Pork Chops with Rice & Beans

This is another Food Network recipe they I tried the other nite.  It's very easy and yummy, although I did have to do some modifications.  First I cut the recipe in half and I didn't have any tomato sauce, so I made my own by taking 1 part tomato paste to 1 part water.  Also, my chops were a little thicker than the recipe called so I broiled them until the internal temp reached 145 degrees F.  Also, my chops didn't have any juices left in the pain, it burned off.  I used leftover brown rice too.  The beans and rice were really good and I will definitely make them again.  I added a few drops of Louisiana Habanero Hot Sauce to the beans and that added a nice kick. The chops were good, but nothing special.  I really don't think the addition of the cider vinegar or the tomato sauce added anything to the chops.  Anyway, give the dish a try or at least the beans and rice.  It's healthy and Good Eats.

Beer Brats & Bush's Grillin Beans

I know what you are thinking, "brats---boring". Truly not the case, because these are Beer Brats.  We soaked them in beer along with thinly sliced Vidalia onions and green peppers. I started by placing the brats on my grill that had been heated on med high heat and grilled them until they just began to burst. I removed them and soaked them along with the onion and pepper slices in beer for 30 minutes. After soaking them I put them back on the grill for about 5 minutes. While those were grillin, I sauted the sliced onions and peppers on the side burner in a small non stick skillet until they were very soft and tender. I removed everything from the grill, and served them on rolls with a green salad and Bush's Black Bean Fiesta Grillin Beans.  The beans are good when you want something quick and easy, and they taste pretty good.  Try this, it's a great spring time dinner.

Dressed Up Zataran's Red Beans & Rice

A lot going on since my last post.  My dad has been in the hospital, we've been doing some rehab our circa 1822 home and my honey had to go to the ER because he fell off the roof.  With all that's been going on cooking has been put on the back burner, but tonight I decided lets get into again, but in an instant kind of way.  Tonight we took a box of low sodium Zataran's Red Beans & Rice, 1lb of 85/15 organic ground beef, 1 can red beans rinsed and drained, 1 bell pepper diced, 1 small onion diced and 1tsp of cumin.  I started the meal by browning my ground beef with the pepper and onion and cumin in a large pan.  After the meat was browned I added the package of the Zataran's and the red beans to the pan and added 3 C of water.  I brought it to a boil, covered and reduced and simmered for 25 minutes.  I then removed it from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes.  We served the dish with some shredded Colby Jack  cheese, a dollop of reduced fat sour cream and few dashes of Louisiana Habanero Hot Sauce.  That's all their was to it.  Not difficult and really tasty when just want something quick.  Total time to prepare and cook about 45 minutes, but during the cook time I was able to finish up some laundry.  Good times!!!