Quick and Easy Harvest Pork Chops with Potato Parsnip Mash

Here is a quick recipe that tastes like fall on your plate! The instructions list for the pork chops looks long but it's quick.

Easy Harvest Pork Chops - Serves 4

Ingredients

• olive oil and/or butter
• 4 center loin pork chops
• 2 apples (I used Gala but whatever tickles your fancy will work), cored and cut each into 8 to 12 wedges.
• 1 cup apple juice
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions

1. Heat oil and/or butter in a skillet that you have a lid for. (I used both olive oil and butter)
2. Cut slits in each pork chop so you can stuff apple slices inside.
3. Heat apple slices until golden on both sides. Remove from heat and let cool a bit so you can handle them
4. Stuff each pork chop with as many apple wedges as you can. Don't worry if they are mushed in tight. You'll use any remaining wedges.
5. Return the pan to the heat.
6. Saute the pork chops on both sides until browned.
7. Add apple juice and sprinkle with rosemary, throw in any remaining apple wedges.
8. Turn heat down to medium low, cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the pork chops are cooked through. Check occasionally to ensure the liquid has not completely evaporated. If it has, add more.
9. Take out the pork chops and cover with foil on a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
10. While the pork chops are resting, reduce the juice in the pan if it is not already thickened, by simmering it over medium-low heat.

Serve with the potato parsnip mash and drizzle the pan juice over it all

Potato Parsnip Mash - Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 medium potatoes
• 4 medium parsnip
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder.

Instructions

1. Peel and dice the potatoes and parsnip.
2. Put in a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender.
3. Mash potatoes and parsnip with remaining ingredients.

Salt and Pepper both dishes as necessary.

Sorry there are no pictures but it was so simple I didn't think I'd blog about it until after I ate it. It was super tasty!!

Squash Lasagna

Okay before you turn up your nose... it's spaghetti squash in place of noodles. Sort of. I just baked this off in the oven and it's so dagg-on tasty that I had to blog about it straight away (while I try not to eat it all right here and now)! So here goes..

Here's another light, cheap, healthy meal. This one tastes like those heavy italian casseroles that we all love but it's not heavy or hard on the waistline. And I mentioned cheap, right?!

And as per usual, it freezes beautifully.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna - Serves 8

Ingredients (by layer):

Squash layer:

• Spaghetti squash, roasted and scooped out
• 1 tbsp each, fresh basil, oregano and thyme and/or 2 tbsp pesto sauce (use whatever combo you want)
• salt and pepper

Sauce layer:

• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper

Cheese layer:

• 1 500ml tube of 1% cottage cheese
• 1 cups finely shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan

Topping:

• 1 cup finely shredded part skim mozza
• 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan

Instructions:

1. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, sprinkle the inside with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking sheet coated in olive oil.
2. Roast the squash in a 375/190 degree oven for about 45 minutes until you can easily poke the skin with a fork. Let cool and then scoop out the strands.
3. Mix each layer in it's own bowl
4. Spray your casserole with cooking spray.
5. Start with a thin layer of squash, followed by a thin layer of sauce and all of the cheese layer mix. Top with the rest of the squash and then the rest of the sauce. Top with the topping layer.
6. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes and pull out of the oven if you want to freeze it. Otherwise, finish cooking until golden, about 45 minutes total.

Remember, if you want to make a couple of homemade frozen meals out of this recipe, use smaller serving size casseroles. They cool down quicker, freeze quicker, defrost quicker and reheat quicker! Pull them out of the oven before they brown but just as they start to bubble. Cool down completely and freeze.

Both tomato paste and pesto are now readily available in most grocery stores. It's a much easier way to use both. How many times have you had a recipe call for a tbsp or so of tomato paste and only had the small can on hand. What do you do with the rest?! The tubes are so convenient.

Bon appetit!

Curry Squash Soup

Here is a quick, cheap, filling soup to make. Perfect this time of year as the farmers' markets are full of squash. I used acorn and buttercup (not butternut) squash in this soup. Acorn squash has an amazing flavour. Butternut squash has been the darling as of late but try some of the other varieties, you'll be impressed. Oh, and they are cheap!!! If you have a really hard time cutting them in half then it is time for a new knife or a trip to the sharpener. A properly sharp knife will make including squash in your menu less of a fight with the beast of the garden and a heck of a lot safer.

Curry Squash Soup - Serves 4 -6
Ingredients:

• 1 buttercup squash, medium
• 1 acorn squash, medium
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tsp each curry powder, cumin and coriander
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Cut your squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
2. Place them cut side down in a 375 degree oven on a cookie sheet rubbed with olive oil.
3. Roast until soft, about 35 - 40 minutes. You should be able to poke them easily through the skin with a fork
4. While letting the squash cool a bit, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
5. Saute the onions until they are soft, about 3 minutes. Add in the ginger and cook until you can smell the ginger, about 30 seconds or so.
6. Scoop out the squash and add to the saucepan with the remaining ingredients.
7. Stir until blended and heat through.
8. If you want, blend the soup to make it smooth but you'll find it's pretty much a puree already.

Tasty! And this freezes beautifully. I had it as a main meal with a salad and multigrain role. It also makes a filling lunch or an excellent first course in place of a salad for a bigger meal.

Thanksgiving Cocktail

Happy Long Weekend!!


Nothing says "long weekend" more than a cocktail. This is the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and for the first time in .... wow, I can't even remember.... I'm on my own for the weekend. And I'm really looking forward to it. I have a list of choirs, a possible trip to the look off in the Annapolis Valley with 3 dogs (we'll see how adventurous I get), a full schedule of football - both college and NFL, and for the first time in years I get to do the meal my way! My mother's husband doesn't like it when I mash the turnip and carrots together, my mom doesn't like brussels sprouts and always buys a huge bird and my ex always wanted cornbread stuffing. This year I'm mashing the turnip and carrot together, making regular stuffing and I'm only cooking a turkey breast on the bone!

But first, to kick off the long weekend, a cocktail! This is a Spiced Cran-Apple Martini. And if it doesn't put you in the mood for the holiday then nothing will. It will even make your relatives more tolerable if you drink enough of them. But I don't encourage that! If you can't tolerate your relatives find somewhere else to spend the holiday. Really. It's okay.

Spiced Cran-Apple Martini:
1 oz spiced rum
2 oz cranberry cocktail
1 oz apple juice
diced candied ginger

Add rum, cranberry and apple juice in a martini shaker and mix. Pour into a martini glass and garnish with the diced candied ginger. Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers

It may be fall but there are still some barbecue days left. And nothing prolongs the joys of summer more than burgers! These are very simple but super tasty. And if you make 8 small patties and then assemble them by putting the cheese in the middle of a bottom patty, leaving space around the edge then put the top patty on and pinch the edges. It works really well! See how well the cheese stayed inside the burger.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers - Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 tsp each finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme
• salt and pepper, sprinkle some all over the mix based on your preference
• 1 tbsp squeeze of fresh lemon
• 4 1/2 slices of goat cheese, a small log will be more than enough

Instructions:

1. Mix turkey, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and lemon.
2. Form into 8 thin patties
3. Lay out 4 patties, place goat cheese slice on each, top with remaining patties and pinch sides to close in cheese
4. Barbecue until cooked through, it's turkey so cook it completely, I did them about 8 - 10 minutes per side.

I served these with some whole wheat buns toasted, a slice of tomato and a slather of mayo. Very simple, super delicious!