Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes

I've been a little under the weather lately and every time I get sick I get homesick. Seeing as how I am not able to go home for a couple weeks, I decided to make one of my childhood favorites and bring a little bit of home to me. 

Tonight's dinner is Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes. The pork chops are a classic that my mom always makes and the scalloped potatoes was something new I wanted to try. I also made more Green Giant green beans with almonds that aren't pictured until the last photo. Refer to my other posts for information on Green Giant veggies!

As always, this is all easy, inexpensive and doesn't take very long to make!

Pork Chops

-Shake 'N Bake Original Pork (comes with coating mix and a shaker bags)

-Pork chops (bone-in or boneless...I used bone-in)

Scalloped Potatoes

-Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes (comes with potatoes and sauce mix)

-3 tablespoons margarine or butter

-2 2/3 cups of BOILING water

1 1/2 cups milk

The potatoes can be cooked in the oven or over the stove but I used the oven.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Stir sauce mix, boiling water, milk and margarine with a whisk in a 2-quart casserole. Stir in potatoes.

Bake uncovered about 32 minutes or until top is golden brown and potatoes are tender (sauce will thicken as it stands). Stir before serving.

Heat oven to 425. Moisten pork chops with water.

Shake the chops, 1 or 2 at a time, in the shaker bag with 1 package of the coating mix.

Bake in ungreased for foil-lined pan for 15 minutes or until done (minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees with the meat thermometer).

So. Good. :)

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Personal Pizza

This is something new I decided to try. Ordering pizzas, although convenient, is pricey. (If you insist on ordering the pizza I have found Dominos pizza often has the best deals. They have a 2x Tuesday deal where you can get 2 large pizzas for the price of one...this only works for carryout though. If you live on campus or close it, there's a dominos on St. Johns Bluff so all in all this doesn't pose as much of an inconveneince.)

I was browsing through Publix's website looking for their weekly cupons and buy 1 get 1 free deals when I came across buy 1 pizza sauce jar, get 1 free. They also happened to have buy 1 package of shredded cheese, get 1 free. Pizza sauce + mozzarella cheese = pizza night!!

There are several options for buy pizza crust. I got the Martha White Pizza Crust Mix package that you just add water and oil to but there are also some that come completely premade or frozen so you only have to heat it up. Just depends on what quality you want and what your price range is.

Personal Pizza
-mozzarella cheese
-pizza sauce
-pizza dough mix package
-1/2 cup HOT water
-1 tsp oil
-favorite toppings

 Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Spray a 12-14 inch pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. I however just used a nonstick cookie sheet.

Combine the pizza crust mix and the hot water in a medium mixing bowl, stir about 30 strokes with a fork or until well blended. (I found it easier and faster to use my hands). Shape the dough into a ball (if the dough is too sticky add 1-2 tbs of flour). Brush with oil and then cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Then spread out in the pan and prick generously with a fork.

Bake on the lowest oven rack for 5 minutes.

Top the pizza as desired. I added sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Bake an additional 9-11 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the topings have been throroughly heated. Store leftovers loosly covered in the refridgerator.

This pizza was labeled "Thin and Cripsy" but I didn't spread out the dough as much as I could have therefore it was more of a "Pan" pizza. If spread out it would be slightly bigger and much more crispier.

This is a very good and easy way to make pizzas that everyone can have just the way they like it. Buy a few packets of the crust mix and everyone can have their own personal pizza for a very low price :)

Hamburger Helper

I have always seen the Hamburger Helper ads on TV but never really thought much of it. Now that I am cooking every night and always looking for new and inexpensive ideas to spice up the routine dinners, Hamburger Helper has become my new best friend. There are over 40 Hamburger Helper kits, each one being just over a dollar at Publix. The combined price of ground beef makes a complete meal for roughly $5. It can't get better than that. Not to mention it feeds me, my boyfriend, and his roommate AND leaves some for leftovers. It's the perfect meal. Oh, and if the idea of making a complete dinner in a few easy steps for a low price isn't enough, there is also a Chicken Helper and a Tuna Helper. You could use these every night for a month and have a different meal. Every. Single. Night.

In the past hour I have made dinner, gotten ready for work (did I mention it practically cooks itself?), and updated my blog all before work. It'd say its been productive evening. Thank you Hamburger Helper!

The kit posted is "Cheesy Enchilada". There hasn't been a Hamburger Helper kit yet that I haven't liked, but this is by far my favorite.

Hamburger Helper: Cheesy Enchilada
-1 pound lean ground beef
-1 cup milk + 3 tablespoons milk for the topping
-2 1/4 cups hot water

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain the fat. Then stir in 1 cup milk, hot water, sauce mix and uncooked rice.



I'll admit, at this point it doesn't look very appetizing, but trust me. It will. The sauce will thicken, so don't be alarmed when it seems too "watery".

Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Then reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender. Meanwhile stir together the rest of the milk and the topping mix and set aside. Remove from heat and then pour the topping over the beef mixture.



Mmmmm. If you want, you can put this in a flour tortilla and add some salsa and have a delicious enchilada. :)

Enjoy! Leave a comment or email me, and follow me for more yummy meals :)