Savory Pineapple Pork Chops

4 pork chops

4 slices pineapple (save juice)

cinnamon

nutmeg

1 can beef broth

1 T. brown sugar

2 T. pineapple juice

1 T. cornstarch

Brown chops on both sides. Place pineapple slice on each pork chop and sprinkle with cinnamon/nutmeg. Add broth and sugar.

Cover. Simmer over low heat 35 minutes. Mix pineapple juice and cornstarch till smooth. Gradually blend into hot broth mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, till slightly thickened. Serve over rice.

Manicotti OR stuffed jumbo shells

14 pieces (8 oz.) manicotti

¾ (15 oz.) ricotta cheese

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

½ lb. cottage cheese

1 egg

¼ c. cheddar cheese

a dash of seasoning salt

grated parmesan

3 cups spaghetti sauce (28 oz,)

Fill manicotti with ingredients and pour sauce over.  Top with grated cheese.  Makes 6-8 servings.

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

• 6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
• 
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning

• 10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup

• 4 lbs peeled, cubed potatoes

• 5 Tablespoons real butter
• 
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

• 6 cloves roasted garlic (directions are below)
• 
1- 1 1/2 Cups warm skim milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste

• fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.
Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, Parmesan, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Season to taste if needed. For thinner mashed potatoes add more milk, slowly until your desired consistency.
Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot. I put a little parsley on top to serve.

Roasted Garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place bulb of garlic with skins on, wrap lightly in tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from foil and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove garlic from skins, place in a bowl and mash with a fork until completely mashed. Set aside. One garlic bulb will have around 12 cloves.

Pumpkin Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 4 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1.            Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2.            In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Stir in the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture by hand until just combined. Drop on prepared baking sheets by heaping tablespoonfuls; Butter the bottom of a drinking glass and then dip the bottom of the glass in a bowl of sugar. Flatten the dough balls with the bottom of the glass until they are about ¾ inch thick, dipping the glass in sugar as necessary to prevent sticking.

3.               Bake in preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on wire rack. Once cookies have cooled completely, frost or drizzle with cream cheese frosting.

While the cookies are cooling make frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and pumpkin pie spice and beat until smooth and creamy.

Marshmallows (recipe by Smittenkitchen)

• About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin

• 1 cup cold water, divided
• 
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)

• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 
1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites

• 1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out (learning from my mess of a first round). Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week

Tortellini Sausage Soup

1/2-1 lb Italian sausage (I bet some well-seasoned ground turkey would be good too)

4 cloves pressed garlic
1 onion diced
1/2 c. water
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth (I ended up having to use 3)
1/2 c. apple cider- don't leave this out or it won't taste the same!
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 c. sliced carrots
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried oregano
1 medium zucchini grated or chopped (I didn't have zucchini, so I used yellow squash and added fresh spinach for color!)
8-10oz package cheese tortellini- use frozen as it is usually less. I like Buitoni three-cheese whole wheat tortellini
2 T. dried parsley

Brown and crumble the sausage, drain if necessary. Add onions and garlic, cook until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, juice, water, chicken broth, carrots, oregano, and basil. Cover and simmer 1/2 hour. Add parsley and zucchini and simmer another 10-15 minutes. Add the tortellini and cook until tender (check package directions), then serve with bread and freshly-grated parmesan.

Simple Italian Crockpot Chicken

4 to 5 chicken breasts (I actually only use 2 with this same recipe)

1/8 cup butter, melted

1 pkg. Italian dressing mix (I use the Western Family that go on sale for 4/$1)

1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 10oz. can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom (You can add 2 cans if you need a little extra sauce or have company over)

Take cream cheese out of fridge to soften.  Put chicken in crockpot.  Drizzle with butter and sprinkle with italian seasoning.  Cook on low 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Take chicken out and cut into cubes or strips.  Mix creamed soup and cream cheese together, then add it to the buttery broth in the crockpot.  Mix well, then add the chicken back in and let it cook for another 1/2 hour to warm up.  Serve with favorite pasta, rice or potatoes.