Ever since Tyler and I were dating I wanted to cook him yummy things, most of the time that ended up being cookies or brownies or other things that weren't really great for him because that is something I know how to do. I feel like I used to be better at coming up with good dinners and even just making yummy things out of what I had in the kitchen without a recipe or real plan. Somehow that changed and I haven't been as good at that since we got married. Well a couple of weeks ago I made two yummy dinners in a row that were very easy. They may not have been super healthy, but they were better than going and buying a pizza like I did the other day when I didn't feel like cooking...
Anyway the first one was and idea I got from looking at my cousin's blog about Salsa Chicken. I didn't have all the things in either recipe, and I didn't have enough time for a crockpot... so this is what happened:
I took 3 chicken breasts (2 for dinner, 1 for Tyler's lunch the next day) and put them in a square cake pan. I turned the oven on to 350 I think. I covered the chicken in the salsa that I had in the fridge which was just the store brand mild salsa. I put the chicken in and said, "ok please be yummy". A little later I thought maybe it would be good with corn on it, so I took some canned corn and poured it over the top while it was cooking and left it to cook some more. Then the thought came to put one of our home grown peppers in it from our garden. I sliced one up and placed the slices around the pan. I thought about putting black beans in but didn't and wish I had. Then I though cheese would be good... so I shredded some cheese on it and put it back in. By now the chicken was getting done but I thought of one more thing that might make this yummy. I got out our multi-grain tortillas and tore one up into pieces and spread the pieces all over the top then added a little more cheese on top of the tortillas. When I make this again I'll just do cheese on top of the tortillas because that is what I would have done if I'd though to put the tortillas on before I thought of cheese. Anyway, I broiled it for long enough to cook the tortilla strips a little so they would add a little crunch. Then I served it. It was delicious! I think it ended up cooking 30 or 40 minutes by the time I'd finished adding things along the way. Tyler loved it, I love it, and it was pretty good reheated for his lunch too.
Oh wait... did I serve it with rice? I think I did.... yes I seem to remember there being rice.
The next day I was having a hard time coming up with something to cook. I wanted to use pork chops because we always seems to use chicken or ground beef so I wanted to change it up a little. I asked my mother-in-law if she had any good ideas of things to do with pork chops and she suggested that I stuff them. I was a little skeptical but she grabbed some pork stuffing (by stove top) while she was out and I was teaching a harp lesson, and I tried it.
I took my thick pork chops and sliced along the side long ways to make a pouch. Then I browned them. Then I stuffed them full of the stuffing I'd just made from the box instructions. I stuffed them as full as I could. Then I browned them a little more... because my mother-in-law said she told me wrong and that you're supposed to brown them after you stuff them. I don't know if it matters but that's what happened. So then I salted and peppered them and put them in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes? until I cut into a thick part and it was cooked clear through. This was very yummy. It had really great flavor. I think I served it with a can of green beans. I wish I'd taken pictures... but sometimes I lose my camera for days at a time.
Anyway, if you're looking for an easy yummy dinner, there are a couple of ideas for you. :)
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