Food Friday - Homemade Shake-n-Bake Pork Chops

I mentioned last week that I found some of my Pinterest recipes that I wanted to try and this is one of them.  The blog named this "The Best Pork Chop Recipe Ever". . .I changed the name because it really did remind me of good ol' Shake-N-Bake. 

Homemade Shake-n-Bake Pork Chops
adapted from Crazy Horse Ghost

This is a great recipe.  I cooked mine at 350 degrees for 1 hour and they turned out perfectly.  I noticed that on the original post that the suggestion was made to shake off the extra Ranch Dressing but I didn't notice any problems with mine - they turned out crunchy. 

For Your Pork Chop Recipe You Will Need.
1. Ranch Dressing In A Bottle.
2. 3 Cups Fine Dry Italian Bread Crumbs.
3. 1 Small Package Dry Italian Dressing Mix.
4. 2 Tablespoons Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese.
5. 1 Tablespoon Dry Powdered Garlic.
6. 6 Large Loin Pork Chops.

You will want to mix ingredients 2 - 5 in a large bowl and mix together very well. Now pour a layer of ranch dressing out into a plate. Take one pork chop at a time and coat it on the plate with ranch dressing and then put the pork chop with the ranch dressing on it into the large bowl with the bread crumbs and coat it well on all sides. Add more ranch dressing to the plate if you need to.
Have your tin foil lined baking pan setting there ready. Spray the tinfoil with vegetable cooking spray. Place your breaded pork chops onto the tinfoil covered pan and once you have all your pork chops on the pan place it into the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the thick part of your pork chops reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. As soon as your pork chops are done remove from the pan and serve as soon as possible.

I served this with baked potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Pickles and Olives. 

What I'm Reading - for Real

I figured it is time to get back to sharing some books! 

On Little Wings by REgina Sirois is a fantastic book.  It is one of those books that reads like you are in the story and you become part of the family.  It is a story of a young girl who discovers a photo that opens up her family history and sends her on an adventure to restore many hurts.  I will say that as well written as it is there were a few slow places that I had to get through and the end, sorry to say, I found slightly anti-climatic after the build-up throughout the book.  I wanted more and didn't get it but maybe she'll write more later. 

Just recently I started reading Saving Hope by Margaret Daley.  The premise is surrounding a large prostitution ring in Texas that targets young girls.  The main character in the book runs a home that takes these girls in and tries to help them recreate their lives.  Several of the girls begin to face some desperate situations and a Texas Ranger becomes involved in solving the case.  So far it is a pretty good book - it isn't as well written as some but I haven't stopped reading it yet :-)

I actually have some non-Kindle books that I'm going to read next - my mom brought me a book in one of my favorite series along with another book she said she couldn't put down. 

A Wedding Day

Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending a wedding for a good friend.  Jeremy, the groom, and I have known each other for close to 20 years so, needless to say, to be able to watch him marry his true love was a joy.  On a side note, this was the first big event I attended since getting my new camera and I was thrilled to be able to "play"! 

The did something I've never seen for the Unity Ceremony; they did a Unity Tree.  Yes, that is a live tree and, instead of lighting candles, when it was time for the Unity portion of the service, they each poured a vase of dirt onto the base of the tree.  The pastor talked about how the roots of tree grow deeper through the years and, when it is watered, it bears fruit each year and gets stronger.   I'm assuming that they planted it in their yard but who knows!

I love all of the creative ideas people use now for the ends of pews.  Personally, I made big white, green and gold bows and loved them but, had I known about this idea with the frames, I might have used it.  The bride found this idea on Pinterest and it was too cute.  Each frame held a photo of the bride or groom.  Such an adorable way to show off photos. 

 I had to include photos of the couple :-)  I love this last one above - this was after they had poured the dirt on the tree, while a song was being sung, they took time to pray. (At least that is what I think they are doing!)

 I'm not sure if you can see the little frames on her flowers in this photo but those frames held photos of special people that are no longer here, such as the groom's dad. This is another idea that she found on Pinterest and, after looking through her posts on some of her wedding boards, I think she also got the idea for her bouquet from there as well. 

 The kiss (of course - a favorite photo of everyone!!) and the big celebration when they were pronounced husband and wife. 

 I know that the bride spent a lot of time creating these table numbers and she was so excited about them!!  Can you guess where she found this idea?  (ummm Pinterest).  The bonus is that their Monogram ("B) on the front is attached with velcro so it can be removed and then be used by someone else.

 These were the centerpieces on the table.  Again, her inspiration came from Pinterest - but not one specific idea that I found.  They were beautiful and simple.

