Caesar Pork Chops

- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. dried italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup purchased creamy caesar salad dressing
- 4 (1/2-inch thick) center-cut bone-in pork chops
- 1 oz. (1/4 cup) shredded fresh parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 375 F. Spray 12x8-inch (2 quart) glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In pie pan or shallow dish, combine flour and italian seasoning; mix well. Pour salad dressing into another pan or shallow dish.
2. Dip both sides of chops in flour mixture, coating well. Dip in dressing, coating well. Place in sprayed baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Discard any remaining flour mixture and salad dressing.
3. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center.

Baked Tilapia

- 4 tilapia fillets (6oz. each)
- 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. capers, drained
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp. paprika

Place tilapia in an ungreased 13x9-inch baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the butter, lemon juice, garlic powder and salt; pour over the fillets. Sprinkle with capers, oregano and paprika.
Bake, uncovered, at 425 F for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Fun Taco Cups

- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 pkg. (1 1/4 oz.) taco seasoning mix
- 1 can (10 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 F. Cook meat with seasoning mix as directed on package. Press biscuits onto bottoms and up sides of 10 muffin cups; fill with meat mixture. Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 2 to 3 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Serving Suggestion:
Round out the meal with a fun salad bar. Fill a large bowl with crisp salad greens and smaller bowls with an assortment of chopped fresh vegetables. Then, let everyone help themselves to create their own salad.

Substitute:
Substitute shredded monterey jack cheese for the cheddar cheese or use mexican style shredded cheese.

Special Extra:
Serve with thick 'n chunky salsa.

Cheesy Sausage and Egg Bake

- 1 lb. bulk pork sausage, cooked and drained
- 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (4oz.)
- 8 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup)
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8oz.)
- 1 1/4 cups original Bisquick mix
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 12 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2-inches. Layer cooked sausage, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and cheese in dish.
2. Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over cheese.
3. Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and set.

Substitution: Spice it up! Use chorizo or hot italian sausage instead of the bulk sausage for more heat.

Simplify: No cutting board is needed if you buy sliced mushrooms and already-cut tomatoes. And the green onions? Just snip them with kitchen scissors directly over the mushrooms.

Rosemary-Dijon Pork Chops & Oven Potatoes Dinner

- 1 lb. potatoes (about 3 small), cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/4 cup Kraft Light House Italian Dressing
- 4 bone-in pork chops (1 1/2 lb.), 1/2 inch thick
- 4 tsp. Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
- 1/2 cup Shake 'N Bake Original Pork Seasoned Coating mix
- 1/4 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
- 2 cups hot cooked baby carrots

Heat oven to 375 F. Toss potatoes with dressing in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 7 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes. Spread chops with mustard. Mix coating mix and rosemary in shallow dish. Add chops; turn over to evenly coat both sides of each chop. Place in center of foil-lined 15x10x1-inch pan; surround with potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes or until chops are done (160 F) and potatoes are tender. Serve with carrots.

Sloppy Joes

- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 3 tsp. brown sugar
- salt to taste
- ground pepper to taste

1.) In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion and green pepper; drain off liquids.
2.) Stir in garlic powder, mustar, ketchup and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Tues., Wed., & Thur. recipes

BROCCOLI-CHEDDAR CHICKEN BUNDLES
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed and chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 pouch Shake-n-Bake extra crispy mix

Heat oven to 400 F.
Place chicken thighs, smooth side down, on cutting board. Flatten slightly by pounding with meat mallet to 1/2-inch thickness. Top evenly with broccoli; sprinkle with cheese and bacon. Roll up each chicken thigh; tightly, starting at one of the short ends; secure with wooden toothpicks. Place coating mix in shallow bowl. Roll each chicken bundle in coating. Mix until evenly coated on all sides. Place, seam sides down in single layer in foil-lined shallow baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (170 F). Remove and discard toothpicks before serving.



VELVEETA CHEESY CHICKEN & BROCCOLI RICE
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) chicken broth
- 2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
- 1/2 lb. (8oz.) Velveeta pasteurized prepared cheese product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

1.) Cook and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until done.
2.) Stir in broth. Bring to boil.
3.) Add rice, velveeta and broccoli; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir until Velveeta is completely melted and mixture is well blended.

Shortcut: To quick thaw frozen broccoli, microwave for about half the cooking time specified on the package.



CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
- 4 boned, skinless chicken breasts (about 6oz. each)
- 4 slices ham
- 3.5 oz. grated cheddar cheese
- 3 Tbsp. flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt & pepper
- 5 cups breadcrumbs
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 tsp. oil

Heat oven to 325 F.
1.) Slit and spread chicken butterfly style. Place a slice of ham in each breast. Sprinkle with grated cheddar and press firmly to close.
2.) Dredge each stuffed breast with flour and dip into eggs. Season with salt & pepper then coat with breadcrumbs.
3.) In ovenproof skillet , heat oil, melt butter and gently sear chicken breasts on both sides until golden. Finish baking in oven 25 minutes.

Fingerprinting, Zoo and Ethiopian restaurant

So yesterday Matt and I went to Indy to get our fingerprints done with USCIS and while we were there we decided to go to the Indianapolis zoo and to an Ethiopian restaurant. First the appt., which BTW was at 10am Indiana time (an hour ahead of us), we had to leave home at 630am, boy were we tired. But the fingerprinting was quick and painless. Both of us figured we would be sitting in the USCIS office for 2 hours waiting, we waited for about 10 minutes and that was because we were 10 minutes early. So it was definately not bad at all. I had wanted to get a picture of us outside the building but didn't. I did find out that I have a very unique type of fingerprint on my index fingers. More unique than usual, the girl who took my fingerprints was excited about them, so of course I had to rub it in to Matt just how unique I am. He just said I was a big nerd. LOL. After our fingerprinting we went to the zoo. We had a good time, but I think it would have been better if it had been warmer and in the zoo's prime time. A lot of the animals were not avail. for showing and nothing was open. But we still had a great time just being together. I will download pics of the animals when I get a chance. After the zoo we went to an authentic Ethiopian restaurant and verdict is that we do not like the food. The atmosphere and the our waitress were great, we were even able to buy a couple of CD's of Ethiopian music, but the food was definately not for us. Atleast we can say that we tried it. Hopefully we will not have to eat too much of it when we are in country. After we ate we went home. It was a great day in all and I really enjoyed getting to spend time with Matt. He has been working really long hours for the past couple of months so we haven't been able to spend much time together so it was great to reconnect with him.

On to other adoption news; we should be getting our referral letter from DCFS in a couple of weeks. This is the letter that states that they approve our home study report. It's is the only thing preventing us from sending in our home study report to USCIS so that we can get our golden ticket (I171-H). Let's cross our fingers and toes and pray that it comes sooner rather than later. I am so ready to send in our dossier it is not even funny.

I will post a recipe tomorrow.

Burrito Pie

- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 (2 oz.) can black olives, sliced
- 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chile peppers
- 1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
- 1 (16 oz.) jar taco sauce
- 2 (16 oz. each) cans refried beans
- 12 (8-inch each) flour tortillas
- 9 oz. shredded colby cheese

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.) In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes; drain. Mix in the olives, green chile peppers, tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco sauce and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

3.) Spread thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole dish. Cover with a layer of torillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.

4.) Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly browned and bubbly.

Tater Tot Casserole

TATER TOT CASSEROLE
- 1 can (10-3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup
- 1 lb. ground beef
- onion flakes
- 1 pkg. tater tots
- 1 pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

Heat oven to 350 F
Cook ground beef; drain. Put in small baking dish. Add veggies. Srinkle with onion flakes. Pour over meat and veggies. Cover with tater tots. Bake for 30 minutes.

VARIATION: SUBSTITUTE CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP.