20: Twice Cooked Pork Chops

Sure.. I've made pork chops before, but I've never made twice cooked pork chops!  Yep, pan seared and then baked, we are getting crazy over here.

Ingredients:
2 Pork Chops
Olive oil
S&P
Some sort of spicy sauce
Garlic

The How To:
Preheat oven to 425.
Season pork chops with salt and pepper
Heat some olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat
Add pork chops and brown on both sides - about 4 minutes per side.
Transfer pork chops to oven to finish cooking, about 20 minutes

Cooking pork chops this way was a little faster than my normal way of doing it.  Honestly, it didn't taste much different than normal, but it cooked in about 15 minutes faster.  Speedy and yummy.  This dish was Will approved! 

What Will looks like when he needs a haircut...

Music Monday.. maybe that's a thing I should start.... 
Check out this song, just because it's awesome.

Then head over to pandora, and get you some Jose Gonzalez radio.  You're welcome.

19: Pesto Chicken

I wasn't really sure what to make for dinner, so I opened up the cabinets.  I saw some pesto and thought that Pesto Chicken would make a great dish to try out.   Sorry for the lack of pictures, but this was really more of an impromptu dish.

Ingredients:
Pesto Mix
4 chicken breasts
Mozzarella cheese
Olive oil
S&P

The How To:
Preheat oven to 405.
Line a pan with aluminum foil
Add the chicken -spray with olive oil and sprinkle with S&P
Put about 1 tbsp pesto on top of each of each chicken breast
Cook for 40 minutes
Top with mozzarella cheese and cook for an additional five minutes

Enjoy.

This dish turned out great.  It's super easy and delicious.  Not to mention, this dish was Will approved!  If you are curious this was served with quinoa salad and brussel sprouts.

18: Veggie Casserole Bake

Second new dish in one day?! WHAT?!  I've gone nuts.


I had a couple of extra squash that I needed to eat so I started looking up a few recipes when I found this one for Summer Squash Casserole.  I totally changed the whole recipe up, but I thought I'd reference it just for kicks.

Ingredients: 
2 yellow squash
2 zucchini
1 jalapeno 
1/2 green bell pepper
1 tomato
1 can cream of chicken soup
S&P
8 oz sour cream (4 oz would be better)
Olive Oil
Panko
1/4 cup shredded cheese

The How To:
Preheat oven to 350.  

Dice squash, zucchini, jalapeno, green pepper
Bring some water to a boil and add the diced veggies for about 10 minutes
Grab a casserole dish
Stir in the chicken soup, sour cream, little olive oil and S&P

Stir in the boiled veggies and mix in the cheese
Top with Panko
Bake for about 35 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling

I very seldom make casseroles, so Will was pretty excited about this one.  The only thing I would change is the amount of sour cream I used - otherwise we both really liked this totally made up dish.  
This dish is Will approved! 

17: Baked Fried Chicken

Brace yourself - I did two new dishes tonight! Crazy, I know.  

Who doesn't like fried chicken but doesn't like the fat roll that comes along with it?  Well.. if you answered yes to that question, then Baked Fried Chicken is for you.  

Ingredients:
2 Boneless chicken breast
*1/3 cup all-purpose flour
S&P
*1 tsp Seasoned salt
*1 tsp Paprika
Olive Oil
Buttermilk (gross, but delicious with this recipe - trust me)

*all measurements are approximate 

The How To:
Place chicken breasts in a bowl of buttermilk and let it soak for about 25 minutes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Grab a Ziploc bag and mix the flour, s&p, season salt and paprika and give it a little shake
Put some olive oil in the bottom of a pan (lined with foil, for easy clean up)
Shake excess milk off of the chicken and drop it in flour mixture.  Shake the bag until the chicken is totally covered and place in the pan
Bake for 20 minutes on each side

This was a very simple dish and it really tasted like a lighter fried chicken.  It was delicious, I wouldn't change a thing.  

This dish is Will approved.

16: Shrimp Spring Rolls

Let it be known that the title of this blog is "What Will Ate."  It is not "What Will Wanted to Eat," "What Will Planned to Eat" or "Will Thought of This Meal."  Most times this works out.  Tonight, well.. That was a different story.
I have tried Spring Rolls several places, and I am a big fan.  When I ran across this recipe, I was thought, that's cool - I'd like to try that.  When I went to the Dekalb Farmers Market and actually saw the rice paper wrappers, I was like.. OH YES! I am totally doing it.  So that's what I did tonight. 

Ingredients:

1 lb peeled shrimp 
Olive Oil
S&P
Rice papers - I only used 5
Some bean sprouts
Some cilantro leaves
Some sliced carrots
1/2 jalapenos, thinly sliced
1 cucumber (I was out so I didn't use one)

The Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
5 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar

The How To:

Preheat oven to 400.
Place shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and S&P.
Cook for about 6 minutes - until shrimp are cooked through.

Clean off some place to make your rolls
Make a pile of shrimp, sprouts, cilantro, carrots, and jalapenos (think of an assembly line)
Get a clean, damp kitchen towel laid out to actually assemble your rolls
Fill a pan large enough for the wrappers with warm water 
One wrapper at a time, submerge the wrapper in the water for about 15 seconds
Remove the wrapper and place it on the towel
Lay the shrimp, and other ingredients in the wrapper and wrap it up

For the sauce, just whisk all the ingredients together and set aside for dipping


I knew this might not turn out well when I told Will we were having spring rolls and he had never heard of it.  I mean, the rice wrappers are sorta weird if you haven't ever had them before.  Will seriously looked sorta scared before he tried this one.  The first time he touched the rice paper he said (and I quote) "Umm... I think this is what an alien fetus would feel like."  Great.  Isn't that what you want your dinner to feel like?  
So, yes he HATED this dish.  I think that he would say this is the worst one yet. 

But, my opinion.. 
The rolls tasted exactly like when I have ordered them in a restaurant (woot woot for me!) and I would absolutely make these again.

15: Stuffed Tomatoes

 I don't really know where I got the idea for this meal.  I think I was watching some commercial (don't even remember which one) and had a thought that I bet Stuffed Tomatoes would be good.  I've made stuffed peppers before, but I have never made Stuffed Tomatoes. I decided that I would just follow a similar approach and a meal was born. 

Ingredients 
5 Large Tomatoes - bigger the better
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup quinoa (I used half black and half white)
1 can green chilis
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup shredded cheese



The How To:

Cook the quinoa as usual (2 cups water, 1 cup quinoa - get to boil, let it simmer for 15 minutes covered) 
Brown ground beef as normal (remember to add water, and drain off the extra fat)
Preheat oven to 400
Cut the stem and tops off of 4 tomatoes and then scoop all the seeds out of the tomatoes
Place the seeds and juice into the ground beef (after it has browned)
Mix the chilis, black beans, quinoa, and other tomato (chopped) into the ground beef 
Grab a deep pot, start to boil water
Once boiling add the tomatoes and let boil for about 5 minutes
Remove tomatoes and fill with stuffing
Top with cheese and let it bake until the cheese melts (about 5-8 minutes)

This was an idea that turned out well for everyone.  It will be making another appearance in this household in the near future.  Needless to say, this dish is Will approved!