As is popular right now, they did a cupcake stand for dessert.  What they did differently was that they did the "famous" cake feeding activity before the meal was served.  That way, once people were done eating, they could just get cake. 

They did some other great things during the reception - the bridal party was introduced and each couple did something creative as they entered.  The bride and groom walked in with big glasses and the bride showing off her awesome green tennies.

When they got to the center, on the dance floor, a song started and they danced an awesome routine.  I mean, it was fantastic and everyone loved it.  I wish I could have recorded it.

One last thing that the bride has done that is really truly one of the best ideas I've heard.  All of those things she used - the frames for the photos on the pews, the items for the centerpieces - from vases to the mirrors, the lanterns that hung from the ceiling at the reception . .. she sold it all on Craig's List.  She listed it the week after the wedding and most of it was gone within a week.  Such a smart idea!!

Too Cute Not To Toot

So, folks, I'm digging for new ideas!!!  Lets see how we do!

One of those "out there" projects I've wanted to put together are quiet bags for the boys - bags full of fun stuff to do to keep them quiet or to entertain them in the car, at the doctor, or even if we are at some one's home.  I love this idea that was shared over at Craftomaniac for using up Easter eggs (did I share this idea already???).  Well, even if I did - the tutorial here is fantastic so I'm sharing it anyway!

A friend of mine posted this next idea in facebook and it is from Chez Beeper Bebe.  Even though it is for something she has created and sells in her Etsy store, I love the idea.  You could easily modify this to make it something you could make at home.

Wow, this is really a dry spell.  I'm just not finding the ideas that inspire me lately.  I've run into this a few times in the past and it usually happens when there is a BIG space between holidays.  Oh well!!  At least I have less projects to want to make :-)

Painted Mason Jars with Photo Flowers

I recently posted about my niece's Bridal Shower, sharing lots of photos of all of the decor and some of the games.  Being unusually crafty, I made most of the items for the shower so, over the next few weeks, I'm going to share everything :-)

Several weeks ago, I shared two ideas in a Too Cute Not to Toot post which inspired this idea.  Those two ideas looked like this:

Obviously, the Mason Jar is pretty self explanatory as far as an idea.  The flowers are great, aren't they?  Notice that mind look nothing like that?  There is a reason for that.  Homespun with Love gave a really good tutorial that I followed to the letter but . . .for the life of me, I could not get the flowers to work.  I was pretty much at my wits end and was ready to go buy flowers to stick in my freshly painted vases when I came up with an idea. 

I then had a brainstorm and went on search for pinwheel flowers and found the perfect craft over at Alphamom.

Now THIS I could do but I wanted it to be more grown-up which is when I got the idea to print off black and white photos onto colored card stock.  (Thankfully my niece had posted her engagement photos on facebook!) 

I really thought I took photos of the process but . . .apparently I just  thought I did but I will try to explain it anyway.

1) I spray painted the mason jars avocado green - it ended up being much more lime green then I thought it would which was a GOOD thing!! 
2) Print out photos on card stock colors of your choice. Tip:  Use double sided paper since both sides of the paper will be seen.  I only copied the photo on one side thought.
3) Using the template provided from Alphamom (link above), cut out the pinwheels. Tip: When I folded the edges, I went every other direction so they folded both to the front and back since, again, both sides would be seen.
4) Hot Glue a stick to one side of the pinwheel.  (I used lollipop sticks). 
5) Create a "center" to the flower on both sides.  I used mini-cupcake liners, buttons, flower cut outs, and some sparkly dots.  Hot glue them on (this also covers the stick) 
6) Once the glue is dry, stuff the jars with shredded paper and stick the "flowers" into the jars.  (the paper will keep the flowers in place)

This project is pretty simple and is very inexpensive especially if you have mason jars and scrapbooking paper at home :-)

A Bridal Shower

I decided I better get this post up about the Bridal shower I recently co-hosted before the wedding gets here in just two short weeks! 

My niece, Alicia, is getting Married in May and we are all beyond excited about the big day.  My mom, Sister-in-law, and I worked together to throw the shower at my parents church on Saturday, April 7th.   This shower is unique because my Brother and his family live in Brazil and my parents church is their sending church.  They happen to be home this year on furlough; my niece graduated from Cedarville University almost a year ago and comes "home" periodically to my parents church.  Because of living in Brazil for so many years before college, that church is really her "home" church.  We had a great turnout and had a lot of fun. 

I'll begin with the decor and food and then share the fun photos!!

