Garlic Honey Pork Chops

This is a pretty simple recipe for pork chops and tasty! They are even better if you let it marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

The original recipe came from Pinterest, but I made a couple changes. Here is the original :) Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 2 pork loin chops
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (i use the lower sodium kind)
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• splash of Worcestershire sauce

Mix honey, soy sauce, and   Worcestershire sauce using a fork as a whisk. Mix in garlic and pour over chops. Poke chops several times with a fork. Let marinate in the fridge for a few hours. Preheat oven to 375. Place chops and half the mixture in a baking dish and cook for 20-25 minutes (depending on the thickness of your chops). Always check to ensure meat is cooked through. Halfway between your cook time, pour the rest of the mixture over the chops.

Cheers! CC

Ideas for Left Over Ham

We bought a Honey Baked Ham for our Easter dinner. We intentionally got one that was a little bigger than what we needed so that we would have left overs and so that we could make one of Nick's favorite things...Split Pea soup.




Ham Sammies

• Hawaiian rolls
• Swiss Cheese
• Ham
• Honey Dijon Mustard

Mac and Cheese with Ham

• Make Mac and Cheese as directed on the box
• Stir in Ham pieces
• Add some veggies as a side dish

Baked Potato with Ham

• Preheat oven to 400
• Wash potato and poke several times with a fork
• Microwave potato 6 minutes (10 minutes for 2)
• Place potato on foil and smother with butter, sprinkle with garlic, season salt, onion powder
• Wrap tight with foil and place in oven for 15 minutes
• Top with ham, butter, sour cream, veggies, cheese...whatever sounds good!

Split Pea Soup  (click for recipe)

Split Pea Soup with Ham

For Easter we ordered a bone in half ham from Honey Baked Ham. It was delicious of course and I had fun coming up with a few ways to use the left overs. But...the bone was for a specific purpose...Nick's favorite Split Pea Soup. This recipe makes a ton of soup...we froze half of it so we can enjoy it later.

When saving the ham bone, make sure you leave some meat on it. We left the back part that is not already sliced. and any meat not pulled off the bone. We also used an 8 pound ham...so you need to adjust the recipe depending on the size of your ham.

Ingredients:

• Ham bone with some of the ham still attached
• 2 pounds split peas
• 14 cups water
• 2 tablespoons flour
• pepper, garlic, onion powder to taste

Place ham in a large pot. Rinse and drain split peas. Add peas to the pot and add water. Make sure the ham is covered by water. You can add 2 more cups if needed, but any more than that and you should add another pound of peas (use between 6-8 cups of water per pound of peas). Throw in the spices (a few dashes don't add salt because the ham is already really salty).

Cover and cook to a boil on Medium heat. Once boiling, stir and reduce heat to low. Cook for 4 hours stirring from time to time. After 4 hours, remove ham meat from bone and cut up any large pieces. You should be able to do this with ease since meat will be tender.  Slowly whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour at a time making sure there are no clumps. The flour will thicken up the sauce just a bit. Remove from heat and serve.

Cheers!
CC

Easter Menu Update

Here's what I ended up making for Easter dinner. I didn't get very many pictures because I was so hungry I forgot!

Appetizer

• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Bread Pulls
• Edible Arrangements Fruit Basket my mom sent :)

Dinner

• Honey Baked Ham (already made and super delicious) ...I'll be making Split Pea Soup this weekend with the left over Ham Hock. Stay tuned for that!
•  Candied Yams 
• Caramelized Onions and Green Beans 
• Mashed Potatoes 
• Baked Carrots (recipe I will post later)

Dessert

• Cupcakes (see below for directions)

For the cupcakes, I just used somethings I had around the house. My store had a sale on cake mix and frosting, so I stocked up while the price was low. I used the Duncan Hines Butter Cake mix (follow batter instructions) and placed frozen candy in the middle then baked as directed. I froze Reese's, Milkyway, and Snickers small pieces. Then frosted the cupcakes with chocolate frosting and added some spring colored sprinkles. Simple and they were really good!

Bacon Ranch Cheese Bread Pulls

Ok...this was not my original idea. I pulled the recipe from Pinterest. But I did make a few changes, and it was soooo good!

Here is the pin I pulled from Plain Chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf French bread
• 5 thin slices mild cheddar
• 5 thin slices swiss cheese
• 1 package maple bacon
• 1/2 package ranch powder mix (I used Hidden Valley ranch)
•  1 cup butter

Cook bacon. Use your favorite method, but here is an easy way...preheat oven to 375, place bacon slices on foil lined cookie sheet and cook for about 15 minutes. Add time if you like bacon more crispy. Allow bacon to cool, then cut into pieces. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

Slice french bread into bite sized squares (but not all the way to the bottom). Place bread on a piece of foil large enough to competely wrap bread. Cut cheese slices in half and place inside the sliced bread, alternating swiss and cheddar.  Use more cheese if needed. Place bacon pieces inside slices. Melt butter and mix with ranch powder. Pour mixture over the bread. Wrap in foil and bake for 15 minutes. Unwrap and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Cheers!
CC

CC's Famous Candied Yams

This recipe is my own creation...and I believe I have perfected it. I also have protected my recipe because I love when people ask me to bring the yams to get togethers. But...I live so far from family now, that I feel I should share the recipe so a part of me can live on at the holiday celebrations. I use real yams, not the kind in a can. Please, if you use my recipe, do not taint it with canned yams. It will not come out the same. Also, make it the night before the get together. They taste much better this way.

Ingredients:

•  4 yams peeled, washed and cut into chunks
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup Mrs. Butterworth's Maple Syrup (use this brand...it tastes better)
• 6 teaspoons Pumpkin Spice
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 bag mini marshmallows (optional)

In a pot, boil enough water to cover yams, and add in 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. While water is heating up, peel, wash and cut yams into chunks. Typically I cut each one 4 times length wise then each piece into quarters. When water is boiling, add yams and cook until soft.

Drain yams and place in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, remaining pumpkin spice, brown sugar, and syrup. Mix with a mixer until smooth.  Scoop into an 8x8 square baking dish. Place pecans on top and for best result, cover and place in refrigerator over night.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Add marshmallows to the top and bake until marshmallows are golden (usually about 10-15 minutes).

Flops... Ugh and Easter Menu

My confidence was a little shaken...I had two flops in one week. First was my Mole. I could not find the original recipe I used, so I improvised. It was horrible. Then I tried a slow cooker recipe from Pinterest for Orange Chicken. Another fail. It was over cooked and tasted horrible. It really made me feel bad about my ability.

So instead of trying new things, I stuck with some old favorites. But on Sunday, I am hosting Easter dinner. There won't be many people because we are new to the area and we don't have family here...but we do have a couple friends coming. Taking in some of the other "orphan" military transplants. :) I love hosting big dinners and I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's my Easter Menu....what are your plans?

Appetizer:

• Ranch, Bacon and Cheese Pull Apart Bread (recipe from Pinterest). I have made this and it is good! Pull Apart Bread

Dinner

• Honey Baked Ham (pre-made so I can't fail...lol)
• Green Beans with Caramelized Onions
• My Grandma's Carrot Recipe
• Mashed Potatoes or Maybe a Potato Casserole I saw on Pinterest Potato Casserole
• Hawaiian Rolls
• And...Yams...My own personal recipe and they are amazing!

Dessert

•  Lemon Cake