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Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy (and Mashed Potatoes)

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We don’t eat pork chops very often, mostly because recipes I’ve tried usually end up dry and bland. But I got a great deal on pork chops and decided to put together a recipe with ingredients we had in the house. I think I’ll be looking for more bargain pork chops so we can have it again! It makes for a great excuse to eat mashed potatoes.

I like this recipe because it’s relatively simple – just a handful of basic (frugal!) ingredients. A lot of the recipes I saw online called for a can of cream of mushroom soup, but I just couldn’t bring myself to use the canned stuff when we had a package of fresh mushrooms in the fridge, that needed to be put to good use.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy (and Mashed Potatoes)
 
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Recipe type: Pork
Ingredients
  • Pork chops (boneless or not) about 4 oz each
  • Bella mushrooms, 12 ounces - I prefer these over white mushrooms, they are meatier and the flavor more robust.
  • Onion - I say one (1) whole onion, my husband says ½, who’s side will you pick?
  • Beef stock, 2 cups - I made up some quick stock with boiling water and beef bouillon
  • Garlic clove, minced
  • Olive oil or cooking spray
  • Flour, 2 tablespoons
  • Worcestershire sauce, 1.5 tablespoons
  • White wine, although I bet sherry would work as well, about ¼ cup
  • Salt, pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a big saute pan, get it nice and hot. Throw in pork chops and sear. Cook for about two (2) to three (3) minutes per side, until evenly cooked through.
  2. When pork chops are done, set them off to the side on a plate. You can cover with foil if you’d like, but they are going back into the mix, so they’ll heat back up again.
  3. In the pan you used for the pork chops, pour in about ¼ cup white wine – it deglazes it and pulls all the pork chop goodness off the pan and into the beginnings of a sauce. Throw in onions an saute for a couple minutes, throw in mushrooms – saute both until softened. (White wine isn’t required in this step – you could maybe use a little broth or olive oil?).
  4. While mushrooms and onions are cooking – in another container whisk together beef broth, flour, minced garlic clove and 1½ tablespoons worcestershire sauce.
  5. Once mushrooms and onions looked like they’ve cooked down enough, pour beef broth/flour/worcestershire sauce into sauce pan with mushrooms and onions. Toss in your pork chops and let it all get acquainted. You can whisk in more flour if you want a thicker sauce – but you’ll have to whisk quickly so you don’t get flour lumps (which can be tricky with mushrooms). It thickened as it cooled on the plate.

We served with mashed yukon gold potatoes (peel and quarter potatoes, boil until soft, drain, add 1/4 stick butter and one cup sour cream – then mash) and baked asparagus.

Adaptation of recipe from Green Little Bites

What’s your favorite pork chop recipe? 

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Slow Cooker Spiral Ham with Pineapple

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You can’t really screw up a ham. And when you toss it into a crockpot, it really feels like cheating. I’ve been wanting to try cooking a Crockpot Spiral Ham for awhile and I’m glad I gave it a try. This Crockpot ham recipe calls for pineapple and brown sugar so it definitely comes out tasting sweet – perhaps like a Honey Baked ham? I’m only guessing since I’ve never had one.

Slow Cooker Spiral Ham with Pineapple
 
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Recipe type: Ham
Ingredients
  • Spiral Ham with glaze packet - You would ideally want it to fit in your slow cooker. Mine was about 10 pounds in a 6 quart crockpot.
  • Pineapple bits in can, with juice, 20 oz
  • 2 Cups brown sugar
  • 1 Cup Ginger Ale
Instructions
  1. Line the bottom of the crockpot with two cups of brown sugar. Some recipes call for three, that seems like an awful lot.
  2. Place ham, slices down (flush with the flat bottom of the crock).
  3. Sprinkle the ham glaze powder (comes with most spiral hams) over the ham.
  4. Pour full can of pineapple bits into crockpot with juice. Pouring over the ham and glaze powder.
  5. Pour a cup of Ginger Ale over the ham.
  6. Place lid on top of ham and cook on low for 4-6 hours until it’s heated through.
  7. If the ham is too big to fit in the crockpot, you can cover it with aluminum foil – for a makeshift lid. Or you can cut off the top part of the ham and shove it into the side of the crockpot. Whatever works – as long as it can be covered.
  8. Serve with some of the juice from the crockpot and it’ll be great!

If you overcook this it will be dry. Basically you want to give it enough time to soak up some of the juice and heat up! Don’t even think about putting it on anything higher than low. And don’t go playing with it – the more you move it around the more it’s likely to shred and break apart.

I hope you like it! How do you like to cook your ham?

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Grilled Halibut with Lemon and Capers

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I grew up in Alaska – so we ate a lot of halibut growing up. I think I’ve had it a dozen different ways – but one of my favorite ways is one of the easiest ways to make halibut – Grilled Halibut with Lemons and Capers.

You can prep it and get it on the grill in under five minutes. Really. It’s easy. Then it only takes another six to 10 minutes to cook. Rachael Ray doesn’t have anything on this 20 minute meal. ?

Grilled Halibut with Lemon and Capers
 
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Recipe type: Fish
Ingredients
  • Halibut fillet, fresh
  • Large lemon
  • Lemon pepper
  • Capers, drained - Honestly, these are not required. If you don’t have them. It will still taste amazing with the lemon juice and lemon pepper!
  • Optional: Dried basil, onion and garlic
Instructions
  1. I like to rinse my fish fillet. I have no idea if this is breaking the rules, it probably is. But often mine comes from the freezer and I like to rinse off any thawed fish slime. I pat it dry with a paper towel.
  2. Place halibut on a big piece of aluminum foil. You want a big enough piece that you can fold it up and cover it all.
  3. Squeeze half a lemon over the halibut. I don’t think you can ever have too much lemon juice. Use fresh, definitely.
  4. Sprinkle lemon pepper on top of halibut, as much as you’d like.
  5. Slice lemons very, very thinly and place lemon slices on top of halibut.
  6. Sprinkle with capers. If you like onions, add your onion slices (my husband doesn’t, so I only put them on mine). I like to add dried basil or even garlic powder.
  7. Wrap aluminum foil up and cover the fish. Crimp the sides so the fish doesn’t fall out. We want it to make a little packet – so it steams while it grills. I like to take two long pieces and make a + sign, this seems to be perfect, especially if you have multiple fillets in the packet. Then fold the bottom aluminum foil piece in and then the top piece over it. Crimp it.
  8. Grill on medium heat until the meat is opaque and flakes apart with a fork. I always seem to overcook halibut, since I’m nervous about it being cooked all the way thru. A general rule of thumb is a 1″ fillet will take about 9-10 minutes.

My halibut fillets, since it’s fish we’ve personally caught and filleted, usually has the skin on one side. So I just cook on one side. I think if you use the aluminum foil technique it steams it will enough that you don’t have to flip it. Which works well for this type of recipe, that has toppings. ?

What is your favorite way to grill or bake halibut?

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Shred Chicken Using a Mixer

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Yesterday I discovered how easy it is to shred cooked chicken breasts with my KitchenAid mixer! After a suggestion from a Facebook fan, I tossed my cooked chicken breasts into my Kitchenaid Mixer and using the paddle attachment – I had shredded chicken in a fraction of the time and without a mess or burned fingers! In the past I had shredded chicken using two forks and a big cutting board – no longer!

I tossed the chicken breasts straight from the slow cooker.* Easy, easy.  Using the paddle attachment, just “mix” it until it’s the consistency that you like!

You can use any kind of mixer. If you have a handheld mixer (like this one, Cuisinart HM-70 Power Advantage 7-Speed Hand Mixer, Stainless and White) it should work as well, but could chop it up a bit finer than the paddle on the mixer (KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer).

Then I put it into Ziploc freezer bags, measured out in 1 pound and 1.5 pound increments, and then I toss this in the freezer until I have a recipe that calls for shredded chicken.

*I tossed about 6-8 whole fresh chicken breasts into my crockpot with a carton of chicken broth and cooked on high for 3-4 hours until fully cooked. 

Have you ever done this before? What else do you use your kitchen mixer for? 

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Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup

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This Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup is very, very easy and super hearty. You can serve it with tortilla chips or this delicious homemade cornbread recipe I posted yesterday. The liquid cooks down and it become very chunky (which I like) so if you like a runnier soup add more chicken broth.

Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
  • 4 chicken breasts (I used frozen chicken breasts)
  • Two (2) 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • Two (2) 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 Cup salsa
  • 1 4 oz can of green chilies
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 1 Cup of frozen corn
  • One (1) 15 oz can of chicken broth
  • Plus tortilla chips and shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in slow cooker (a six-quart slow cooker works best).
  2. Cook on low for 8 hours (since I used frozen chicken breasts I cooked mine on high).
  3. Before serving, remove chicken, shred and return to slow cooker. Serve over crushed tortilla chips and add shredded cheese to taste.

Do you have a variation on Tortilla Soup? We’d love to hear your suggestions!

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Homemade Cornbread

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This Homemade Cornbread recipe is the perfect side dish to the Tortilla Soup that I posted recently. I admit I’ve never made homemade cornbread before – I think I made Jiffy once or twice (I know, terrible) so I think I went from a junk car to a Mercedes Benz in my taste of cornbread and I’m not sure I can ever go back!

I’d love to hear from those of your who are certified cornbread fans – let me know what you think!

Homemade Cornbread
 
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Recipe type: Bread
Ingredients
  • ½ pound butter, melted (yes, that is two sticks)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1 can (16.5 oz) cream style corn
  • ½ Cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
  • ½ Cup grated cheddar cheese
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 Cup flour
  • 1 Cup yellow corn meal
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 can (4 ounces) green chilies, optional
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together and place in a 9 x 13 pan.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. As soon as you place the pan into the oven, drop the temperature to 300 degrees. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour.

What’s your favorite cornbread recipe? 

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Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken

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Looking for a creamy chicken crockpot meal? This is it! It’s incredible easy and it comes out tasting sort of like alfredo sauce, but not quite as rich. You can serve over pasta or rice.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken
 
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Recipe type: Chicken
Ingredients
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 can Cream of Chicken soup
  • ½ Cup chicken broth - I would use low sodium, since there is salt in other ingredients
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 1 package of dry italian dressing mix
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
  2. Cook on low for six (6) hours. If using frozen chicken, switch to high on 6 hours.
  3. When it’s done, break chicken apart with a couple forks before serving.
  4. Serve over cooked pasta (or rice), topped with parmesan cheese.

I really liked this recipe. I don’t care much for Alfredo but this dish gets you a creamy sauce without the richness of Alfredo. The flavors are great and I love how flexible it is. I think it would also taste good with sliced mushrooms, frozen peas or sliced carrots added into the mix! Or you could probably try it with cream of mushroom soup?

Recipe adapted from an Angel Chicken recipe at Eat At Home Cooks.

I’d love hear what you think and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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Slow Cooker Chicken Santa Fe

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This recipe was made in under six minutes flat, because that’s all the time I had before I needed to get myself dressed and out the door with the kids. It probably would have been less but I had to take a photo of the ingredients :). It is soooo easy and so inexpensive and so delicious. My husband said that it’s 100% better than my slow cooker taco soup – which I’ll try not to take personally.

Slow Cooker Chicken Santa Fe
 
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Recipe type: Chicken
Ingredients
  • 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – I used frozen, because I didn’t plan ahead and defrost.
  • 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained – I used two cans of beans
  • 1 small bag of frozen corn
  • 1 to 2 cups of chunky salsa – Depending on how “spicy” you want it. I just dumped in the whole jar.
  • 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz) – Cut into chunks. I used a tub of cream cheese, technically not the same thing as a block of cream cheese, but it’s what I had in the fridge.
  • 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  • Optional garnish: sour cream, avocados, cilantro
Instructions
  1. Throw chicken breasts into bottom of slow cooker (if fresh chicken, I like to rinse first and pat dry with a paper towel)
  2. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken (I’ll confess that I just threw everything in, I didn’t even stir – that would have taken me an extra minute and made an extra dirty dish. If you have time – stir it and mix it before throwing it in.)
  3. Cover and cook on high for three (3) hours or low for six (6) hours. Because I used frozen chicken, I cooked on high for 6 – 7 hours.
  4. Remove chicken and shred it. Mine shredded fine in the crockpot, or you can take it out, shred it with a fork and add it back in.
  5. Serve over rice or quinoa or serve taco style with tortillas. We tried both ways and they were delicious. We also topped with sour cream and slices of avocados.

