Oven-Fried Pork Chops

This recipe I found many moons ago. The kids love it and so do we! You can also use chicken breast strips and it's just as delicious. I hope you all are enjoying the recipes that we are sharing.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

8 Pork Loins 3/4 inch thick
4 tbsp of melted butter
2 eggs beaten with 4 tbsp of milk and a dash of black pepper
1 box of your favorite stuffing FINELY CRUSHED (I use a food processor for this)

Pour melted butter into baking pan coating the whole pan.
In a shallow dish place egg mixture and in another dish place finely crushed stuffing.
Dip chops into egg mixture and coat both sides with stuffing. Place chops in prepared pan.

Bake uncovered, in 425 oven for 10 minutes.
Turn chops.
Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until juices run clear.

Easy Ziti

This is an easy go-to dinner for any evening. :) It is also a Weight Watcher's meal - 7 pts per serving (6 servings per recipe) if you are counting. =P

1 (16 oz) jar reduced-fat spaghetti sauce
1/2 C part skim ricotta cheese
1 1lb box ziti
1/2 C shredded reduced-fat italian cheese blend

1. Preheat broiler. In a large bowl, mix the spagheeti sauce and ricotta thoroughly until smooth.
2. Meanwhile, cook the ziti according to the package directions. Drain and stir into the sauce, then spread into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese blend. Broil until cheese is melted and golden - about 5 minutes.

YUMMY Hash Brown Quiche

Here's another of my favorite "go-to" dishes that I've played with and find I just can't mess it up. So perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dinner!

You can put it together really quickly with the frozen hash brown patties from the store, or, if you're looking to rid yourself of some potatoes quickly (like me, who can't stand to throw out food) you can boil some up and "crumble" them into the pan, pour the butter over and proceed as usual.

Hash Brown Quiche

8 to 9 frozen hash brown patties (or your own homemade version-see above)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 to 2 cups cubed precooked ham
1 cup shredded mozzarella or Swiss cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 eggs
2 cups milk or cream (I used to use Half and Half, but find that 2% works just as well)
1/2 tsp salt

Place potatoes into a 13x9 pan and pour melted butter evenly over the top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheeses and ham. In a large bowl beat eggs well and add your milk product and the salt. Mix again, and pour over potatoes cheese and ham dish. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes more. Let sit for 10 minutes and ENJOY!! Serves approximately 8.

I found this recipe in a cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen, but, as always, made my own changes to make it work for us. I LOVE that you can change so many things to lower the fat. Try it with your own potatoes (with skins), only 1/4 cup butter, 1% milk, and a bit less cheese and you're good to go with a MUCH lower fat version. Anyone who needs a recommendation (and knows her) ask Peppie. She was here last week and got to enjoy this yummy dish.

Game Ball goes to.....

Justin Eccles!!!!

JD batted 3 for 3 and had 2 RBI's. At the end of each game, Coach Steve presents the ball used in the game by our team. The ball is presented to the person who he thinks did exceptionally well in that game. Every kid gets a game ball by the end of the season.

Jessica's Pizza Dough

Ok, I'm not posting enough of my yummy recipes, but part of the reason is I don't have recipes for most of the things I make, I just "eyeball it." (Ask Chris...she's asked me for recipes before and it's never an exact science.)

This pizza dough has been in the making for 10 years as I've fiddled with it to make it perfect. I can't help with the sauce though, I've given up. It never tastes as good as the kind you buy, so I go with that (squeezable is easiest).

Make sure you have an hour to make this just right. I'll usually make double the recipe to have two pizzas (different toppings) or a side of breadsticks. One recipe will make either a thick medium pizza, or a thin/regular large pizza. ENJOY!

PIZZA DOUGH

1 cup Warm Water (105 degrees)
1 pkg Active Dry Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp if you buy in bulk, like me)
1 tsp Sugar

Mix these three ingredients together and let sit for about five minutes until yeast begins to bubble.

Add:
2 Tbl Oil
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 cups Flour

Optional: (DO NOT ADD TO DOUGH)
Cornmeal (used to dust the pan after greasing. Gives the pizza that "pizza place" textured bottom.)

Mix well. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot. Punch down dough and roll directly onto greased pan (I use air bake cookies sheets and dust them with corn meal after greasing). Spread with sauce, cheese and your favorite toppings and bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Banana Nut Bread

I hope this help with the unused bananas…

What you will need:

1/3 cup shortening

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 medium mashed ripe bananas

½ cup chopped walnuts

What you do:

Beat shortening and sugar for about 1 minute on high. Scrape bowl and continue beating for another minute. Add eggs. Beat on medium for about 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and beat on high for about 1 ½ minutes.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add half of flour mixture and half of mashed banana to mixing bowl. On low speed mix about 30 seconds. Add remaining flour and banana. Continue mixing on low for additional 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and add in the walnuts. Mix about 15 seconds.

Pour mixture into greased and floured 9x5x3-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes. Stick a knife into the bread if it comes up clean it is done. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack