Running Mama Cooks

Christina from Tales from the Mad Men Kitchen recently organized a recipe swap on a message board that I frequent. I was very excited to be a part of it and hope that this becomes a regular thing for us! This week, we were asked to submit a weeknight meal that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, or in a crockpot. I submitted my crockpot chicken taco soup and was given this recipe in return.

I was really looking forward to trying it. This recipe makes me step out of my comfort zone a bit using mustard, which is a flavor I am just recently warming up to. The sauce was definitely my favorite part. I cooked it on high and admit it was closer to 3 hours, so my chops were a little dry. Next time I will definitely cook them on low. I also skipped the whipping cream in favor of fat free half and half to make it a bit more weight watchers friendly.

Pork Chops with Onions in Creamy Mustard Sauce
4-6 servings, 6 WW points plus per serving

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
4 to 6 Pork Chops, 1 inch thick
2 Onions, thinly sliced
4 Cloves garlic, minced
1Tsp Dry Mustard
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cracked Black Peppercorns
Pinch Cayenne Pepper (optional)
2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup White Wine or condensed chicken stock (undiluted)
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup Whipping Cream (I used fat free half and half)

Directions:

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown pork chops on both sides and transfer to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions to pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Add garlic, dry mustard, salt, pepper and cayenne, if using, and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add vinegar and wine or stock and cook until thickened.

3. Pour mixture over meat and cook on Low for 4-5 hours or on High for 2-2.5 hours, until pork is tender and just a hint of pink remains. Remove pork chops from slow cooker and place on a deep platter. Stir Dijon mustard and whipping cream into juices in slow cooker. Pour over pork and serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6

Serve with mashed potatoes or broad egg noodles

ZACH'S RATING - ***

Yummy snow day dinner!! I had a pork loin frozen so I defrosted it for dinner tonight. I've only prepared pork loin in the crockpot or on the grill, so I searched around on food network for some ideas. I watched this video, and it was the inspiration for this meal.

It came out good, and I normally do not like mustard. The crust was delicious.

Dijon Crusted Pork Loin

Ingredients:

1 Boneless Pork Loin
2 tbs olive oil, plus more, plus more
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
lemon zest
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbs butter, melted
salt and pepper
3 large butter potatoes, peeled and chopped
5 large carrots, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Heat a pan on the stove top to med high. Add olive oil. Season pork liberally with salt and pepper. Sear all sides in the pan until a nice crust forms. Place in roasting pan.

In a small bowl, combine mustard, thyme, lemon zest and juice, garlic and butter. Brush onto meat.

Season potatoes and carrots with salt, pepper, thyme and toss with olive oil. Place around pork. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes or until juices run clear.

ZACH'S RATING - *** 1/2

Sorry I have been MIA for so long! I can't believe its been over a week since I've cooked anything (unless you count the box of Kraft Mac n Cheese I made the other night!). Life has been very busy, so we have been doing a lot of eating on the run.

Tonight we were finally all home for dinner so I prepared a rack of BBQ pork ribs that I've been meaning to make since last week. I defrosted the ribs and had them cooking in the crockpot all day so I could put this meal together quickly after a fun day at the beach! I got the idea for this method from our friend Jim. The ribs come out perfect every time. It may seem weird, but trust me on this one.

BBQ Ribs
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

1 rack center cut pork ribs
1 liter bottle pepsi
BBQ sauce

Directions:

Place ribs in crockpot and cover with pepsi. You may have to cut the rack in half. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400. Remove ribs from crockpot carefully (they will be falling apart a bit) and place on a baking sheet. Coat both sides with BBQ sauce and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

I served them with mashed red potatoes and corn. Yummy!

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Yes, my family definitely has a thing for French's Fried Onions. I posted awhile back when I made chicken fingers with them, and tonight I thought Id give pork a try. It did not disappoint!

French's Friend Onion Crusted Pork Chops
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

6 Boneless Pork Tenderloin Chops
1 large can French's Fried Onions
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup milk
paprika
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the over to 400

Place pork chops in between two pieces of parchment paper and pound thin. Place onions in a ziplock bag with flour and crush. Pour milk into a shallow bowl and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Put crushed onions into another shallow bowl.

Dip chops into milk and then coat with the onions. Bake for 30 mins.

I served the chops with Sauteed Garlic Zucchini
Sauteed Garlic Zucchini
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

4 zucchini, cut into half moons
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add Zucchini and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until tender. Approx 10 mins. Remove from heat and toss with asiago cheese.

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Such a perfect night for grilling! We had these pork chops (sooo good) and a spinach salad.

This is definitely my favorite salad lately. I used 1/2 lb turkey bacon, a bag of baby spinach, 1/2 a sliced red onion, 1/2 container of sliced white mushrooms and lemon-balsamic vinaigrette.

I have had some trouble with salad dressings in the past, but this one came out really good. Could end up being my go-to vinaigrette.

Lemon-Balsamic Vinaigrette
Recipe from Bobby Flay

Ingredients:

1 small shallot, minced
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Whisk shallot, juice, zest, vinegars, and salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil until emulsified.
A big thank you to Allison (once again) for turning me onto this salad and pork chop recipe!

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Tonight I made grilled pork chops served with applesauce I made in the crockpot early today along with garlic mashed red potatoes and roasted asparagus.

For the chops, I used a dry rub recommended by Allison. Here are the ingredients. Zach grilled the chops for me. I don't think I'll ever make pork chops any other way. This was SO GOOD.

Ingredients

1 tsp pepper
1 tsp mustard seed
1.5 tsp paprika
1.5 tsp brown sugar
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

Lightly rub pork chops with EVOO and then press rub into meat.

The rub: