Pork Chops

Coat your chops (I use about six boneless) in seasoned flour; brown them in your frying pan with a little butter and oil; place in 9x11 baking dish; take about 3/4 cup - 1 cup of fig sauce and combine with an equal amount of water; p...our over chops in baking dish. Liquid should come about half-way up the chops. Bake, covered with tin foil, at 350 for an hour to an hour and a half depending on how thick your chops are. Enjoy!

Wanna Be Cook

Just a busy working mom living on cape cod. Hoping to become a good cook, the type so that my son will always say "my mom's ____ is the best," "nothing's better than my mom's __." My mother, of course, is a wonderful cook with many famous dishes among our friends and family. So, this is my start. Trying to actually come up with menus for dinners and get this - planning ahead. Lately, hate to say it, we ask each other last minute what to do for dinner and a lot of times, yes, we order out. Hence, I am attempting to make my family some healthy dinners to remember. Here goes day 1.

main dish tonight:
Turkey Stuffed Peppers

 

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients

6 medium-sized bell peppers (any color you prefer)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 package of ground turkey
2 cups of cooked brown rice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 14 ounce can of Italian stewed tomatoes, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 minutes. While the onions are cooking, wash the bell peppers and slice off a bit of the bottom so they sit flat, taking care not to cut into the interior. Cut off the tops about one half inch down from the stem and carefully remove the seeds and white membrane. 
3. In a large pot, boil water. Add peppers, cook only 2 minutes. Rinse peppers in cold water to retain color.
4. Add the turkey to the pan and break apart with a spatula. When fully cooked through, add cooked rice, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Add the canned tomatoes and stir well. Remove from heat.
5. Place the peppers in a baking dish and stuff with the meat mixture, mounding slightly. Drizzle tops and sides of each pepper with olive oil. Return the peppers' tops and cover tightly with foil.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Side dish for tonight:
Roasted Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound sugar snap peas
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
•  garlic powder or onions are optional additions to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
2. Place sugar snap peas, olive oil, shallots, thyme (and garlic powder, onions) in a large ziploc bag and shake.
3. Spread sugar snap pea mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet.
4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender but firm.

Dessert:
Yogurt and Fruit Parfaits

*Buy some cute parfait glasses and you'll enjoy this simple dessert before trying.

1. Simply mix cut-up fruit (tonight I am using clementine pieces, blueberries and strawberries) into the parfait glass.
2. Next layer some yogurt (tonight-strawberry greek yogurt).
3. Next layer some granola (I use store bought but for all the actual cooks out there go for your own).
4. Repeat layers.
5. Enjoy!

I will let you know what my picky guys think...