb garlic butter*

1 cup pre-sliced green onions*

1 (10-ounce) bag shredded cabbage*

1/2 cup chicken broth

*I used about 1 tablespoon plain butter, sliced my own green onions, and shredded half a small head of cabbage myself.

 

Directions:

Preheat large saute pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes. Slice red peppers into thin strips.

Place butter in pan, then add peppers and onions; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until onions are tender.

Add cabbage and broth; cook and stir 5-7 minutes or until cabbage is tender. Serve.

For more Mouthwatering Monday recipes, visit Rachel at A Southern Fairytale.

Recipe and food blog links

I've been liking to start the week with a recipe, but I didn't make anything but simple usuals last week, so I don't have anything much to share. Unless you need a recipe for spaghetti with meat sauce. Nah. I do have a handful of recipe links and a pair of food blog links for you, though. The recipes are five that looked so good to me that I've been carrying them around in my head for weeks or even months. The food blogs are two that I regularly eat up with big spoons.

Amy at Milkbreath and Margaritas shared two recipes in September that called my name. Lucy's Salad is full of gorgeous greenery, fruit, and nuts, and it gets topped with a homemade dressing. I do love a salad with fruit and nuts. Her Great Aunt Helen's Poor Man's Cake is made with a whole box of raisins. I do love raisins. Amy also has a Recipe Page full of deliciousness.

Jamie at Blonde Mom Blog posted two recipes in November that I must try. Because You'll OD On Turkey At Some Point This Week is a black bean soup recipe with fresh cilantro. Me Again, With The Cilantro is a recipe for chicken enchiladas with rotisserie chicken and yes, cilantro. (You gotta love her titles.) I can see myself using leftover chicken in place of rotisserie and making both of these recipes in one week to use the same bunch of cilantro.

Jessie at Vanderbilt Wife has a Recipe Index that goes and goes. Let's both spend some time there after trying the Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes recipe she shared in February.

If you like food and funny, I say add Ezra Pound Cake to your reader. Rebecca (that's her name, too) tells a good story and she takes a great photo.

For recipes and photos with the power to pull you out of a food rut, see Rachel at A Southern Fairytale. She shares her love of food through her own posts and by hosting the weekly Mouthwatering Monday linky.

I don't know about you, but I feel a grocery list coming on.

Steak soup

This Steak Soup recipe is from the same torn-away page of the December 2004 issue of American Baby as the Easy Mulligatawny Soup I made last month. Both recipes make great soups, but Steak Soup uses less expensive ingredients or ones you're likely to already have around the kitchen, it requires less chopping, and it cooks for less time. Steak Soup was a hit with my husband and my kids. We ate it with some good bread, but I think it also would be nice over rice. Hearty and healthy dinners that are cheap, easy, and fast appeal to me as a home cook. How about you?

 

Ingredients:

Two 4-ounce beef cubed steaks (This is half a pound. I used three-quarters of a pound and wouldn't have wanted to use less.)

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. cooking oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

4 cups water

One 10-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables

1 Tbsp. instant beef bouillon granules

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. dried basil, crushed

One 7 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used a 15-ounce can and liked the extra tomatoes.)

1/2 cup cold water

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Sprinkle meat with garlic salt and pepper. In a large saucepan, cook meat in hot oil over medium-high heat about 3 minutes or until brown, turning once. (Mine took longer than 3 minutes.) Remove meat from saucepan, reserving drippings in pan. Cut meat into cubes; set aside.

In the same saucepan, cook onion and celery in the reserved drippings over medium heat until tender.

Stir in meat, water, vegetables, beef bouillon granules, Worcestershire sauce, and basil. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes.

In a screw-top jar, shake together the 1/2 cup cold water and the flour; stir into meat mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Serve immediately.

Yummy and healthy yogurt for kids

Yogurt is part of my kids' breakfasts every morning. They like lots of different flavors and brands. I like to give them yogurt that is yummy and healthy.

