Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Happy weekend, everyone!  I know I've been slacking with the blog recently.  I'm sorry!  Don't really have a good reason other than we haven't been cooking or crafting!  For the last couple of weeks, both T and I have been in the quick foods like egg, cereal, spaghetti or other super easy meals and haven't spent a lot of time trying new recipes.  But fear not!  We tried a delicious slow cooker meal this week that I'm excited to share with you today!  Without further ado: Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes found via RealMomKitchen.com.

Ingredients: Pork Chops
5-6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 package dry ranch seasoning
10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup + 3/4 can of water

Ingredients: Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
For the potatoes, I did a terrible job of keeping track of the quantity for each ingredient.  But here are my best estimates:
10 red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon half and half
2 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon dried chives
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place thawed pork chops into slow cooker.  Pour ranch seasoning directly onto pork chops.  Mix cream of chicken soup and water together and pour over pork chops.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low heat for 5-6 hours.

Boil a large pot of water on your stove top.  Once boiling, add potatoes and boil until potatoes are tender.  Transfer potatoes to mixing bowl.  Mix on low until potatoes are mashed.  Add butter, parmesan, half and half, milk, chives, salt and pepper.  Add additional seasoning to taste.

Serve pork chops and gravy over mashed potatoes.

Corn Flake Potato Casserole

Good evening, everyone!

Lately, I've been in the mood for corn flake potatoes that my mom and grandma have made on numerous occasions for family functions.  Such a delicious dish!  So I decided to make the corn flake potatoes, but with my own twist.

Ingredients:
1 lb Obrien hash brown potatoes
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chives
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 pint sour cream
10 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bacon bits
2 cans turkey in water

For topping - 1/4 cup melted butter and 3 cups crushed corn flakes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix main ingredients together in a bowl and pour into 9x13-inch dish.  Pour crusthed corn flakes on top followed by melted butter.  Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are done.

So good!

Garlic Parm Chicken with Mashed-Baked Potatoes

Good evening!  I hope everyone's week is going well! 

Tonight's dinner was delicious!  We made Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken following a recipe from Momswhothink.com and a take on The Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes.

First up: Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 package Italian dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
chicken breasts - we actually ended up using frozen chicken tenderloins

Directions:
First, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix cheese, dressing mix and garlic powder into bowl.  Coat chicken breasts with mixture (The original recipe recommends using water to bind the mixture to the chicken.  Egg would also work).  Bake 20-25 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Next up: Mashed-Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
red potatoes, quantity is your choice
olive oil
garlic salt
pepper
fresh chives, chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Add in as many potatoes as you'd like and cook until they are tender.  Coat a sheet pan with olive oil.  Once potatoes are tender, place on sheet pan and mash.  Brush the tops of the potatoes with olive oil then sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and chives.  Bake 20-25 minutes.

The original recipe called for rosemary, but also advises an herb can be used according to your tastes.  Next time we make this, we'll probably want to soften the chives by putting them into olive oil and microwaving them for 10 seconds or so.  This time round they became dried.  I didn't mind the text, but T said he prefers them more soft.  Also, instead of mashing each potato into individual potato cakes, we simply mashed them to cover the sheet pan.  Next time, we'll mash the potatoes more and mix the ingredients more to create a more flavorful side dish. 

Overall, our dinner was delicious!