10/30/12 - Apple Pork Chops

Today was a pretty good day. I don’t know if ya’ll remember, or how much I really went into it, but a few months back my office at work was having a lot of trouble. Drama, fighting, a lot of childish behavior. Just, the works. It was high school times infinity. Anyway, we all had to meet individually with a staff counselor to answer some questions and explain how we were feeling/what our perspective of the issues were. Then, she was to take all of the information, evaluate it and meet with us as a group to work out some of the issues and give us some advice and information to move forward. Well, today was that group meeting. I was really dreading it, but I actually kind of enjoyed it. A lot of the things she talked about seemed super obvious, but I think it’s stuff that most people really don’t think about. Just, about how we act towards other people, how we interact, how our actions/words/moods can affect those around us. Now, I honestly don’t think it’s going to change anything in our office, but I still found it super interesting.

I left work early again today. First up, I had to stop into the license bureau. BOTH of our vehicles were due for new tabs (registration), and my car needs new license plates too (which, I think is super dumb – we shouldn’t need to get new plates). So, $193 later I was on my way out (and, I shouldn’t complain, seeing that Christian’s truck alone cost that much not too long ago).

Next up, a Halloween Party at the girls’ school. They were SO excited. All of the kids were in their costumes and there were a ton of people there. I only put the girls in their costume dresses, not any of the accessories or anything, so they didn’t look quite as exciting as some of the other kids. They had so much fun though. They decorated cookies, played some little carnival games, went “trick or treating”, did some face painting (doesn't show up well in the pictures).

Finally, we stopped into the store on the way home. Since I was sick yesterday, I didn’t make it to the store. I picked up a few items to get through the next couple of days…Amelia really isn’t into shopping, so we have to make it quick when she’s with, otherwise she starts getting way too antsy.

Once we were done, we made our way home. Christian didn’t get home from work until 6:30 – seems to be the new norm. The girls played and checked out their goodies from the party while I started dinner. We ate shortly after Christian got home, watched a little TV together and it was pretty much bedtime. Amelia was pretty refusal of bed tonight – she didn’t come out of the room, but she yelled at me for a while through the door. She finally undressed herself completely, and passed out. LOL. I watched a couple shows and went to bed as well.

Rico’s Update for the Day – personality wise, he’s still doing great, and seems a little better every day. He runs around, he’s playful, he follows me around and he REALLY wants to eat his old food – so there’s obviously some appetite there. However, there’s still no movement in the potty area. Today, I left him in the kennel all day. We have a litter box in it, and I left his food and water out for him all day. Today, I again mixed some of his fancy feast, with some prescription food and some pumpkin. He ate about half of it by the time I got home, and then a TINY bit more before bed, so at least something. He didn’t drink much water though, and, did not go to the bathroom. When he pee’s, it’s still just little bits – I don’t know if it’s because he’s having issues with that too, again, or just because he spends so much time in his litter box, that he just goes a little big every time. I think as long as his spirits are high, and his personality is there, we’re going to wait it out through the week before calling the vet. I’m just going to keep adjusting our process and see if I can find something that works.

Tonight’s dinner was Apple Pork Chops, with scalloped potatoes (lazy, from the box) and some leftover glazed carrots from last week. I needed something quick tonight – I asked a friend at work for a suggestion, knowing I had thawed out pork chops, and this is what he gave me Also, my two little mini-chefs helped me get tonight's meal going!

Ingredients:

• Pork Chops (I did three, totaling 15ozs)
• Salt & Pepper to Taste
• Olive Oil
• 2 Apples, with peel, diced
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon

Sides:

• Glazed Carrots (leftover, heated in the microwave)
• Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes (cooked in the oven, according to the package)

Directions:

1.      Layer a pan with olive oil, and warm over medium-high heat. Sprinkle both sides of each chop with salt and pepper, to taste. Once warmed, add the pork chops to the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on the size (I did 3 minutes).

2.      Layer a cookie sheet with foil, place the cooked chops onto the foil, wrap the foil around them and place the pan in the oven to finish he chops off. I timed it so I could put them in with my potatoes for the last 10 minutes.

3.      While the chops bake, use the same pan to cook your apples/topping. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add a little more oil, if necessary (I didn’t have to). Pour your diced apples in, sprinkle cinnamon, brown sugar and a little more salt and pepper over and stir until the seasonings liquefy. Let that warm, cook and tenderize the apples until the pork chops are over.

4.      Once the chops are cooked through, plate them and spoon some of the apples and sauce on top.

This was actually REALLY good. I would definitely make this again. My friend added onion to his (1 apple, 1 onions) – but, I do not cook with onion. He also added pecans, which would be good too. This meal was super yummy!