In the past month, they have eaten numerous six-packs of the Yoplait Kids yogurt featuring Dora the Explorer and Diego of Go, Diego, Go!. My kids don't watch Dora and Diego's shows, but they know their faces, and it's a little fun for them to have a pack of Diegos for Henry and a pack of Doras for Harper. Eating so much Yoplait Kids got me wondering whether it's the yummiest of the healthy kids' yogurts. I decided we'd do a taste test.

I wanted to put apples against apples as far as yogurt flavor. I looked around and found that both Yoplait Kids and Stonyfield YoKids both come in strawberry vanilla. Perfect. I have felt a little guilty anyway for not buying the kids organic yogurt more often. This was an opportunity to compare the tastes and labels of not organic and organic. I bought a six-pack of the 4-ounce Yoplait Kids strawberry vanilla and strawberry for $2.79 and a six-pack of the 4-ounce YoKids strawberry vanilla and raspberry for $3.29. So, 50 cents more for the organic.

Jake and I both are yogurt eaters, and I started Henry on plain yogurt at 8 months old. He loved it right away but hasn't eaten the plain stuff in years because I've assumed he wouldn't go for it anymore. Harper was slower to come on board the yogurt bandwagon (she preferred cheese, big time), but she likes it now.

If you and your family aren't already eating yogurt and you need a little push, read this article on yogurt at Ask Dr. Sears. There you'll find reasons why yogurt is a health food and tips for choosing the healthiest yogurt.

Now, back to the taste test. Henry, Harper, and I each tasted the two strawberry vanilla flavored yogurts.

Henry preferred the YoKids "because it tasted good."

Harper preferred the Yoplait Kids "because it's so fruity."

Before the taste test, I would have recommended the Yoplait Kids to any mom at the grocery store. I liked its custardlike consistency ("spoon hugging texture for less mess") and its light sweetness, and I liked the overall taste of the yogurt flavors, especially the peach and strawberry banana.

After the taste test, I'm a YoKids convert. It's thick and smooth. Its light sweetness is somehow even more right, and the overall flavor is more authentic.

There you have it. Two to one, Stonyfield wins.

As far as ingredients, if I listen to Dr. Sears, Stonyfield wins for skipping the corn starch and gelatin that's included in the Yoplait Kids. The two brands come in the same for sugars at 13 grams per 4-ounce serving.

If the extra 50 cents I would pay for the YoKids gets to me, I can buy the Stonyfield 32-ounce low fat yogurt. My usual store carries the tubs in strawberry and French vanilla for $3.59. Ounce-for-ounce, that's the same as Yoplait Kids.

For yummy and healthy yogurt for kids, I'm liking the taste and ingredients of Stonyfield's YoKids. I paid them to say that!

Chicken 'n' spinach bake

Chicken 'n' spinach bake is one of the dishes that friends from our old neighborhood brought over after Harper was born. They came by with three meals and diapers and we sat around admiring her little pink sleeping head. Not long after they visited, she woke up, started screaming, and didn't stop for about eight weeks. It was brutal. Anyway, I was as grateful as I could have been for those meals, and Jake and I especially enjoyed eating this one. I got the recipe way back when, but I hadn't made the dish myself until now. You know what? Chicken 'n' spinach bake still is a goodie.

 

Ingredients:

8 ounces rigatoni

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast

1 (14.5-ounce) can Italian style diced tomatoes

1 (8-ounce) chive and onion cream cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

*I used nearly double the amount of rigatoni and only 2 cups of chicken because that's what I had. I don't think it compromised the taste of the recipe.

Directions:

Cook and drain rigatoni.

Spread oil on bottom of 11 by 17-inch baking dish; add onion in a single layer.

Bake onion at 375 for 15 minutes. Transfer onion to a large bowl and set aside.

Drain spinach well, pressing between paper towels.

Stir rigatoni, spinach, chicken, and next four ingredients into onion in bowl. Spoon mixture into baking dish and sprinkle with mozzarella.

Bake, covered, at 375 for 30 minutes; uncover and bake for 15 more minutes or until bubbly.

*I baked it covered for about 20 minutes (plus the uncovered 15 more) and it still came out plenty hot.

 

For more Mouthwatering Monday recipes, visit Rachel at A Southern Fairytale.