 The centerpieces on the table - all homemade :-)  Her colors for the wedding are Lime Green with some accents (like black)

 I did a dessert bar - not a "cake" so instead I made this "cake" for the table and it was also part of my gift to her.

I managed to find wrapping paper that matched the decor so I wrapped a couple of random boxes to use for height on the table.  I made Mountain Dew Cupcakes as one of the desserts.  The cupcake toppers and wrappers were from PrintCreateCelebrate and they were fantastic!! She was wonderful to work with, was able to customize what I wanted and her turn around time was quick!

 The dessert Table :-) We had cupcakes, cookies, a Chocolate Trifle, Brown Sugar Coffee Cake, and Texas Sheet Cake.  Plus we had set out some candy too. 

 The Gift table

The kisses on the table with little messages on the bottom of each one.

 Props for some of the activities

 The food!!  We had Chicken Pasta Salad, Caramel Apple Salad, Bread sticks from a local Italian place, Veggies and Dips, Pickles and Olives and then the dessert table.  The punch was my favorite - my Sister-in-Law's Green Kool-aid Punch!

Part of the decor on the table - The Bride and Groom's  (to be) Monogram.

Now for a few photos from the actual shower itself.  This is my sister-in-law (the bride-to-be's mom) Debby.   

And . . the Bride-to-be - my niece Alicia  

 The ladies were so generous!!  Alicia received so many nice, practical and fun gifts!! (That is my mom helping her . . .making a great face HA!)

 I had to share this photo - my mom quilts.  She makes beautiful quilts and, considering the fact that she "Said" she couldn't sew buttons on when we were growing up, well, she makes profession level quilts.  This was her gift to Alicia - the photo doesn't do it justice!

Finally - three of my nieces - Marisa, Kate, and Alicia.  Such fun girls!

The shower was fun - my favorite line of the day came from Marisa (who is 19) . . "Aunt Jackie, if you are still alive when I get married, you need to plan my wedding".  Seriously, Marisa, do you not plan to get married until you are 60?  I mean, I do plan do be around for a LONG time.  And wait, it gets better.  Then she said, "I don't care if my parents are still alive as long as you are so you can make everything" HAHAHAHAH  Oh, Marisa - that is why I love you!

So now, the wedding!  We are working on trying to get the boys to understand the importance of being ring bearer's as the final touches are being put together with the wedding.  It will be a great day!

Our Weekly Menu - as thrilling as it is!!

This week, when I sat down to work on our menu plan, this is what was on the table with me - two grilling books, a recipe book from a restaurant we visited in Tennessee several years ago and the Live, Laugh, Love cookbook.  Then, I made one small mistake.  I went out to Pinterest and looked at my recipe board where I spent the next hour of my day printing off recipes.  Seriously. Why the grilling books?  I told my husband that this summer I don't plan on using the oven.  I will use the crock pot, the grill, and the stove top.  That's it.  The oven heats up the house way too much.  With that in mind, I pulled out those recipe books and went in search of some crock pot recipes to add to my recipe binder.  The other recipe books just have some recipes I'd like to make but, honestly, none make the list this week!  Pinterest seemed to win out on all fronts!!

By the way, remember last week - I "submitted" to my husband and made the grocery list based on the ad . . .guess what?  I stayed under budget.  Stink - he was right HA!  It also helped that it was the store's monthly "buy 10 for $1.00 and get the 11th" free sale so there were a lot of good things for $1.00.  We'll see how this week goes!

Saturday: Even though it is Friday night while I'm writing this  - this dinner is up in the air.  I don't know if I feel like taking the boys out to the store tomorrow so if I don't, we'll have pizza, if I do, we'll have Hamburgers and French Fries :-)

Sunday: Ummm . ..well . . .my husband has to work and then has a concert so I will either throw something fun on for the boys and I or . . .we'll get Taco Bell :-)

Monday:  Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Blue, Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli (also known as Trees).  This is a new recipe found on Pinterest - hoping it is good so I can use it this summer!!

Tuesday:  The Best Pork Chops Ever, Mac and Cheese, Veggies and Bread.  This is another Pinterest recipe and yes, that is the name of it.  We really like pork so I've been looking for some new chops recipes - we'll see how this one goes.

Wednesday: Chicken and Waffles.  Yes, you read that right :-)

Thursday: Teriyaki Chicken in the Crock Pot, Rice and Asparagus.  Yep, another Pinterest recipe but this one is also a freezer meal.  The recipe makes two batches so I am going to cook one and freeze one.  Hopefully it is good!!!

Friday:  Lasagna, Garlic Bread, and Salad.  (Or . . .. Jet's Pizza - we'll see!)