Fend for yourself night

I would just like to start out by saying that I am blogging from my new $800 HP laptop that I purchased all by my damn self! I am so pleased with my purchase, and I can finally blog from the comforts of my own room; more specifically, my bed. Now, my entries will be more frequent, because this is so much more convenient. 

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I still live at home. This is relevant, because I usually do all of my cooking when I am at Scott's house. Tonight, I was at my parent's house, and neither of them were going to be home until late, so it was up to me to make the evening meal. I took out pork chops earlier today, and had been thinking all day about how I was going to cook them...and then it hit me! 

Yesterday, I was watching Rachel Ray on the Food Network, and she was making this delicious    chicken dish. I didn't have all the ingredients in the house, but I figured I could modify the recipe a little bit, and make it my own. Surely pork would work instead of chicken; and surely I could substitute chicken broth for wine. So, here is how I made tonight's dinner (keep in mind, tonight I cooked for a family of four, so the measurements are larger) :

• 2 pkgs of thinly sliced, boneless pork chops
• 1 small can of chicken broth
• 1 cup flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, Italian seasonings...w/e you have in the house, really)
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced

1. In a medium sized bowl, season the flour with the spices, and dredge the pork chops in the flour. Shake off any excess flour. 

Not the most appetizing picture, but it was delicious!

2. In a large sauce pan, heat some vegetable oil to medium high heat. You can cook the pork chops all the way through, or just a little under. When all the chops are done, take them out of the pan, and set them aside.

3. In a deep bottom sauce pan, heat more vegetable oil to medium high heat. Throw the onions in first, and sweat them down a little bit before adding the garlic. (Here's a helpful hint: if you throw the garlic in first, it's more likely to burn. The onions will act as a buffer.) Next, throw all the vegetables in. Season them, and cook them down until they are softened. 

4. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of the seasoned flour to the vegetable mixture, and combine it thoroughly. Add in the chicken broth, and stir.

5. Throw the chops back in to the mixture; cook for a few more minutes and you're all done!

This would be great over mashed potatoes or over white or brown rice, but I just had it as is, and made some sides to go along with it. My entire family loved it, and my dad even called me Betty Crocker! I think all hope has been restored to my family that I will eventually be able to feed my future husband and children some day. Tonight was a proud moment for me.