Baked Pork Chops

 This is easy easy, line a cookie baking sheet with foil and grease it.

You will need:

• Thin Center Cut Pork Chops
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Seasoned Salt
• Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper

Wash pork chops, then put them on the pan, carefully pour worcestershire sauce over each pork chop, sprinkle one side with seasoned salt, garlic powder, and black pepper.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven uncovered for about 30-40 minutes. Timing will really depend on the thickness of the porkchops. For this recipe I like to use the thin pork chops, they turn out so tender and just right.
 

I like to serve these pork chops with green beans and mashed potatoes topped with saurkraut. You can find these two side dish recipes here on my blog, by continuing to scroll down the blog page.
Enjoy! 

Sauerkraut with Mashed Potatoes

Here's what you will need below:

• Homemade Mashed Potatoes are used for this recipe, you can use your own favorite recipe or you can get my recipe for Homemade Mashed Potatoes HERE (you'll have t scroll to the bottom of that post to find it)
•  You'll also need,  1 can of sauerkraut (drained, but I don't drain all of the juices off of the sauerkraut, I like to leave a little. I drain the can just by leaving the opened lid of the can on the can and then simply draining the liquid off into the sink)
• 3 Smoked Bacon Strips
•  1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Sprinkled black pepper
• enough water to cover the sauerkraut

Place bacon strips in medium saucepan, cook on med-high heat until there is some grease in the pan, but "not" until the bacon is crispy. Add slightly drained sauerkraut, salt, and sprinkled pepper to the saucepan, then cover with water. Bring to a boil, then cover pan with lid, and reduce heat to low to med-low and cook for an hour or so.

Use a large spoon to spoon saurkraut and juices over homemade mashed pototoes.

Enjoy!

*For a healthier lower saturated fat version, leave out the bacon and use beef broth instead of water. 

Special thanks to my sweet German Mother-In-Law, who has always cooked this during the holidays and she finally got me to try this a few years ago. I'm glad I got brave and decided to give it a try.  I had been missing out on such a delicious combination ....I'd never even wanted to try sauerkraut​ before, and who'd have ever thought that mashed potatoes would be great with sauerkraut? I sure would have never thought that I would like it, but I love it and it is one of my favorite dishes. I cook it all the time. 
I believe she uses a different pork meat in her recipe, but I used bacon (if you've looked much at my recipes....I use bacon to season a lot of my vegetables and foods)  

Green Beans seasoned with Bacon

You will need:

• 1 Can Green Beans (drained and rinsed, use the amount you need for your size family, 1 can feeds 3 people)
• Slice of Bacon
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• Sprinkled Pepper to taste
• teaspoon of white vinegar (optional)
• enough water to cover the beans

In a saucepan, cook the bacon on medium-high heat until there is some grease in the pan, but "not" until the bacon is crispy. Add the green beans, and salt, sprinkled pepper,  white vinegar (optional)  then cover with water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low and cook for about 30- 45 minutes.
Enjoy!

For a healthier lower saturated fat version, leave out the bacon, and add beef broth to the pot instead of water. You can do this to help give flavor to any vegetable (chicken broth works great too). 

Tender Brussel Sprouts seasoned with bacon

You will need: 

• A family size bag of Frozen Brussel Sprouts
• 2 slices of Smoked Bacon
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Enough water just to cover them in the pan

In a medium sauce pan, place bacon slices on med-high heat, and cook them a few minutes,  until you have some grease in the pan, but not until bacon is crispy,  then add the brussel sprouts to the pan, add salt and enough water just to cover the brussel sprouts. Stir. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med-low and cover with a lid. Cook until desired tenderness. I like mine real tender, so I cook them for about 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Veg-all Casserole

You will need:

• 3 cans Veg-all Vegetable Medley mixed vegetables, please note: I usually don't recommend a certain brand for my recipes, but for this recipe, I do recommend using the Veg-all brand, because I have tried regular canned mixed vegetables in this recipe and it doesn't taste the same, and to me it isn't as good made with other brands)
• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 4 oz. Mozarella Cheese (fresh grated)
• 4 oz. Cheddar Cheese (fresh grated)
• 1/2 a stick of Margarine
• 1 roll of Ritz Crackers  (that you have crushed, I put mine in a large zip bag and crush them)

Grease a 13 by 9 inch casserole dish or baking pan. Drain the juices from 2 of the cans of veg-all, you'll need the juice from one of the cans, so don't drain one of the veg-all cans. Put it all in a mixing bowl. Add Mayo, and both grated cheeses. Gently stir it all together, put it in the pan, then  put the crushed Ritz crackers on top. Slice margarine and put it randomly all over the top of the crackers.  
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!  