What’s your favorite easy slow cooker meal? 

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Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup

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It’s a rare night when I make something in the crockpot and we’re able to eat. it. all. in one night. But this Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup was so good that we didn’t have any trouble! We had company over for dinner – and they loved it, too! Everyone had second helpings.

I also cannot emphasize how EASY this recipe was. From throwing in frozen chicken breasts to pre-made biscuits, it doesn’t get much easier than this. I think I could reasonably throw this together before heading out the door to take the kids to school. AND it’s inexpensive – you can find coupons for the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and Grands biscuits!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
  • 5 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, frozen (we used four whole ones)
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cans cream of chicken soup
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 sweet onion diced (we used a regular onion)
  • 3 tablespoons dried parsley
  • 2 tablespoons dried tarragon (we used rosemary because we didn’t have tarragon)
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 8ct pkg Grands flaky layer biscuits
  • We also added diced carrots and some frozen peas.
Instructions
  1. Throw all the ingredients (except for the biscuits) into a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker.
  2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  3. Remove chicken and shred with two forks.
  4. Cut biscuits into small pieces. You can pull about the different layers. I went for smaller sizes so that they would cook faster and not be doughy.
  5. Add uncooked biscuit pieces back to soup, then add the shredded chicken.
  6. Stir it up, so all the dough and chicken is submerged in liquid.
  7. Cook for an extra 45 minutes on high.
  8. Stir again and serve!

Do you make chicken and dumpling soup in the crockpot? What’s your favorite variation?

(Original source: Bubble Crumb)

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Whole Chicken Cooked in Slow Cooker

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One of the easiest ways to cook a whole chicken is in a crockpot! The possibilities are endless, but I’m going to share two of my favorite recipes for cooking a whole chicken in a crockpot.

First let’s talk about whole chickens, I also call them roasters – because that’s typically how people cook them (read my tutorial on roasting two chickens at once here). They are a VERY frugal protein – often costing $0.88/lb to $0.99/lb on sale. I like to stock up when under a pound and they freeze beautifully. Not only can you get a substantial meal from the chicken – but the bones and “leftovers” makes amazing slow cooker chicken broth. It’s the meal that keeps on giving. ?

Here’s how to cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker . . . 

Whole Chicken Cooked in Slow Cooker
 
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Recipe type: Chicken
Ingredients
  • Whole roasting chicken – between 3-5 pounds - Fresh or thawed. Don’t try this with a frozen whole chicken.
  • 2 medium onions, sliced in half
SEASONING
  • 1 Tablespoon italian seasoning
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon paprika – I prefer smoked paprika, but any kind works.
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic – dried or fresh
Instructions
  1. Clean out the giblets and other items in the chicken. Save for other recipe or discard.
  2. Clean up chicken – I like to cut off any large fat chunks. I like to rinse the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Set chicken aside.
  3. Peel and slice onions in half. Place the four onion halves, flat side down in crockpot. I like to do this because it props up the chicken and keeps it off the main heat and out of the juices.
  4. Place chicken, breasts down, on top of the onions.
  5. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil and the seasonings.
  6. Pour seasoning on to chicken and rub it all around. Give the chicken a thick coating of seasonings.
  7. Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours on low (or 4-5 hours on high).
  8. Using a meat thermometer, confirm temperature is at least 165 degrees (per food safety standards)
  9. Pull chicken apart – watch for bones, the whole chicken should come apart easily – much easier than when roasting so it’s much more prone to little bones.
  10. Serve hot and enjoy.

I do not add any water or liquid – I find that it will shed plenty of it’s own juices and it will be plenty moist – especially if you cook on low for 8 hours.

TACO VARIATION – For a different variation, instead of the seasonings listed above, just rub a package of taco seasoning all over chicken. Cook as directed above. It will have a very light taco flavoring – great for salads or enchiladas. If you don’t want to use the pre-packaged stuff,  you can easily make your own taco seasoning.

I’d love to know what you think of this recipe! Leave a comment and let me know how it turns out for you. Do you have other Crockpot Whole Chicken recipe variations? I’d love to hear! 

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