Marinated Grilled Pork Chops:

My family didn't eat a ton of pork when I was growing up (apart from occasionally ham, or sausage), and now I really just don't care for it in just about any way, shape or form...ham, bacon, sausage, pork chops...no thank you (does turkey sausage count? because I totally love that!).

I could live my whole life without pork, and probably never miss it one time.

But I could quite easily be pursuaded to eat a pork chop now, if they were made like this.

The marinade is a little interesting, but it made the very best pork chops I have ever had in my life!!

One of the keys is to let it marinade as long as possible, and not to over-cook it.

My whole family absolutely loved these! I hope you give it a try!

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Chili Sauce

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 & 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

2 lbs. boneless pork chops (roughly 8-10 chops)

Place the pork chops in a gallon zip-lock bag; set aside.

Place remaining ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk until well combined.

Add the sauce to the bag, and seal tightly, getting out as much air as possible.

Gently shake and squeeze the bag to make sure the meat is thoroughly covered.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. 

Remove the pork chops from the bag, and discard the marinade. Grill over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side, or until meat thermometer reads 145 degrees F. Place on a serving plate, and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Roasted Garden Veggies:

I'm pretty much convinced that roasted veggies are the.best.

Ever.

And they're super easy. And very versatile.

We always have way more yellow squash in our garden than 10 families could eat, and it gets old after a while. When you feel like you don't have anything to loose, why not try something new?! At least that's how I was feeling, so I just threw them in a pan and put them in the oven.

Turns out that was a good choice!

It ended up being super easy, and really delicious! 

So I wanted to document it for future reference, really, and also share it with everyone else!

Hope you give it a try!!

2 medium yellow squash

2 green bell peppers

2 medium onions

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 teaspoons season salt (more or less, depending on your tastes)

Line a baking sheet with foil; set aside.

Cut the squash in half. Using a spoon, scrape out all the seeds and discard.

Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Cut the pepper in half and pull out all the pale colored ribs and rinse out the seeds.

Cut the pepper into 1 inch pieces.

Cut the onion into 1 inch pieces

Place all the veggies on the baking sheet. 

Drizzle with olive oil. 

Using a spoon or just your hands, toss lightly to evenly coat everything with the oil.

Sprinkle with season salt and mix lightly.

Make sure all the veggies are spread out evenly. 

Place under the broiler (3-4 inches away). 

Broil for 5 minutes. Stir. Repeat at least 3 times 

(for a total of 15 minutes) 

or until veggies are fork tender, and some pieces are starting to look charred.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Garlic Baby Potatoes:

A friend of mine just recently introduced me to the world of baby potatoes.

Don't get me wrong, I already knew they existed...my dad digs them up out of the garden every year!

I just didn't know that they could be bought in a bag at the grocery store!

(it takes surprisingly precious little to excite me, in case you didn't notice!)

Anyway, so we bought a bag of those cute little things (and as a side note, it was super cute, because they were red and yellow potatoes mixed together, which just adds to the awesomeness)!

Then I came across a recipe similar to this, and I didn't know how it could possibly go wrong: little baby potatoes, butter, garlic and cheese.

I know, right?!!?!!!

And they were awesome! Everyone enjoyed them! 

And get ready for this........

.........they were so cute!!!!

It might seem a tad complicated, but they are really super easy, and I mean, for a side dish, what entree does this not go with?!

I hope you try them out!!!

(P.S. Just a little FYI: we got our bag of baby potatoes at Sam's Club.)

2 & 1/2 lbs. baby potatoes

6 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon mince garlic

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Shredded cheese (anything that melts really nice, stringy and creamy. I used mozzarella)

Place potatoes in a large pan of boiling water. 

Cook for about 15 minutes, or until almost done. 

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a dish towel to dry 

(they'll dry almost immediately.) 

Place the dried potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter and garlic in a small sauce pan over medium heat, and simmer while the potatoes bake, stirring often. 

. Using the back of a fork, gently press on each potato, to slightly smash it 

(basically you're just wanting to break the skins, but that's hard to do without smashing the whole potato at least a little bit!).

Spoon/drizzle the garlic butter over all of the potatoes. 

Sprinkle the cheese over everything.

Sprinkle with parsley. 

Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until cheesy is melted and bubbly 

and starting to get a little golden brown.

Serve!!