Sometimes box food is ok

     Generally speaking I am a big proponent of cooking with fresh or frozen ingredients, but let's be realistic. I have three young children at home and my Chris is visually impaired which means I catch most of the household chores also, so cooking a full meal from scratch has to be weighed against just how exhausted I am on a given evening. Sometimes those life savers like instant mashed potatoes or ready-for-the-oven frozen dinners taste just like heaven on earth. Tonight's meal illustrates my point nicely.  I fight with rounds of insomnia and last night I was not supposed to sleep. Didn't even get to bed until two a.m. and then was woken up twice before the girls got me up at seven. When I pulled the package of pork chops out of the freezer this morning I had no idea what I was going to cook, wasn't exactly sure what I just took out of the freezer even, just knew that it was meat of some kind. Come time for cooking dinner I shuffled into the kitchen and leaned on the counter while peering into the cabinets, hoping something would jump out and cook itself. Then I spotted it, at the very back of the cabinet, a box of Rice-a-Roni next to a jar of Apricot Preserves. These kinds of things get pushed to the back because I just never use them, but for some reason one of the little recipe cards flying around in my junk drawer of a brain popped up and reminded me of a recipe I had seen for Apricot glazed pork chops. Rice goes well with pork chops so I drug out the box of Rice-A-Roni also.  A little guess work and 30 minutes later we were sitting down to eat something new. Sweet (and sour) success!! Now, if I could just convince the dishes to get in the dishwasher without me..........


 Asian Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

 1 4-6 oz Pork Chop per person
 1 C Apricot Preserves
 2 TBSP Lime Juice (lemon juice or white wine works too)
 1 tsp Fresh Ginger, grated
 1 tsp Soy Sauce
 Salt, Pepper, Onion and Garlic Powders, to taste
 1/2 Medium Onion, sliced thin
 2 C Frozen Broccoli Spears
 2 C Frozen Sliced Carrots
 Olive Oil

      Preheat oven to 400.  Mix preserves, juice, ginger and soy sauce, set aside. Heat a little oil in a large skillet and brown pork chops on both sides. Place chops around the edges of the baking pan and put broccoli, onions and carrots in the middle.  onion on top and drizzle sauce over all of it. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 10-15 minutes. Chops are done when pork is white all the way through. Remember - NO PINK FOR PORK!

 **My measurements on vegetables are only approximate. When it comes to veggies, the more the merrier!


Thanks for reading! Sweet Dreams!