This recipe is one that my Mama and her Mama always made during the holidays. 
 

Sweet Potato Casserole

Grease a 13 by 9 inch casserole dish or baking pan this recipe will be a two step...a filling and a topping

For the filling you will need:

• 4 cups Cooked mashed sweet potatoes....I used 6 medium sized sweet potatoes, I washed and dried them, then greased them with cooking oil, then I baked them in the oven, on a foil lined cookie sheet at 400 degrees for an hour, then let them cool. Then I pulled the skins off and placed them in a medium mixing bowl and mashed them with a pototoe masher)

• 1/2 cup to 1 cup SugarStart with 1/2 cup, then just taste it and judge the amount you want to add by how sweet you would like to make this dish

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 eggs (beaten)

Mix ingredients together in a bowl until mixture is smooth, put it in the greased baking dish and make the topping now

For the topping you will need:

• 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine plus a tablespoon more

• 1/3 cup flour

• 2/3 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup chopped pecans

Mix ingredients and spread over and top the casserole...

*Important Note:

•  You will also need a Bag of Miniature Marshmallows for this recipe, you will not need the whole bag though, and remember not to top the casserole with the marshmallows until it's almost done cooking.

Bake in preheated oven  350 degrees for 30 min. then take it out of the oven and top with miniature marshmallows, then cook an additional 5 minutes or so until the marshmallows are  golden brown. You'll need to keep an eye on it, you know how fast marshmallows can burn.

Enjoy!

Special thanks to my friend Ann for sharing this recipe with me in 2004..... I've been fixing this during the holidays, every year since then and my family and I love it.

Homemade Buttercream Frosting

For this recipe you will need:

• 4 1/2 cups Powdered sugar...plus a little more depending on the desired spreading consistency of the frosting (I actually buy a large bag to have on hand, but you will not need that much)

• 1/2 cup Butter or margarine softened

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 3 Tablespoons of Milk or a little more depending on desired consistency

In a large bowl, hand mix together softened butter or margarine, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth, gradually add milk and stir it until smooth and creamy. You can add more powdered sugar or milk until you get it to the desired consistency for icing a cake.

Frost the cooled cake, decorate and enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookies

You will need:

• 1 cup butter (or 2 sticks) softened to room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups Self-rising flour
• 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, Lightly grease baking sheets. In large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until mixed and creamy. Add the eggs, on at a time and mix well. Stir in vanilla. In another bowl mix flour and salt together. Now, add and beat the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. I mixed everything by hand using a large spoon. Stir in the oats. Drop by heaping Tablespoons 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Use a spatula and remove the cookies from pan and set on wire racks to cool. 
Enjoy!

Fast and Easy Baked Ham Steak with Pineapples

This is an easy meat to serve if you are in the mood for some baked ham, but you don't want buy a big ham. It tastes good and it is inexpensive. I do buy the big spiral hams during the holidays and for times when I am having a lot of company over, but this little Ham Steak is great for any day of the year, especially if it's for serving a couple or a small family of 3 or 4.

I personally like this Country Ribbon brand, because it's boneless, but Cook's Brand, and Sam's Club Brand is also good.

All you do is line a baking sheet with foil and put the ham steak on it, pour the juices from the Ham on the pan too, (If you buy a bone in the Ham Steak such as Cook's Brand, I'd wash the Ham Steak first before cooking it, because with that brand, I've noticed that it has a gritty feel to it due to the bone being cut)  and pour a can of diced pineapples over the top...Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes....that's it.

I like to serve it with dried lima beans and fried cornbread (recipes for these are in the sidebar of this blog) and I also like a baked sweet potatoe. By the way, for beginners on cooking I'd like to mention that Baking a sweet potatoe is simple too, just wash it good and rub olive oil on the outside of it, bake it on a foil lined baking sheet for 400 degrees for 1 hour or a little longer...until tender.

Enjoy!

Dried Lima Beans

For this recipe I used:

• 24 oz. bag of China Doll Large Dried Beans
• 2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes
• Garlic Glove Chopped
• 1/2 Onion Chopped
• 9 Cups Water
• 2 Tablespoons Bacon Grease
• 1 teaspoons Salt
• Sprinled Black Pepper
• 4 Slices of Bacon

First Soak beans in a bowl of water overnight, then rinse them the next day and put them in a crock pot along with all of the ingredients above. Cook on High all day about 6-8 hours.

 I serve them with cornbread (my fried cornbread recipe can be found in my sidebar)  Ham steak with pineapples and Baked Sweet Potatoe.

Enjoy!