Autumn and Pork Chops

Do you know what is so great about this time of year?  The leaves changing color, the crisp, cool breeze blowing, the time change?  Nope, not here in Houston.  It's cool in the mornings, warm in the afternoon and then the worst thing of all, it's dark at 5:30 pm.  It makes me feel so tired.  How about you?  Do you like the time change or do you want it to daylight savings time all year?

Since I couldn't really find anything to celebrate about the lack of changing seasons, I decided to make something with some good fall flavors.  I've never made this before and it has always been something that was appealing.  Pork chops are one of my favorite meats and what could be better than having them stuffed with apples and sausage.  Yum.  They turned out great and will now be something I make more often.

Stuffed Pork Chops


You can adjust the stuffing recipe to however many pork chops you are making.  I used half a pound of breakfast regular breakfast sausage, 1 granny smith apple, 1 celery stalk and 1/2 of a medium onion.  I added some stuffing mix too.  About 1/2 a cup to hold it all together.

Brown the sausage, then throw everything else in until slightly tender.  Make a slit in the pork chops for the stuffing. Sear the chops and put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until almost done.  Stuff them and if you have more left over, spoon it on top.

This probably isn't the typical way.  I mean cooking the stuffing first but the pork did take on some of the taste of the apples and sausage.  And like I said, I'll make it again.

You can see that the chops weren't really thick enough but use what you have and it will work out just fine.

Did I tell you that the taste was incredible?  Makes the darkness outside seem bearable.  NOT!

Live, Laugh Love,

Karen and Charlie

Pork Chops and Grits

Wow, what a week! 

Can you feel my pain?  Nothing bad happened, it was just an incredibly busy week.  I travel in our area for work.  I have alot of windshield time.  This is how the week went:

                        Monday - Houston

                       Tuesday - Beaumont

                       Wednesday - New Orleans

                       Thursday - New Orleans                and Galveston

                       Friday - Houston

I had a productive but satisfying week.  And that makes me happy.

While in New Orleans, I was lucky enough to eat at Drago's.  Co-workers and customers convinced me to try the charbroiled oysters.  I am so glad I did.  They are absolutely wonderful.  I didn't have my camera so there are no pics but this one is on their website.

They sprinkle cheese on top and oh, they are so delicious.  I chose shrimp and grits for my entree.  Wow, I couldn't stop eating it.  It was a special and it certainly was.

Knowing that I couldn't recreate what I had in New Orleans, I opted for one of Charlie's Favorites, Pork Chops and Grits.  At the far end of the restaurant spectrum from Drago's is Waffle House and Pork Chops and Grits is Charlie's order every time.

Nothing spectacular to do.  Sear the pork chops on each side then let them cook through.  Prepare the grits according to the package directions.  Fry eggs.  Don't you love it when the yolk just blends into everything else and you get to run your toast over your empty plate to get all of that goodness.

It's good to be home.

Weekly Menu

Do you make a menu for the upcoming week?  I used to.  I’m not sure what happened but I haven’t in a while and really need to get back into it.  Especially since the holidays are always so rushed and the stress level at work seems to be at an all time high. 

I would like to avoid going to the grocery store because it is a chore for me.  Many people like it.  I have a friend who says it’s the only time she doesn’t have her gets with her so she gets a Starbucks, strolls leisurely down the aisles and thinks of it as her ‘me’ time.  But that ain’t me babe.  If I can get Charlie to go, I love it.  And he usually does.  I love him for that!

Charlie likes Sam’s Club.  We do almost all of our shopping there.  Okay, Okay, He does almost all of our shopping there.  Since it is just the two of us at home now, we always have a full freezer due to the large sizes you have to buy.  I look at it as an advantage though because the prices are good and we just freeze them in dinner size portions.  If one of the kids happen to pop in, we take out two.

Dinner Menu Madness

Saturday – Turkey Pot Pie (using Thanksgiving Leftovers)

Sunday – Ham Fritatta (using Thanksgiving Leftovers)

Monday -  Kentucky Hot Browns

Tuesday – Hamburgers

Wednesday – Pork Chops with Au Gratin Potatoes

Thursday – Korean Beef and Fried Rice

Perfect Pork Rub

This is the best dry rub I have found.  I use it on all kinds of pork and it hasn't failed me yet!  Kinda looks like dirt, doesn't it?

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix together and rub on any kind of pork.