Pork Chops with Apricot~ Almond Stuffing

I first grabbed this receip from one of my sisters magazines, when we were in the car heading to Sacrameto, for a girls trip.
We tried it tonight with some fresh pea's, although I do think this would have been better with chicken.  It was still good with Pork,  I just feel that Pork can be a tougher meat, but I love the flavor!  You will also have to excuse my photography, I dont have a good camera, so the pictures come out kinda lame. Anyway here it is!

Pork Chops with Apricot ~ Almond Stuffing

3 ounces of dried apricots, coursely chopped
2 ounces almonds, coursely chopped
1/4 cup corsely chopped parsley
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 bone-in Pork Chops
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp red-wine vinegar

1. mix together apricots, almonds, parsley, and 1 tbsp oil. season with salt and pepper. cut a 2 inch slit into the side of each pork chop, cutting through to the bone to form a pocket. fill each pocket with 2 tbsp stuffing and press flat. season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat remaining tbsp oil in a large skillet over high heat, sear pork until brown, about 3-4 minutes per side. add 1/2 cup chicken stock. reduce heat to low and cover, simmer until cooked through about 6-8 minutes. Transfer pork to plates.
3. Add remaining 1/2 cup stock to skillet and raise temperature to high and simmer, scraping up the brown bits, let sauce thicken, about 5-7 minutes. add vinegar, simmer for 30 seconds. strain sauce through a fine strainer and drizzle over pork.
Serve!
Let me know what you think!

Dinner Club

We meet once a month. Right now there is 6 of us. We each take turns hosting, the hostess does the entree. One girl will bring the appitizer, the other will bring a soup or salad and the other brings dessert and the remaining girls will bring wine.  The hostess will choose a theme and we all follow that theme in our dish! The idea is to come up with an receipe that you have never made before. It's a great time always and a wonderful bonding experience!

 Check out my tab on dinner club for great new receipes!

Here we are!

 

Heres are men enjoying dinner on one of the few times we invite them along

No Carb Diet! I must be kidding!

Oh Man! Today starts my no carb diet, to jump start my weight loss in hopes for looking great on ThanksGiving. This is going to be a real challange due to the fact that I LOVE mexican food! LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!
Today, I had coffee, cant live without that. For lunch it was a salad from CheeseCakes, where I found a dead ladybug half way through!

Then later tonight I had sauted' shrimp with back beans and zucchini....and, of course I was hungry a few minutes later. So I allowed myself some red grapes and peanuts. Joy!

Wish me luck...1 day down 9 days to go!

Ashland

I am so excited! It's late hunting (Bow) season in Ahsland for Kevin, so what does that mean for me? SHOPPING!!! and eating and drinking wine.....stay tuned I will post pictures of great food and fun places to shop!

Transplanting our favorite plants



We have some plants that we have bought and loved for our yard. It can get expensive to fill your yard with these beauties, especially if you buy more then one at a time. So Kevin has tried to transplant some of these and its worked. There is the Blue Fescue, the  Mondo Grass, along with the Mexican Spanish Grass and a new commer this year is the Black Mondo Grass.



Blue Fiscue

Mexican Spanish



Mondo



Black Mondo







Stuffed Chicken with Shells

I know this mat not look very good on the plate...next time I will make sure the presentation is better. I just had to make sure it was going to taste great before I spent any more time on it. It tastes wonderful!
Stuffed Shells with Chicken
One Box of Jumbo Pasta shells
16 oz reduced fat Mozzarella Cheese ( you will only use half) Shredded
8 oz Garlic Jack Cheese (shredded)
6 oz Parmesan Cheese (shredded)
1/3 cup of sour cream
2 Tbls Garlic Salt
1/3 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
2 ~ 8oz tubs of Sweet Basil Tomato Sauce with Herbs
2 Boneless chicken breasts (cooked and cut into bite size pieces)

Mix together Mozzarella, Garlic Jack, bread crumbs, Sour cream, and garlic salt
Cook Chicken and cut into bite size pieces, cook Pasta according to box.
Cover the bottom of a baking dish with one of the Sweet Basil Tomatoe Sauce tubs.
Stuff the shells with Cheese mixture add a few pieces of chicken and fill the baking dish.
Cover shells with the Parmesan Cheese and the last tub of the Sweet Basil Tomatoe Sauce to finish.
Cook at 350 for 30 minutes!
Enjoy!

Ravioli Soup

Ravioli Soup
In a crock pot add Ravioli Soup
In a crock pot add
1lb of ground beef
1 ½ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped parsley
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 small can tomato paste
3 large tomatoes chopped
1 16oz can tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tbsp. Garlic salt
2 bay leaves
½ tsp oregano
Cook on high until beef is cooked through about 2 hours
Boil Cheese Ravioli per package instructions drain and add to crock pot
Serve in soup bowls and top with Parmesan Cheese